The Government of Ghana intends to send a protest letter to the World Bank over uncomplimentary images of Ghana it displayed at its recent annual meeting in Washington DC.
The pictures, some of which captured half-naked women breast feeding their kids and bathing by the road side depict Ghana as a poverty-ridden country.
The pictures according to Daily Guide’s Felix Dela Klutse, who attended the program, were displayed on the World Bank’s computers installed on the 3rd Floor of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.
The Computers, which had a picture of the Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor as well as the country’s flag, also had pictures portraying the country as a land of abject poverty.
Usually, during the meetings, the Bank displays pictures of member countries on computers to showcase their economic prospects to delegates and investors.
The Government considers the pictures as damning and derogatory.
Citi News sources say a protest letter capturing governments’s displeasure and revulsion is being prepared to be served on the World Bank.
World Bank Country Director, Ishac Diwan has however apologized for the offensive pictures displayed which he said were about 20 years old.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Konadu Rawlings: I Don’t Support Mills
FROM DAILY GUIDE
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the first National Vice Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and wife of the founder of the party, is fuming over reports that she had said President Atta Mills would win the 2012 Presidential election.
Mrs. Rawlings is believed to have an appetite for the Presidency and has directed her anger at the Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, who she accused of deliberately spreading reports of her supposed support for an Atta Mills candidature for 2012.
She has expressed shock at the utterance of the Deputy Minister and asked him to immediately swallow his comments and apologize to her and the public he misinformed.
The former First Lady described the development as a part of an ongoing “shameless and spineless political agenda” by government to deliberately distort facts on issues concerning herself and her husband, ex-President Jerry Rawlings.
News broke last week from the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and other sources that Mrs. Rawlings had stated, during the handing over and induction ceremony of the Accra City Campus of the Tertiary Education Institution Network (TEIN) of the NDC that in 2012, Professor Mills would retire Nana Akufo-Addo, the Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), from politics.
Since then, a number of government spokespersons, including Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa, have echoed the report but with a lot of spin that suggests the former First Lady had declared her support for Mills. But Mrs. Rawlings has described the report as a pack of concocted lies.
A press statement issued last Friday on behalf of the former First Lady noted: “Mrs. Agyeman-Rawlings wishes to state categorically that she did not make statements on the fortunes of President Mills against Nana Akufo-Addo; another member of the panel at the ceremony made the statement about Akufo-Addo going into retirement in 2012.
“The former First Lady is also shocked that Deputy Minister for Information, Sam Okudzeto-Ablakwa who was at the function and heard her comments gave credence to the distortions by stating on Metro TV on Friday morning that she spoke of the fortunes of President Mills in the 2012 elections.”
Though the NDC has not opened nominations for flag-bearer aspirants for the 2012 elections, incumbent President Mills has made it public that he wants to be the party’s presidential candidate again so he could have a second term.
His main contender as at now is Nana Konadu who, though has not stated that she wants to lead the party in 2012, has given visible signals that she is galvanizing support all over the country.
Just over the weekend, she was said to be in the Volta Region to meet with party faithful in what is suspected to be one of her several subtle but effective flag-bearer campaign tours.
Meanwhile, government spokespersons have denied claims that Nana Konadu’s ambition has led to a rivalry and widening cracks within the party.
The press statement, in explaining exactly what Mrs. Rawlings said during her speech to the TEIN students, noted: “The thrust of Mrs. Rawlings’s speech was based on the future of our youth and the need for them to recognize their roots and work hard to leave a grand legacy for the next generation.
She quoted Rumoko Rashidi who said: “History is a light that illuminates the past and a key that unlocks the door to the future” and called on TEIN members to trace the history of the NDC, its objectives and why the student network was established as a branch of the party.
The statement continued: “Ghana, Nana Konadu said, was a collapsed state economically, politically and socially at the time the PNDC came into being but “through diligence, commitment and political astuteness we were able to turn Ghana round.”
She went on to rally the students to appreciate that it was their turn to make an impact on Ghana’s socio-political development, saying, “Your time is now!
“The objective of politics, Nana Konadu added, is social contentment in terms of good education, social infrastructure, health, housing and employment.
She said that poverty and hunger in developing countries were due to selfishness, lack of solidarity, and above all, poor governance and called for change in our attitude in order to restore people’s faith in politics.”
By Halifax Ansah-Addo
....Read More
Cocaine ‘Floats’ At Tema Harbour
FROM DAILY GUIDE
DAILY GUIDE has learnt that security agencies have intercepted huge amounts of cocaine at the western gate of the Tema Harbour.
Sources at the harbour said about 125 slabs of substances suspected to be cocaine are involved. Each slab weighed one kilogramme.
