HIV/AIDS TREATMENT BEGINS IN DECEMBER – PG. 1
The paper reports that, Ghana is to start the full treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS with anti-retroviral drugs from December, this year. For a start, three medical centers, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Atua Government Hospital and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, will administer the treatment on pilot basis.
Dr. George Amofa, Director of the Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, disclosed this in an interview with the paper in Accra yesterday. According to him, the treatment, which will cost about $500 a year per patient would be subsidized by the government and Global Foundation, an international NGO, to cost ?50,000 a month.
MPs NEED SUPPORTING STAFF – S.K.B. ASANTE – PGS. 1 & 3
Nana Dr. S.K.B. Asante, a Constitutional Expert, has noted that for Parliament to effectively exercise its oversight responsibility on the Executive, individual members of Parliament must be equipped with technical experts and other supporting staff.
According to him, there can be no realistic discussion of an MP’s capacity to scrutinize executive acts without the benefits of such assistance and support. He was speaking on the empowerment of Parliament as an institution of democracy at the 16th Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra yesterday. It was organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
He said that lack of technical support and other resources had been serious and pervasive constraint on the effectiveness of MPs and their ability to scrutinize technical matters presented to them by the Executive. In contrast, he said the Executive was well equipped with a horde of experts, civil servants, consultants and international financial institutions.
ANGLOGOLD GETS SECOND NOD OF AGC BOARD – PG. 3
According to the paper, the Board of Director of AGC has again thrown its weight behind Anglogold’s revised merger offer of $1.5 billion even though Anglogold’s rival, Randgold upped its offer to $1.7 billion last week. After the board meeting yesterday, it said it had resolved unanimously to continue to recommend the revised merger proposal from Anglogold on October 14, this year.
Meanwhile the government is awaiting the findings of its financial adviser, Societe Generale, on the merger proposal.
MEDIA URGED TO BEHAVE PROFESSIONALLY – PG. 17
Mr. Justice G.K. Acquah, Chief Justice, has called on the media to exhibit a high sense of professionalism in the discharge of their duties to save people from needless grief and pain arising out of malicious publications.
He described recent revelations that, 80 per cent of cases settled by the National Media Commission (NMC) had gone against journalists due to their failure to cross-check facts as worrying and called on them to be circumspect in their reportage. He said this when he administered the oaths of office on 16 out of 18 new members of the NMC in Accra yesterday.
5. NUGS DELEGATION CALLS ON KUFUOR – PG. 16
A delegation of the NUGS yesterday informed President Kufuor and the government of the tragic death of Prince Abdul Hanan Adams, President of NUGS and Abu Anass, a second year Accounting Student of the University of Education, Kumasi Campus, in a motor accident last Saturday.
President Kufuor expressed his condolences and those of the government to the bereaved families and the student body, and advised them to stand firm and exhibit strength in this moment of grief.
She explained that before the constitution police personnel were legally retired at the age of 55. However, the 1992 constitution increased their retiring age to 60.
2. SIAMESE TWINS DIE – PG. 1
According to the paper, Siamese twins delivered at Saltpond Government Hospital last week have died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. They died on Friday night as a result of general infections. Dr. R.J. Nicholas, of the Department of Surgery Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, disclosed this to the paper in Accra yesterday.
He said they died just as the hospital authorities began investigations to determine their internal structures.
3. SOUTH AFRICAN ENVOY BIDS PRESIDENT FAREWELL – PG. 3
Dr. Magang Mineriki Phologane, out-going South African High Commissioner to Ghana, yesterday called on President Kufuor at the Castle, Osu to bid him farewell after four years duty tour in the country.
The paper says the fear being expressed by some Ghanaians that the NRC was set up by the Kufuor administration to seek vendetta has been allayed.
In an exclusive chat with Kweku Baako Jnr. Editor-in-Chief of the paper, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Kan Attafuah said, “this is a process that has political implications but it is not a partisan political process.”
According to the paper, using himself as an example, Dr Attafuah said he does not belong to any scheme, “and I don’t believe that the Commission is part of any scheme.
He also pointed out that he is a technocrat who has been asked by his country to do a job that he personally believes is one of the most important developmental issues in the history of this country.
Mr. Edward Dua Agyemang, Auditor-General, has noted that the issue of submitting an annual Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament is not automatic.
According to him, until the Ministries, Agencies and Department’s (MDAs) submit their annual accounts, the Auditor-General, cannot pore over or cause an audit into such accounts to enable the Audit Service, to examine the accounts and /or make due recommendations to government.
He said apart from the MDAs delaying in submitting their accounts, some ministries do not even have accountants, adding that until his advent, the Auditor-General’s Office even lacked qualified accountants.
He was speaking in an interview with the paper in reaction to a news Conference held by Prof. John Atta Mills, flagbearer of the NDC. He challenged Prof. Mills to tell Ghanaians whether the former Auditor-General under the NDC Administration did ever submit his annual Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament, on time.
He noted tha, Prof. Mills was Vice-President in the NDC regime and Chairman of that Government’s Economic Think Tank, and yet sat there, like a “lame duck” when there were reports that the Government’s payroll was bloated. Mr. Dua Agyeman adverted to the fact that since his ascension to office as Auditor-General on April 21, 2001, he has been able to detect so many ghost names on Government payroll that had saved the state an amount of ?5 billion and an additional ?2.8 billion.
He claimed that under the NDC regime, there were arrears of Auditor-General’s Reports to Parliament in addition to serious frauds and financial malpractices now being discovered by him.
The paper says it has laid hands on a document which tells certain fundamental truths about the economy but which unfortunately are being kept secret from the people of Ghana.
The paper states that, it is a letter to the IMF Managing Director, Mr. Kohler, jointly signed by Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, and Dr. Paul Acquah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
According to the paper, the letter seeks to amend the earlier “Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policy” dated March 31, 2003, from the two gentlemen to the IMF Managing Director.
The paper says in the letter, the NPP Government explains that the amendment is to account for the sharp increase in prices in early 2003, resulting from the positive shock of a 90% increase in domestic petroleum product prices and further adjustment in utility tariffs towards full cost recovery.
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