President Kufuor yesterday challenged scientists to help the government to demystify science and technology, bring them into the public domain and infuse them into the psychology of all Ghanaians.
He said over the years, science had maintained what he described as ?an intimidating and mysterious image as a preserve of only the highly intellectually-endowed individuals.?
President Kufuor threw the challenge at the first national forum on harnessing research, science and technology for sustainable development in Accra.
The five-day forum, which is being attended by seasoned scientists and school children, is on the theme ?Evolving and Sustaining a National Vision of Science and Technology Research as the Engine of Economic and Social Advancement in Ghana.?
It is being organized by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the Ministry of Environment and Science, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research among others.
The forum is aimed at creating an awareness of research, science and technology in the Ghanaian public in the context of a global culture that has become predominantly scientific, elicit strong commitment at the highest level of the political leadership and public policy makers to give concrete support to research and science and technology to constitute the foundation of national development goals.
2. TOGOLESE ENVOY COMMENDS GRAPHIC ? PGS. 20 & 21
According to the paper, the Togolese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ghana, Mr. Jean-Pierre Gbikpi Benissan, has commended the management of Graphic Communications Group Limited for helping to improve the healthy relations between his country and Ghana.
He noted that the recent full report on Togo?s 37th Independence anniversary by the ?Graphic? and an interview with President Gnassingbe Eyadema, offered Ghanaians a better insight into Togo?s development process and the difficulties associated with it.
Ambassador Benissan made the recommendation when he called on the Editor of the ?Daily Graphic?, Mr. Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh yesterday.
He was accompanied by Mr. Ebow Godwin, a Ghanaian journalist based in Lome.
3. MURDER OF 3 HIGH COURT JUDGES AND RETIRED MAJOR. RAWLINGS WAS AWARE BEFORE NATIONWIDE BROADCAST, FORMER ATTORNEY-GENERAL TELLS NRC ? PGS. 1 & 3
The paper reports that, Mr. Justice G.E. K. Aikins, former Attorney-General and Supreme Court Judge, yesterday said that the Chairman of the erstwhile P(NDC), Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was aware of those who abducted and killed the three High Court Judges before his nationwide broadcast on July 4, 1982.
He told the NRC that he was in a meeting with former President Rawlings at his office at Gondar Barracks on July 2, 1982, when the late Joachim Amartey Kwei informed them that ?Sir, we have finished with them.?
Justice Aikins, who appeared before the Commission as a witness also revealed that a former Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Johnny Hansen, told him that he would be among the next people to be abducted and killed, if he did not abort the probe by the Special Investigations Board (SIB).
According to him, there was pressure from the Castle, and Capt. Kojo Tsikata (rtd) was one of those exerting pressure on him to stop the investigations.
He said he was, therefore, surprised to hear the Chairman of the PNDC, Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings announce to the nation on July 4, 1982, that the act was perpetrated by the enemies of the revolution.
4. 440 PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO BE UPGRADED ? BK. PG.
According to the paper, government is to upgrade four primary schools in each of the 110 districts under a programme scheduled to begin next year.
The facelift of the 440 schools is designed to increase enrolment and improve teaching and learning to prepare the pupils adequately for Junior Secondary School education.
Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, who disclosed this said, for instance, that after the upgrading programme, 31 primary schools would have their intake increase from 1,000 to 2,000.
He was speaking at a rally organized by the Subin Constituency of the NPP at the Jackson Park in Kumasi.
The paper can today reveal that the Deputy Director-General at the GBC, Ken Amankwah, has launched his own astonishing personal attack on his boss, lending the weight of his seniority to the more Junior GBC staff demands.
It is also pursuing a programme to improve on the structures of the nation?s universities to ease the current congestion in the lecture halls.
The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Mr. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, who announced this at Kumasi was addressing an NPP rally at the Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region to sensitize the party supporters on the voters registration exercise beginning today.
According to the paper, under the university lecture halls expansion project, the government had given ?20 billion each from the GETfund, to University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and University of Cape Coast.
2. VOTERS REGISTRATION BEGINS. EC GIVES SCOPE ? PGS. 1 & 3
The Electoral Commission (EC) says that although it has all the requisite logistics and personnel to commence the national voters? registration exercise today, the exercise cannot be completed by March 29, as originally announced.
?That is because the 2,073 cameras are insufficient to take pictures at all the 21,000 registration centres throughout the country, within the stipulated period.?
Mr. Kwadwo Sarfo Kantanka, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, said this at a press briefing in Accra yesterday on the preparations for the registration.
According to the paper, only eligible voters in the Upper East and West Regions will have their pictures taken and printed alongside the collection of their data between today and March 29.
3. PARLIAMENT PROBES VRA ? PGS. 1 & 3
According to the paper, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, has constituted an 11 ? member special committee to investigate the financial management, procurements, technical operations and transaction agreements of the Volta River Authority (VRA) from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 2003.
The investigations include any related or consequential issues affecting the efficient administration and operations of the VRA.
According to the paper, the committee was set up following a motion brought before the House by Mr. Seidu Adamu, member seeking the House to investigate the operations of the VRA. He did not state a time frame.
The move, he said was ?to safeguard, protect, and preserve? VRA, a strategic infrastructure that provides a foundation for industrialization and social ?economic development.
According to the paper, the Embassy of Russian Federation in Ghana yesterday reported that eighty-four per cent of Russian citizens in Ghana voted for President Vladimir Putin in the Russian presidential elections held over the weekend.
His rivals got the following results 7.9 per cent of voters supported Sergey-Glazyev, 4.9 per cent voted for Irina Khakamada and around one per cent voted for Oleg Malyshkin. Two percent of voters cast their ballots against all candidates.
On the whole, more than one hundred Russians living in Ghana came to the polling station organised in the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ghana.
The paper added that, the elections were held in an organised way, with no wrongdoing or complaints from voters.
The issue of Franchising Ghanaian citizens living abroad last week came to a head in Ghana when the government tried to introduce a bill in Parliament under a certificate of urgency to start the process of getting Ghanaians living abroad to vote in Ghanaian election.
2. IGP ASSURES ELECTORAL COMMISSION? AND CAUTIONS POLITICAL PARTIES ? PG. 1 & BK. PG.
The paper reports that, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Nana Owusu Nsiah, yesterday pledged that the police would not interfere in the work of the Electoral Commission, before or after this year?s general elections.
He said the police have resolved to be more? responsible and professional in their duties and would co-operate and give the Commission the needed support to ensure that both the registration exercise and the elections are free of incidents.
The IGP urged police personnel to desist from selective justice and exhibit high professionalism in their duties. He reminded them that the service, was not set up to indulge in party politics, but was mandated to maintain law and order efficiently and remain neutral in the performance of its duties.
Nana Nsiah made the pledge at a meeting with police personnel, opinion leaders, the media and political party representatives at Cape Coast.
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