GHANAIAN TIMES

The front page lead story in the Times carries a banner headline which says: "Judiciary not free from bribery - Justice Ampiah". The story says a Supreme Court Judge, Mr Justice A.K.B. Ampiah, has observed that adjudicators are under pressure to accept bribe in determining cases. "In the area of civil litigation, there is a cultural defect which insists that a citizen must pay the adjudicators to secure a verdict in his favour - I mean in plain language, offer bribe", the Times quotes him as saying. The Times says Mr Justice Ampiah was delivering the keynote address at the opening of a two-day seminar at Sunyani on: "Enforcement of Human Rrights in the courts and tribunals", for 80 Circucit and Tribunal chairmen and panel members. According to the paper, Mr Justice Ampiah said that type of corruption aside, there is also a certain attitude of Ghanaians condoned by judges and magistrates which insist that civil litigation should necessarily result in a proclaimed victory for one party. GRI

In another front page story, the Times reports that about 90,000 children world-wide have become orphans following the death of their parents from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Projections are that by the year 2000, the number of such children will rise to 160,000, the Times quoted Dr Kofi Asare, Brong Ahafo Regional Director of HJealth Services as saying during the launching of this year's "National AIDS Prevention Month" at Berekum. The Month is under the themme: "Children living in a world with AIDS". GRI

In an inside story headlined: "MEST to implement U.N. Convention on Biodiversity", the Times says the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), is coordinating various initiatives to establish mechanisms for the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in Ghana. The First of these intiatives, the biodiversity country study, has already been concluded, the outcome of which is being used to prepare the biodiversity strategy and action plan. The Times says these were announced by a Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Farouk Brimah at a two-day workshop on: "The management of bioprospecting in Ghana", in Accra. Dr Brimah said the country needs to develop the capacity to process some of the resources, "even to crude state before they are exported". "This will not only add value to our exports but also assist our local institutions to improve upon their research capabilities", he was quoted as saying. GRI