11.6.07

Kufuor swears in new Chief Justice

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday swore into office Justice Georgina Theodora Wood as Ghana's first woman Chief Justice at the Credentials Hall of the Castle, Osu.
Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi-Huges, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Daniel Adzei-Bekoe, Chairman of the Council of State and Justices of the Supreme Court were among those present.













5.6.07

Canada denies Winnie Mandela visa

Canada has denied a visa to the South African anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of Nelson Mandela, was to have attended the premiere of an opera about her life in the Canadian city of Toronto.
In 1991 she was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to murder.

Canadian authorities can refuse entry into the country on the grounds of a criminal record, although it is not clear that has happened in this case.
Her application was turned down a day before she was to arrive in Toronto, for a gala fundraising dinner.
The organisers, the arts group MusicaNoir, said they were devastated and do not know why her visa was withheld.

They said Mrs Madikizela-Mandela's daughter and two security guards did receive visas.
The decision was made by the Canadian embassy in South Africa.
Canadian immigration officials in Ottawa have not given any reason why the visa application was denied.
MusicaNoir pointed out that Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was permitted to visit the United States two weeks ago to receive an award for her work with Aids organisations.
Known as one of South Africa's most famous anti-apartheid activists, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is also a controversial figure.

A six-year prison sentence for kidnapping a young activist who was later murdered was suspended on appeal.
In 2003 she was found guilty on charges of fraud and theft.

Somanya goes gay as NDC marks June 4 Uprising

Somanya the capital town of Yilo-Krobo went gay on Monday as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) staged one of their spectacular fiestas in recent memory.A large crowd comprising the old and the young gathered at the main Somanya Lorry Park as loudspeakers blared the NDC anthem and various Party songs.The Park was decorated with June 4th and NDC flags with adherents wearing tee shirts of the various groups within the Party.
On the main street and alleys of Somanya various groups within the Party displayed their colours and danced to the music while the town's folks waited patiently on trees and in storey buildings around Park for the arrival of Former President Jerry John Rawlings and Professor John Evan Atta Mills, NDC Presidential Candidate for Elections 2008. Former President Rawlings and Prof Mills were escorted by a large crowd from the outskirts of the Township first to the palace of Konor of the Yilo-Krobo Traditional Area and then to the rally grounds.
As they made their way to the Lorry Park the crowd got excited and went into frenzy. The excitement continued throughout the rally, which ended at 1830 hours.Among one of the unusual faces that surfaced at the rally was General Arnold Quainoo, Former Member of the Provisional National Defence Council. Some retired Amy Officers; Former District Chief Executives in the NDC era and NDC Members of Parliament were also present.
Source:GNA



4.6.07

Nigeria sues drugs giant Pfizer

Nigeria has filed charges against the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, accusing it of carrying out improper trials for an anti-meningitis drug.
The government is seeking $7bn (£3.5bn) in damages for the families of children who allegedly died or suffered side-effects after being given Trovan.

Kano state government has filed separate charges against Pfizer.
The firm denies any wrongdoing, saying the trials were conducted according to Nigerian and international law. Pfizer - the world's largest pharmaceutical company - tested the experimental antibiotic Trovan in Kano during an outbreak of meningitis which had affected thousands in 1996. Some 200 children died and others developed mental and physical deformities.
These allegations... are highly inflammatory and not based on all the facts
Pfizer Q&A: Nigeria sues Pfizer
The government says the deaths and deformities were caused by Trovan and that the children were injected with the drug without approval from Nigerian regulatory agencies.
A Pfizer spokesman in New York, Bryant Haskins, reiterated the company's position that its trial of Trovan was conducted with the full knowledge of the Nigerian government and in a responsible way.

"These allegations against Pfizer, which are not new, are highly inflammatory and not based on all the facts," he told Reuters news agency.
He also said the trial had helped save lives.
The company has previously said that "verbal consent" had been obtained from the parents of the children concerned and that the exercise was "sound from medical, scientific, regulatory and ethical standpoints".
Suspicion
This is the first time Nigeria's federal government has filed charges against Pfizer but individual families have previously taken legal action.
The separate case in Kano - in which the state is seeking $2.7bn in compensation - has been running for more than two years.
On Monday, judges postponed that trial by a month, to allow the firm to appear before the Kano court.
Trovan has been approved for use by adults, but not children, in the US.
The BBC's Alex Last in Nigeria says the case has added to suspicion of western medicine and drug trials in northern Nigeria and that has had a damaging effect on attempts to get the whole population to accept polio immunisation.
Kano was one of the Nigerian states which refused to take part in a World Health Organization vaccination programme, leading to a re-emergence of polio in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

