Govt to take over VALCO - Kufuor

Kaiser Aluminium Company of the United States is negotiating with the Ghana Government to take over the administration of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) at Tema. Kaiser Aluminium, which currently owns about 90 per cent of the company, initiated the move, with the Ghana Government, which owns the remaining 10 per cent.

VALCO was established about 30 years ago, during the First Republic.

President John Agyekum Kufuor, who announced this at Cape Coast on Sunday, said a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Government and Kaiser Aluminium had been signed.

He was addressing a rally at the Victoria Park to climax the three-day National Annual Delegates' Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to "kick-start" the party's campaign for the 2004 elections.
President Kufuor said the bauxite deposits at Kibi and Nyinahin would be exploited to run VALCO to give an effective industrial take-off envisaged during the First Republic.
He said the nation was gradually regaining its lost glory, with the investments of big and well known international companies such as AngloGold merging with the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) and Newmont Company of the US, investing about 450 million dollars in the mining sector.
Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) and Ghana Breweries Limited (GBL) have also indicated their intention to merge their operations, which is being undertaken through the Ghana Stock Exchange all due to the enabling economic environment.
President Kufuor warned that Government would deal ruthlessly with people, who would attempt to subvert the country. He said democracy would work to protect the Government and ensure a free and fair election.
To herald the President's arrival, supporters and members of the party, who thronged to the park in their thousands, sung party songs and danced to music provided by K.K. Kabobo; Paapa Yankson, Felix Bell and Adane Best.
Some motor riders dressed in the party's colours also thrilled the gathering with some neck-breaking antics. More
Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama said it was the good works of the Government that would give the party a massive victory in 2004, adding: " We are democrats by choice and not by force."
He asked the delegates to return to their constituencies in unity and be more determined to return the NPP to power.
The Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo- Kufuor deplored attempts by some Ghanaians to derail the democratic system by resorting to illegal means to assume power.
"Ghana is not a conquered territory and does not belong to anyone but the people of Ghana", he stressed, and said people seeking to occupy the Presidency should do so through the ballot box.
Dr Addo Kufuor reiterated the confidence Ghanaians and the international community had in the Government and said: " Ghana is ready to take off because of the wise leadership of President Kufuor and his Government."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said Ghana was moving forward, but not backwards and decried that there was no need for any " sankofa", being peddled by some political parties. Madam Hawa Yakubu, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, described President Kufuor as a man of peace, integrity and truth, who stood tall within the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) saying: "If Ghanaians do not appreciate him, Africa will take him away from us."
She advised members and supporters of the party to understand the plight of the opposition, but should not allow them (opposition) to confuse them (NPP).

Kaiser Aluminium Company of the United States is negotiating with the Ghana Government to take over the administration of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) at Tema. Kaiser Aluminium, which currently owns about 90 per cent of the company, initiated the move, with the Ghana Government, which owns the remaining 10 per cent.

VALCO was established about 30 years ago, during the First Republic.

President John Agyekum Kufuor, who announced this at Cape Coast on Sunday, said a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the Government and Kaiser Aluminium had been signed.

He was addressing a rally at the Victoria Park to climax the three-day National Annual Delegates' Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to "kick-start" the party's campaign for the 2004 elections.
President Kufuor said the bauxite deposits at Kibi and Nyinahin would be exploited to run VALCO to give an effective industrial take-off envisaged during the First Republic.
He said the nation was gradually regaining its lost glory, with the investments of big and well known international companies such as AngloGold merging with the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) and Newmont Company of the US, investing about 450 million dollars in the mining sector.
Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) and Ghana Breweries Limited (GBL) have also indicated their intention to merge their operations, which is being undertaken through the Ghana Stock Exchange all due to the enabling economic environment.
President Kufuor warned that Government would deal ruthlessly with people, who would attempt to subvert the country. He said democracy would work to protect the Government and ensure a free and fair election.
To herald the President's arrival, supporters and members of the party, who thronged to the park in their thousands, sung party songs and danced to music provided by K.K. Kabobo; Paapa Yankson, Felix Bell and Adane Best.
Some motor riders dressed in the party's colours also thrilled the gathering with some neck-breaking antics. More
Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama said it was the good works of the Government that would give the party a massive victory in 2004, adding: " We are democrats by choice and not by force."
He asked the delegates to return to their constituencies in unity and be more determined to return the NPP to power.
The Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo- Kufuor deplored attempts by some Ghanaians to derail the democratic system by resorting to illegal means to assume power.
"Ghana is not a conquered territory and does not belong to anyone but the people of Ghana", he stressed, and said people seeking to occupy the Presidency should do so through the ballot box.
Dr Addo Kufuor reiterated the confidence Ghanaians and the international community had in the Government and said: " Ghana is ready to take off because of the wise leadership of President Kufuor and his Government."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said Ghana was moving forward, but not backwards and decried that there was no need for any " sankofa", being peddled by some political parties. Madam Hawa Yakubu, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, described President Kufuor as a man of peace, integrity and truth, who stood tall within the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) saying: "If Ghanaians do not appreciate him, Africa will take him away from us."
She advised members and supporters of the party to understand the plight of the opposition, but should not allow them (opposition) to confuse them (NPP).