The narcotic substance was said to have been imported into the country on board Maersk Line container from the United States which docked at the port on October 9, 2010.
Three people, including the Managing Director of the clearing agency, Freight Accord Limited, are currently being interrogated by the security agencies.
Sources say the container in which the cocaine was found was imported by a company called Formula Trust.
The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) is said to have brought the narcotic substance to Accra for safe keeping while investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, security agents had seized the mobile phone of a reporter from Oman FM, Moses Dawutey, who was reporting live from the scene as at press time yesterday.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Beat Up Mills DCE
The Upper Manya Krobo District Chief Executive (DCE), Joseph Tetteh Angmor and the constituency organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ebenezer Kwabitey, were allegedly given the beatings of their lives on Monday when they went to a town in the district to restrain the youth from digging trenches across the main Koforidua-Asesewa road.
The youth, who are said to be mostly sympathizers of the ruling NDC, popularly known as foot-soldiers, decided to teach the DCE and his organizer a bitter lesson, after Mr. Angmor went there to ask them to stop the illegal digging. According to the youth, the digging was to help slow down speeding vehicles plying the road, after a private motorist ran into some school children.
The DCE was seen on Tuesday at Koforidua with a puffed face and blood-shot eyes, which confirmed the attack by the NDC foot-soldiers.
The incident happened around 4pm at Mensah Dawa, a farming community near the district capital, Asesewa.
According to DAILY GUIDE sources, the DCE also suffered the beatings because government had allegedly neglected the town.
The youth of the town said the DCE ‘brought himself at the right time’ because they had persistently asked for speed ramps in the town to slow down speeding vehicles but their request had fallen on deaf ears.
Sources told DAILY GUIDE that when the DCE arrived at the scene around 5:15 pm, he tried to let the youth know that their action was illegal but his intervention incensed them the more.
The angry youth therefore rushed on him and physically attacked him. He was alleged to have been beaten severely until he managed to escape into his car, leaving behind some of the party executives who had accompanied him to the scene.
When the DCE left, the angry youth visited their anger and frustrations on the constituency organizer who was also given serious beatings until a Good Samaritan came to his aid.
The area manager of Plan Ghana in the district, one Mr. Appiah, also became a target of the youth’s anger after he tried to question the rationale behind their action when he got to the scene in his car.
The angry foot-soldiers were said to have beaten the man mercilessly, leading to the loss of one of his teeth.
The Plan Ghana man is said to be on admission at a hospital.
When the DCE was contacted on phone yesterday, he told DAILY GUIDE that it was not true that he was attacked.
“I heard of the incident and the illegal action of the youth so I went there around 5:15 pm to talk to them and ask them to stop the illegal digging of the trenches across the road but the youth looked very incensed and aggressive so I quickly left the place to avoid any problem,” the DCE said.
He however confirmed that he left behind the constituency organizer who was assaulted by the youth.
He told DAILY GUIDE that the situation was terrible and the youth were uncontrollable so he reported the incident to the police who, according to him, had arrested one person in connection with the incident.
The DCE attended the national best teachers’ awards on Tuesday at Koforidua with a swollen face and red-shot eyes.
He was seen sitting quietly among the dignitaries and after the ceremony, friends sympathised with him for the ordeal he suffered at the hands of the angry youth.
At the residence of the regional minister, where a reception was held for the award winners and invited guests, he was also heard explaining his ordeal on phone to a friend.
The Upper Manya Krobo area is a known stronghold of the ruling NDC and the youth there are said to be very disappointed with how the government is handling development issues there.
From Thomas Fosu Jnr., Koforidua
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Kwesi Pratt Jnr : NPP “Stole” State Bungalows And Lands
The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., says as a result of the wanton “thievery” and “pillage” of state bungalows and lands by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), the current NDC administration is being forced to spend huge sums of monies on provision of accommodation for public and civil servants.
He accused NPP bigwigs of “stealing” state lands under the pretext of having bought them, and yet whine and carp that the ruling government is spending too much money on public and civil servants’ accommodation.
Contribution to a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s ‘Alhaji and Alhaji’ program, the radical social commentator pointed out that the laws of Ghana gives the original land owners the right or first option to buy back any landed property, if the government, for any reason expresses disinterest in the lands again, but the NPP simply ignored the land owners completely during all of the transactions.
The National Security Coordinator, Col. Anthony Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (rtd), who spoke on the same platform in an earlier interview, said his outfit is ready to ensure that state properties are properly safeguarded in the supreme interest of the people of Ghana.
Col. Gbevlo-Lartey was emphatic that all state lands which have found their way into private hands without legal basis and authorization, would be retrieved and put into proper use for the benefit of the whole nation.