Ahwoi Blasts Gov't over energy crisis

As the nation continues to grapple with its worsening energy crisis, a leading member of the main opposition National Democratic Congress has slammed the government over what he describes as its incompetence, which has plunged the country into the present crisis.A report of The Heritage newspaper says Mr. Ato Ahwoi, one of NDC’s most knowledgeable in energy issues, has also challenged the Electricity Company of Ghana to justify the load shedding exercise going on now.
According to him, what the country is experiencing is "electricity problem and not energy problem."Speaking in an interview with The Heritage, Mr. Ahwoi noted that the current problem had exacerbated with the load shedding having moved from 12 hours every five days to the present 12 hours every other day.He said the government, over the years, did not put proper mechanisms in place to ensure a reliable electricity supply; therefore something went wrong. "Now they have realized they are over burdening the lake; hence the worsening load shedding exercise being experienced.
"He recalled that, in 1998, Albert Kan-Dapaah who was then New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Spokesman on Energy questioned why the NDC, knowing the growth in demand of electricity, had made no attempt to increase the country's generating capacity. Mr. Ahwoi then questioned what efforts this government, formed with Mr. Kan-Dapaah and other NPP leaders, has made to increase electricity production.The NDC kingpin argued further that his party manifesto had clearly stated that, by the year 2020, the country should be aiming at producing 40,000 megawatts of electricity, contrasting that with the NPP whose development plans and budgets he derided for failing to men¬tion any intention of increasing electricity production.
Mr. Ahwoi made reference to the July 9, 1998 Hansard of Parliament which recorded some statements by Mr. Kan-Dapaah, who was and still is MP for Afigya Sekyere West, in which the MP described the then energy crises as being the result of governmental ineptitude and inefficiency “which has plunged this country into virtual darkness and in spite of several assurances the energy crisis which should now be described as the energy disaster, continues to exist."At the end of the quotation, Ahwoi queried what the NPP government was doing now since Ghana is experiencing the same condition Kan-Dapaah was so critical about ten years ago.
Challenging the ECG to justify the load shedding exercise, Mr. Ahwoi said the current figures on the energy balances do not support the claims by the ECG for the load shedding. He said, in January last year, the Volta River Authority sold just 455,132 GWh of electricity to the EGG; February, 424.227 GWh and in March 470.775 GWh for onward sale to consumers.This notwithstanding, there was no load shedding and, therefore, Ahwoi questioned why there should be load shedding when for January, February and March this year, the VRA sold 438.385GWh, 414.527GWh and 471.161 GWh electricity respectively, quantities which are higher than last year's figures.
"Is it that some people are enjoying the electricity while others are suffering? There is something wrong somewhere and it must be looked at," he arguedMr. Ahwoi said it was rather surprising that the ECG was undertaking the load shedding exercise when electricity sales from VRA to ECG had been on the higher side since August last year when the load shedding began.The NDC member said, in the short term, the only way out is for the government to bring in more power generators which only have between one and 2.5 megawatts capacity and would run on diesel at a unit cost of production standing at 24cents per KWh and questioned who would pay for that cost. He said the government should also consider thermal plants that would require 18 months to two years to in¬stall and operate in. the medium term.
This, he noted, would use crude oil or natural gas, which Ghana does not have now, until the West African Gas Pipeline (W AGP) is here, saying all that there is to the W AGP is substituting one source of fuel for the other."Government was not smart enough to bring in more thermal plants and now this is where they have brought us to," he said, adding that he was aware a company by name GECAD and the VRA were putting up a 125 megawatt plant at Tema which, when completed by December, would use crude oil until the WAGP is in.
Commenting on the much-talked about nuclear energy, he said it would take a minimum of 10 years to get the first unit of electricity while the hydro would take a minimum of seven years to get the first unit of electricity.He said, while all these are being considered Government should look at the long term solution which must include hydro, thermal nuclear, wind and solar sources of power.Mr. Ahwoi advocated conservation of power; not only by domestic users but by industries, by way of the machines and the motors used and again questioned the whereabouts of the six million CFL energy saving bulbs that the government promised saying, if all households were asked to use the CFL bulbs, the nation could save 30 percent of the power being used now.
Source:The Heritage

Petrol Price Increased

THE National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has announced a review of the price of premium gasoline (Petrol).The review does not affect the other fuel products - diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas.Petrol will now sell at ¢9,400 per litre, representing an increase of six percent.John Attafuah, Chief Executive of the NPA, told the Times yesterday that he does not expect any increase in transport fares because the percentage increase in the price of petrol is minimal.
He explained that the review was necessitated by the change in the price of crude oil on the international market which hit 73 dollars last month.He noted that the demand for petrol on the international market had gone up, and that explained why petrol was the only product affected by the change.Meanwhile, the Ghana Road Transport Council has asked its members not to increase transport fares.
A statement signed by its chairman, Kojo Moses, said the council had unanimously decided at a meeting with the NPA on May 24 that if the price increase should affect only petrol and was pegged at six per cent, there would be no increase in transport fares.

Ghana is back on track with investment opportunities - Veep woos foreign investors

Accra, June 6, GNA-Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana's economic opportunities for private sector investors are back on track as...