From Ghana Review International

The following are stories from the Ghanaian newspapers which have not been verified by GRi. We cannot therefore vouch for their accuracy

Ghanaian Times: Mop up illegal arms...Presby Church urges govt


The Ghanaian Times reports that the Presbyterian Church of Ghana yesterday, called on the government to mop up illegal small arms in the society, which had led to the high incidence of armed robbery in Ghana in recent times.


In a front page lead story, the Church is reported as saying "government must also ensure that the security agencies, whose responsibility it is to protect life and property, are disciplined, motivated and well-equipped to combat the crime wave in Ghana".


The call is said to have been made by the Right- Reverend (Dr) Sam Prempeh, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church at a news conference in Accra to throw more light on a communique issued at the end of the 70th Synod of the Church in Kumasi, last month. He said:


"The recent spate of violence in Ghana is disturbing for all the people, because the trend threatens the personal security and safety of Ghanaians and undermines the tranquillity and conditions necessary for development and nation-building".


According to the Times, Rt-Rev. Prempeh said the church condemned the recent spate of crime in no uncertain terms and appealed to Ghanaians to co- operate with the security agencies to eliminate the threat to life by providing information on the identity and activities of known armed robbers.


Daily Graphic : User fees go up at Korle-Bu Hospital


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In a front page story, the Daily Graphic says the Board of Directors of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, has approved an average of 100 per cent increases of the hospital's user fees with effect from September, 1, this year. he increases are said to help management of the hospital to meet the rising cost of providing services and sustain the operations of the hospital.


The Graphic says in line with the increases, issuance of folder and documentation on adult patients will now attract 5,000 cedis as against 2,000 cedis while consultation fee has been raised from 4,000 cedis to 15,000 cedis.


On subsequent visits, adult patients will pay 2,500 cedis for folder and documentation and 10,000 for consultation. Children will pay 2,500 cedis and 7,500 cedis for folder/documentation and consultation services respectively.


The previous fees were 1,800 cedis and 2,200 cedis respectively. The Graphic says at the Korle-Bu Polyclinic Out-Patients Department (OPD), card and identity card will cost 5,000 cedis while consultation will be 10,000 cedis as against the previous 1,200 cedis and 2,800 cedis respectively.


The paper quotes sources close to the Korle-Bu management as saying that the increases follow submissions by the various consultants and clinical heads for a review of the old fees.


The Crusading Guide : Presidential jet palaver...Pratt calls for removal of govt!


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In a front page screamer, the Crusading Guide reports Mr Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. Managing Editor of the "Weekly Insight" as saying that the time has come for Ghanaians to rise up and kick the Rawlings regime out of power before it destroys the national economy completely. e is said to have charged that "the government is reckless in the extreme, its sense of priority is warped and it is oblivious to the suffering of the people of Ghana, who have had to endure its mismanagement for 18 years".

The Crusading Guide says Mr pratt was reacting to the reported lease of an estimated 117 billion cedis Presidential jet by the government in the midst of the serious economic crisis facing Ghana. "I am utterly shocked by this clearly insensitive and reckless action of the government, especially at a time when the Rawlings regime is shirking its responsibility to make education and health service available to all Ghanaians", he is quoted as saying.


He questioned how the government could be taken serious when it pleads that the national budget is so over-loaded that it cannot continue to subsidise education, agriculture and health.


The paper says Mr Pratt noted that it is important to realise that the lease of the Presidential jet (with the option of purchase) has taken place at a time when the prices of Ghana's major exports, including cocoa and gold, have fallen drastically on the world market.


The Independent: Public disapproves of 117 billion cedis Presidential 'toy'


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The Independent says public reaction to the purchase of a Presidential jet, estimated at between 40 and 45 million dollars, shows that a cross-section of Ghanaians are disappointed at the purchase.


It says the government has indeed been aware of such reaction. According to the Independent, in December 1997, the government, in order to prepare the minds of the public for the arrival of the jet, which it had already bought, leaked a story to the state-owned media which said that the Council of State, the constitutional advisory body to Ghana's President, had for the safety of Ghanaian Head of State, recommended that a new Presidential jet be bought.


The paper says the "Fokker 27" which President Rawlings had travelled in had on several occasions, developed technical problems, a factor that might have prompted the 'purely non-technical advice'.

The Guide: 43 billion cedis election loan unrecovered


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The Guide in a front page story, says while the universities are grinding to a halt and the future of Ghana's youth is being jeopardised, NDC activists, who were granted a whooping loan of 43.5 billion cedis in two successive years, are still holding on to it. According to the paper, the loan was granted to the Council for Indigenous Business Association (CIBA) in 1995 and 1996 by the government prior to the general elections. The Guide says in 1995, a total of 13 billion cedis of taxpayers' money was given to CIBA as loan.


A further loan of 30.5 billion cedis was given to the association, the following year, which happened to be election year, adds the paper.


CIBA, the Guide says, is made up small-scale artisans and tradesmen and women (hairdressers, seamstresses, tailors and carpenters, among others), who were organised in 1995 for financial support which was politically- motivated to ensure victory for the NDC in the 1996 general elections.


Quoting an Accountant-General's report, the paper says as at the end of last year, the loan had not been repaid and there are no signs it would.


The Guide says according to sources part of the money was used to import some party paraphernalia for the elections, adding that many of the beneficiaries of the loan, including small-scale beer operators, see the money as political resource used to promote a political cause.


Accra Mail : Remanded for multiple sale of land

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The Accra Mail reports in an inside page story that Mavis Sackey, a trader, who went into hiding after defrauding a female colleague in the sale of three different plots of land, has been remanded in custody, when she failed to deposited 2 million cedis as a condition for bail.


Mavis Sackey, who pleaded not guilty, is to re-appear before the court on September 27, this year.


The prosecution, the Accra Mail says, told an Accra Court presided over by Mrs Elizabeth Anderson-Yeboah, that in July 1994, the complainant Mrs Mavis Amon bought a plot of land on behalf of her sister from Mavis Sackey at Okpai-Gonno, Nungua, near Accra for 4 million cedis.


When Mrs Amon started developing the land, she was challenged by another person, who claimed ownership of the same land, even though Mavis Sackey had prepared an indenture and a site plan on the land for her.


According to the prosecution, Mrs Amon informed the accused person, who later gave her another piece of land at Baatsonaa on the Spintex Road in Accra, with another indenture and a site plan covering it.


Again when Mrs Amon decided to develop that land, she realised someone had started building on it. She conducted a search at the Lands Commission Secretariat in Accra where the documents indicated that both plots of land belonged to Manet Housing Limited and the National Trust Holding Company (NTHC) Properties Limited.


The Accra Mail says, Mrs Amon, sensing foul play, approached Mavis Sackey for a refund of money but the accused refused and insisted on replacing the land for the third time. Mrs Amon declined the offer and made a report to the police in August, last year, the paper concludes.