It would be recalled that in the early part of September this year, a three-member Technical Committee set up to probe into the Re-development of Government Residential Properties in Accra during the previous administration, presented its final report to the National Security Coordinator. According to the report, the due processes under which state properties were sold to individuals and government officials were not followed and described it as illegal.
The three-member committee, comprising Mr. Richard Dornu Nartey, Dr. Lennox Kwame Agbosu and Mr. John Opoku, tasked the government to terminate the processing of the documents to the individuals and former government officials who bought the properties.
According to the committee, Cabinet should review the lease agreement of each of the sixty-seven allottees, to incorporate cabinet decision that frowns on the transfer of interest in grants made by the government to third parties.
The committee further recommended the immediate termination of the demolition of government bungalows, and the development of all the affected allocations, under what they called phase 2 of the Redevelopment Scheme, protocol, and in-filling allocations.
In addition, the committee called for the immediate withdrawal and termination of the processing of all leases, transfers, conveyances and instruments executed by the Lands Commission in favour of persons allocated the lands.
...Read More
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Nkrumah Personified the Tragedy of 20th Century Africa
Gabby Otchere-Darko
In a provocative lecture delivered to Pennsylvania University students and professors last Monday (on the eve of Founder's Day in Ghana), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko described Ghana's first President as the "personification of the African tragedy of the 20th century."
He said, it was ironic, but pregnant with subconscious meaning that BBC listeners voted Kwame Nkrumah as Africa's man of the Millennium in December 1999
"Precisely because, in my view, Nkrumah's leadership epitomised the African dream that decayed, the political freedom that was won and lost, the promise that was missed, the economic experiments that led to our detriment, triggering a long, avoidable period of instability and mass poverty."
He said, Nkrumah used his charisma, energy and urgency to inspire his nation to the promise of greatness, beginning with a GDP growth of between 9.12%, rapid industrialisation and significant expansion of social programmes. However, within a decade there was decline on nearly every major front -- civil rights, democracy, and the economy suffered -- and he ended up offering to a hopeful continent a model of leadership and a paradigm of governance that left a 50-year legacy of 'Afropessimism
UNITED STATES
The head of the Accra-based governance think tank, who was in the United States for a month-long series of public engagements, stressed, "in fact, the Nkrumah failure was Africa's failure or vice versa," yet, "we are happy to hail him as Africa's Man of the Millennium."
With undisguised irony, he said the Nkrumah story captures all that was wrong with Africa in the 20th century and that was why the founder of the CPP best represents Africa's millennium -- one of avoidable failure which the leadership of this new century must fix.
"It was apt he got the vote - over Mandela and others -- even if not consciously intended for the reasons I suggest because Nkrumah's failure served not only as a microcosm of Africa's failure but as the pace-setter for that continental failure which today has the majority of our people still steep in poverty."
The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute said, Ghana, being the first Sub-Saharan nation to break away from colonial rule readily offered not only a model for independence but more importantly on how Africa's new-found self-governance and development status were to be moulded.
In his lecture, 'Challenges and Opportunities for Africa's Democracy and Development -- Ghana's Historical Pace-setter Burden', Mr. Otchere-Darko called on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce their activities in Africa and, instead, redirect much more of such financial resources through the African Development Bank, which he described as "probably the greatest legacy of the defunct OAU."
Mr. Otchere-Darko praised the urgency with which the AfDB is attempting to lead the charge for Africa's development but for which it has not been receiving the commensurate funding.
"The AfDB," he said, 'continues to show unsurpassed courage and native care and wisdom that given a greater fiscal space it can better support Africa's development, especially, through the funding of essential self-paying infrastructural projects for a sustained Pan-African development."
He said, "a recent Afrobarometer survey done in East Africa showed that a vast majority of African people simply want the freedom to move and trade freely with each other across states without borders. They are not interested in either a political or defence union but in economic integration."
The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute said, Ghana, being the first Sub-Saharan nation to break away from colonial rule readily offered not only a model for independence but more importantly on how Africa's new-found self-governance and development status were to be moulded.
In his lecture, 'Challenges and Opportunities for Africa's Democracy and Development -- Ghana's Historical Pace-setter Burden', Mr. Otchere-Darko called on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce their activities in Africa and, instead, redirect much more of such financial resources through the African Development Bank, which he described as "probably the greatest legacy of the defunct OAU."
Mr. Otchere-Darko praised the urgency with which the AfDB is attempting to lead the charge for Africa's development but for which it has not been receiving the commensurate funding.
"The AfDB," he said, 'continues to show unsurpassed courage and native care and wisdom that given a greater fiscal space it can better support Africa's development, especially, through the funding of essential self-paying infrastructural projects for a sustained Pan-African development."
He said, "a recent Afrobarometer survey done in East Africa showed that a vast majority of African people simply want the freedom to move and trade freely with each other across states without borders. They are not interested in either a political or defence union but in economic integration."
He also cited Nkrumah's decision to take Ghana out of the West African Airways Corporation, forcing countries like Nigeria, the Gambia and Sierra Leone to form their own airlines, none of which is around today.
Still exposing the contradictions of Nkrumah, Mr Otchere-Darko referred to Sekou Toure, the Guinean leader and close ally of Nkrumah blaming the Ghanaian leader then for allegedly causing the overthrow of Togo's first leader, Sylvanus Olympio in January 1963.
"Four months later on 25 May, 1963, the OAU was established with Nkrumah making a strong case against imperialism and calling for solidarity among Africans and on other African leaders to support his zealous push for unity."
He continued, "Unlike Ali Mazrui, I do not think that Nkrumah was just a bad leader for Ghana, but also a bad example for the very Pan-Africanism that he preached all so well, to which we are all committed today."
Mr Otchere-Darko looked at the culture of vote-rigging in Africa today and traced its roots to the first Sub-Saharan nation to gain independence.
He cited the 1964 referendum on one party state -- where over 99.91% of Ghanaians were said to have voted 'yes' for a one party state, with a shocking series of zero 'no' votes being registered even in opposition strongholds.
Again, he cited the state negligence of private enterprise for state enterprise, while the money to sponsor the parastatals was provided by private cocoa farmers.
He mentioned the 'obnoxious' 1960 constitution which effectively created a republic dictatorship -- the provisions of which have been avoided by all subsequent constitution in Ghana and other African democracies
In a provocative lecture delivered to Pennsylvania University students and professors last Monday (on the eve of Founder's Day in Ghana), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko described Ghana's first President as the "personification of the African tragedy of the 20th century."
He said, it was ironic, but pregnant with subconscious meaning that BBC listeners voted Kwame Nkrumah as Africa's man of the Millennium in December 1999
"Precisely because, in my view, Nkrumah's leadership epitomised the African dream that decayed, the political freedom that was won and lost, the promise that was missed, the economic experiments that led to our detriment, triggering a long, avoidable period of instability and mass poverty."
He said, Nkrumah used his charisma, energy and urgency to inspire his nation to the promise of greatness, beginning with a GDP growth of between 9.12%, rapid industrialisation and significant expansion of social programmes. However, within a decade there was decline on nearly every major front -- civil rights, democracy, and the economy suffered -- and he ended up offering to a hopeful continent a model of leadership and a paradigm of governance that left a 50-year legacy of 'Afropessimism
UNITED STATES
The head of the Accra-based governance think tank, who was in the United States for a month-long series of public engagements, stressed, "in fact, the Nkrumah failure was Africa's failure or vice versa," yet, "we are happy to hail him as Africa's Man of the Millennium."
With undisguised irony, he said the Nkrumah story captures all that was wrong with Africa in the 20th century and that was why the founder of the CPP best represents Africa's millennium -- one of avoidable failure which the leadership of this new century must fix.
"It was apt he got the vote - over Mandela and others -- even if not consciously intended for the reasons I suggest because Nkrumah's failure served not only as a microcosm of Africa's failure but as the pace-setter for that continental failure which today has the majority of our people still steep in poverty."
The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute said, Ghana, being the first Sub-Saharan nation to break away from colonial rule readily offered not only a model for independence but more importantly on how Africa's new-found self-governance and development status were to be moulded.
In his lecture, 'Challenges and Opportunities for Africa's Democracy and Development -- Ghana's Historical Pace-setter Burden', Mr. Otchere-Darko called on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce their activities in Africa and, instead, redirect much more of such financial resources through the African Development Bank, which he described as "probably the greatest legacy of the defunct OAU."
Mr. Otchere-Darko praised the urgency with which the AfDB is attempting to lead the charge for Africa's development but for which it has not been receiving the commensurate funding.
"The AfDB," he said, 'continues to show unsurpassed courage and native care and wisdom that given a greater fiscal space it can better support Africa's development, especially, through the funding of essential self-paying infrastructural projects for a sustained Pan-African development."
He said, "a recent Afrobarometer survey done in East Africa showed that a vast majority of African people simply want the freedom to move and trade freely with each other across states without borders. They are not interested in either a political or defence union but in economic integration."
The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute said, Ghana, being the first Sub-Saharan nation to break away from colonial rule readily offered not only a model for independence but more importantly on how Africa's new-found self-governance and development status were to be moulded.
In his lecture, 'Challenges and Opportunities for Africa's Democracy and Development -- Ghana's Historical Pace-setter Burden', Mr. Otchere-Darko called on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce their activities in Africa and, instead, redirect much more of such financial resources through the African Development Bank, which he described as "probably the greatest legacy of the defunct OAU."
Mr. Otchere-Darko praised the urgency with which the AfDB is attempting to lead the charge for Africa's development but for which it has not been receiving the commensurate funding.
"The AfDB," he said, 'continues to show unsurpassed courage and native care and wisdom that given a greater fiscal space it can better support Africa's development, especially, through the funding of essential self-paying infrastructural projects for a sustained Pan-African development."
He said, "a recent Afrobarometer survey done in East Africa showed that a vast majority of African people simply want the freedom to move and trade freely with each other across states without borders. They are not interested in either a political or defence union but in economic integration."
He also cited Nkrumah's decision to take Ghana out of the West African Airways Corporation, forcing countries like Nigeria, the Gambia and Sierra Leone to form their own airlines, none of which is around today.
Still exposing the contradictions of Nkrumah, Mr Otchere-Darko referred to Sekou Toure, the Guinean leader and close ally of Nkrumah blaming the Ghanaian leader then for allegedly causing the overthrow of Togo's first leader, Sylvanus Olympio in January 1963.
"Four months later on 25 May, 1963, the OAU was established with Nkrumah making a strong case against imperialism and calling for solidarity among Africans and on other African leaders to support his zealous push for unity."
He continued, "Unlike Ali Mazrui, I do not think that Nkrumah was just a bad leader for Ghana, but also a bad example for the very Pan-Africanism that he preached all so well, to which we are all committed today."
Mr Otchere-Darko looked at the culture of vote-rigging in Africa today and traced its roots to the first Sub-Saharan nation to gain independence.
He cited the 1964 referendum on one party state -- where over 99.91% of Ghanaians were said to have voted 'yes' for a one party state, with a shocking series of zero 'no' votes being registered even in opposition strongholds.
Again, he cited the state negligence of private enterprise for state enterprise, while the money to sponsor the parastatals was provided by private cocoa farmers.
He mentioned the 'obnoxious' 1960 constitution which effectively created a republic dictatorship -- the provisions of which have been avoided by all subsequent constitution in Ghana and other African democracies
Law to prosecute prayer camp pastors
Parliament has been asked to enact a law to prevent pastors from keeping people with HIV/AIDS at prayer camps.
Dr Sampson B. Ofori, Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), who made the suggestion, expressed worry that some people with the disease go to prayer camps instead of reporting to hospitals.
He said that some of them after taking anti-retroviral drugs and realising improvement in their health discontinue taking the drugs only to emerge at prayer camps.
Dr Ofori said that by the time they return to the hospital their health condition had gone worse.
He was speaking at a workshop organized by the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council in collaboration with ADRA-Ghana, a non- governmental organization, on stigma and discrimination for stakeholders drawn from the region on Friday.
Dr Ofori reiterated that there was no known cure for AIDS and it was only the anti-retroviral drugs that could manage the disease.
He advised people with HIV/AIDS to report at hospitals to be put on the drugs.
Dr Ofori asked Ghanaians to go for Counseling and Testing to know their HIV/AIDS status.
He advised rape victims, to go to hospital within 72 hours for drugs that would prevent them from acquiring HIV virus in case their perpetrators are carriers.
Mrs Phyllis A. Kudolo, Project Manager, ADRA, said the organization sought to reduce HIV infection among vulnerable groups and the general population.
She said the organization was also distribution condoms and undertaking Counseling and Testing for HIV/AIDS and fighting against stigmatization of people with the disease.
Mrs Kudolo appealed for support for the project, especially the peer facilitators of the organisation.
Source : GNA
Dr Sampson B. Ofori, Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), who made the suggestion, expressed worry that some people with the disease go to prayer camps instead of reporting to hospitals.
He said that some of them after taking anti-retroviral drugs and realising improvement in their health discontinue taking the drugs only to emerge at prayer camps.
Dr Ofori said that by the time they return to the hospital their health condition had gone worse.
He was speaking at a workshop organized by the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council in collaboration with ADRA-Ghana, a non- governmental organization, on stigma and discrimination for stakeholders drawn from the region on Friday.
Dr Ofori reiterated that there was no known cure for AIDS and it was only the anti-retroviral drugs that could manage the disease.
He advised people with HIV/AIDS to report at hospitals to be put on the drugs.
Dr Ofori asked Ghanaians to go for Counseling and Testing to know their HIV/AIDS status.
He advised rape victims, to go to hospital within 72 hours for drugs that would prevent them from acquiring HIV virus in case their perpetrators are carriers.
Mrs Phyllis A. Kudolo, Project Manager, ADRA, said the organization sought to reduce HIV infection among vulnerable groups and the general population.
She said the organization was also distribution condoms and undertaking Counseling and Testing for HIV/AIDS and fighting against stigmatization of people with the disease.
Mrs Kudolo appealed for support for the project, especially the peer facilitators of the organisation.
Source : GNA
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
AGA Forecasts Higher Gold Prices
AngloGold Ashanti, the world's third-largest gold miner, last Tuesday, forecasted that gold prices already at record highs, could rise by between $70-$100 an ounce annually over the next five years as demand from investors accelerates.
"You can add about $70 to $100 an ounce each year over the next five years," AngloGold Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, told a teleconference.
The forecast is slightly below other forecasts, including world Number 1 gold producer, Barrick Gold's prediction of $1,500-plus next year.
Cutifani said fast-rising gold prices were outpacing increases in average global production costs now at around $950-$1,000 an ounce due to higher investment interest in both gold equities and direct investment in bullion via exchange-traded funds.
Spot gold hit an all-time high of $1,300 an ounce last Monday, extending a two-week rally on doubts of a global economic recovery soon.
Investors typically scoop up more gold when other investments, such as stocks and currencies look shaky.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, stood at 1,300.521 tonnes as of Sept 24, just shy of the record 1,320.436 tonnes held on June 29.
The price of gold has risen by 18 per cent so far this year.
AngloGold shares have risen by more than per cent, compared with a 3.1 per cent rise in Johannesburg's blue-chip Top-40 index.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
President Mills leaves for Japan
Accra, Sept. 28, GNA- President John Evans Atta Mills this evening left Accra for Japan for an official state visit.
He was accompanied by government officials and a group of Ghanaian entrepreneurs who are expected to interact with their Japanese counterparts.
While in Japan, President Mills will host talks with Prime Minister Naota Kan, pay a courtesy call on this Emperor Akihito, interact with the Japan federation of economic organisation which consists of leading Japanese companies, meet with the African diplomatic corps and also host the president of the Japan International cooperation Agency.
The President who had earlier on visited China was supposed to have continued straight to Japan from China as part of his two state visit but had to come back home per a constitutional requirement to be counted for the census 2010.
The President is expected home on October 3, 2010.
At the Airport to see the President Mills off was Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Ministers of States, senior Military and Police officers.
GNA
He was accompanied by government officials and a group of Ghanaian entrepreneurs who are expected to interact with their Japanese counterparts.
While in Japan, President Mills will host talks with Prime Minister Naota Kan, pay a courtesy call on this Emperor Akihito, interact with the Japan federation of economic organisation which consists of leading Japanese companies, meet with the African diplomatic corps and also host the president of the Japan International cooperation Agency.
The President who had earlier on visited China was supposed to have continued straight to Japan from China as part of his two state visit but had to come back home per a constitutional requirement to be counted for the census 2010.
The President is expected home on October 3, 2010.
At the Airport to see the President Mills off was Vice President John Dramani Mahama, Ministers of States, senior Military and Police officers.
GNA
Chinese blamed for dogs attack on Ghanaian worker
Friends of a sixty year-old security man who was attacked and almost killed by guard dogs at Teshie near Accra are blaming their Chinese employers for the incident.
Eyewitnesses say the dogs are kept by owners of China Geo Engineering Corporation, contractors working on the new Teshie General Hospital.
They say the dogs were on a stroll with one of the owners when they suddenly broke loose and pounced on the defenceless man.
A colleague of the victim has maintained that even though what happened could be described as an accident, their Chinese bosses must be blamed.
He said the dogs had attacked employees of the company on several occasions but the owners seem not to bother.
The administrator at the construction site, Joshua Bosomtwi, admitted the allegations of negligence, but said there was very little they could have done about it.
The victim is currently on admission at the La General Hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Source : Joy News/Ghana
Eyewitnesses say the dogs are kept by owners of China Geo Engineering Corporation, contractors working on the new Teshie General Hospital.
They say the dogs were on a stroll with one of the owners when they suddenly broke loose and pounced on the defenceless man.
A colleague of the victim has maintained that even though what happened could be described as an accident, their Chinese bosses must be blamed.
He said the dogs had attacked employees of the company on several occasions but the owners seem not to bother.
The administrator at the construction site, Joshua Bosomtwi, admitted the allegations of negligence, but said there was very little they could have done about it.
The victim is currently on admission at the La General Hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Source : Joy News/Ghana
Angry youth accuse Akyem chiefs of aiding galamsey
A group of angry youth in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area of the Eastern region, have questioned the essence of a ban on noise-making by the traditional authorities prior to the celebration of the local Ohum festival, while bulldozers and excavators used by galamsey operators make noise.
They have further expressed concern about the behaviour of some of the chiefs who they alleged had allowed the galamsey operators to function and then turn around to say they (galamsey operators) are degrading the environment. They accused the chiefs of allegedly collecting GH�2,500 from each of 10 illegal miners recently to condone their activities.
These concerns were expressed by the youth on Sunday when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by security personnel visited some of the sites to arrest galamsey operators.
The Security personnel arrested ten illegal miners and impounded six excavators and eight pumping machines.
Areas being excavated include sites belonging to the Abuakwa State Senior High School (ABUSCO), Kibi Teacher Education College and the Kibi School for the Deaf.
At ABUSCO, the illegal miners had mined a site for the school's football park and extended their activities close to one of the boys dormitories.
When the minister and his entourage reached the School for the Deaf, two of the operators, Kwadwo Kesse and Kwabena Kuma were busily working and the military arrested them.
The miners have diverted the Birim River about 100 meters from its course and dug trenches near the football park and a borehole for the school.
The Regional Minister did not hide his anger at the activities of the miners and the inaction of the community leaders whom he accused of sitting aloof for their land and environment to be destroyed.
“If I had my own way, I would have set fire to all the bulldozers and excavators so that they are not able to come to this area again, but the law must take its course,” he said.
He said about 80 pumping machines and several excavators had so far been impounded since the beginning of the year when the military started operations on the illegal miners.
Mr. Ampofo appealed to the Minerals Commission and the police to ensure that the laws on mining were enforced.
The minister advised the commission to involve the district assemblies in the granting of permits to miners so that the assemblies would know the areas the miners operate and control their activities. He commended the military and the police for their efforts to curb the operations of the illegal miners in the area.
The Akim Abuakwa Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Simon Peter Asirifi, expressed shock at the extent of damage to the environment and remarked: "I don't know where the people came from to work here".
Source : Ghanaian Times
They have further expressed concern about the behaviour of some of the chiefs who they alleged had allowed the galamsey operators to function and then turn around to say they (galamsey operators) are degrading the environment. They accused the chiefs of allegedly collecting GH�2,500 from each of 10 illegal miners recently to condone their activities.
These concerns were expressed by the youth on Sunday when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by security personnel visited some of the sites to arrest galamsey operators.
The Security personnel arrested ten illegal miners and impounded six excavators and eight pumping machines.
Areas being excavated include sites belonging to the Abuakwa State Senior High School (ABUSCO), Kibi Teacher Education College and the Kibi School for the Deaf.
At ABUSCO, the illegal miners had mined a site for the school's football park and extended their activities close to one of the boys dormitories.
When the minister and his entourage reached the School for the Deaf, two of the operators, Kwadwo Kesse and Kwabena Kuma were busily working and the military arrested them.
The miners have diverted the Birim River about 100 meters from its course and dug trenches near the football park and a borehole for the school.
The Regional Minister did not hide his anger at the activities of the miners and the inaction of the community leaders whom he accused of sitting aloof for their land and environment to be destroyed.
“If I had my own way, I would have set fire to all the bulldozers and excavators so that they are not able to come to this area again, but the law must take its course,” he said.
He said about 80 pumping machines and several excavators had so far been impounded since the beginning of the year when the military started operations on the illegal miners.
Mr. Ampofo appealed to the Minerals Commission and the police to ensure that the laws on mining were enforced.
The minister advised the commission to involve the district assemblies in the granting of permits to miners so that the assemblies would know the areas the miners operate and control their activities. He commended the military and the police for their efforts to curb the operations of the illegal miners in the area.
The Akim Abuakwa Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Simon Peter Asirifi, expressed shock at the extent of damage to the environment and remarked: "I don't know where the people came from to work here".
Source : Ghanaian Times
Thursday, September 23, 2010
inauguration of the Falcon 900EX presidential jet cancelled
The much-anticipated inauguration of the Falcon 900EX presidential jet in the country today has been cancelled as the military authorities have postponed the commissioning ceremony.
A statement issued by the Defence Public Relations (DPR) and signed by Flt. Lt. Francisca Aholo did not give any specific reasons why the ceremony could not be held today as promised.
The statement said the ceremony “has been postponed because the jet has not arrived.”
Attempts to get more details about the cancellation of the ceremony proved futile.
An official at the DPR told DAILY GUIDE that no reason was given and that a new date would be communicated to Ghanaians and the media later, probably when the jet finally arrives at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) where a hanger has been built for it.
The Falcon 900EX Easy aircraft was ordered by the Kufuor administration amidst scathing criticisms from the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
It was scheduled to be commissioned at what was expected to be a colourful ceremony at the Jubilee Lounge of the KIA at 3pm today.
When it finally arrives in the country, the Falcon 900EX presidential jet would replace the Fokker 27 aircraft ‘flying coffin’ that the Ghana Armed Forces have used for the past 37 years as a presidential jet.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
...Read More
Pastor Cries Out: As Soldiers Shoot His House
REV JOE Badu Danquah, founder and head pastor of Megaword Chapel International at Windy Ridge, a suburb of Takoradi, is claiming that he and his family cannot live in their house located at Apremdo Race Course near Takoradi.
According to the reverend, they could not stay in the house because military men from the Second Battalion of Infantry (2BN) in the area allegedly besieged the house last Friday and riddled his building with bullets.
Disclosing this in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the reverend minister noted that his family including wife and two kids have fled their beautiful house, since the incident, for fear of being killed and were lodging elsewhere.
Rev Danquah, who said he started living at the Race Course area barely a month ago, narrated that on Friday, September 17, 2010, at about 10:30 am while he was praying at the church, he had a call from a plumber who was working in the house that some military personnel had invaded the house and were shooting at the building.
He quickly rang the wife and informed her and after the prayers at about 1:30 pm, he, together with the wife, reported the case at Kwesimnitsim Police Station where they were given a member of the Community Police Unit (CPU) to accompany them to the house to assess the situation.
The reverend minister noted that when they got to the house, they realized that the main gate of the house was ajar, the security gate opened and bullets holes created all over the building.
“Three bullet holes were created in the sliding windows and many others in the building while my big deep freezer was also destroyed beyond repairs with gun bullets,” he lamented.
Rev. Danquah added that when he got to the house, he also realized that his generator worth over GH¢2,000.00 and abicycle had allegedly been taken away by the military personnel.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the pastor’s house at Apremdo Race Course, the bullet holes were very visible.
The reverend minister also conducted the paper round to see some of the items and gadgets that were destroyed in his house by the gunshots.
When asked whether he had legally acquired the land or had had any confrontation with the military personnel prior to the incident, the reverend minister said he had lawfully acquired the land from its owners and the proper documentations had also been done.
He explained that somewhere in November last year, some officers from 2BN came to the area and warned that any civilian who had encroached on their lands should vacate.
According to him, the distance from his house to the land area belonging to the Ministry of Defence was about 200 metres and therefore did not understand why the military took that action on that fateful Friday.
He noted that none of the children was in the house at the time of the alleged military action, but were traumatized when they heard the story and had decided not to stay in the house.
He appealed to the senior officers of the Second Battalion of Infantry to resort to dialogue in settling any misunderstanding, rather than the use of gun which frightened people living in the area.
An eyewitness and a neighbour to Rev. Danquah, who pleaded anonymity, claimed that he was in his room at about 10:30 am when he saw a vehicle approaching the area.
He said all of a sudden, he saw a number of military personnel coming from the bushes nearby with some of them shouting “come out!, come out!!” , after which he heard gunshots.
When contacted, Lt. Col. Albert Kojo Dawohoso, Commanding Officer of 2BN said what took place last Friday was a routine exercise by the military personnel at the Race Course.
According to him, the tracts of land at the Race Course belonged to the Ministry of Defence and that was where the military had their routine training, adding that the shooting exercise would continue unabated.
“It is therefore advisable for people living in the area to move away for their own safety,” he concluded.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
...Read More
Monday, September 20, 2010
Vodafone Launch BlackBerry In Ghana
Vodafone Ghana and Research In Motion (RIM), on Saturday outdoor one of the world's smart-mobile-phone “BlackBerry” brand to the Ghanaian telecommunication market.
Features of the Vodafone Blackberry solution include smartphone software, sound communication, calendar portal, multimedia and other inbuilt apparatus that allow easy wireless access to the world wide web, and extra security for business and lifestyle applications.
Speaking at the launch in Accra, Mr William A. Darkah, Head of Enterprise Operations, Vodafone Ghana, said the introduction of the new product was inline with the company’s promise to its customers to provide reliable service and product as part of it forth night camping dubbed “Power to You”.
BlackBerry is a line of mobile e-mail and smartphone devices, developed and designed by Canadian company (RIM) since 1996 as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar and to-do list capabilities.
It also functions as a portable media player with video playback and camera facilities and has the ability to send and receive (push) Internet e-mail wherever mobile network service coverage is present.
According to Mr Darkah, “BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone, which includes auto-text, auto-correct, text prediction, support for many languages, keyboard shortcuts, text emoticons, push email, push Facebook and Myspace notifications, among others.”
Mr Marc Norris, Director, Consumer Fixed Vodafone Ghana, said users of smart-mobile-phone would enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of staying in touch with their family and business panthers through the numerous technological offers.
“For the first time in the country, Vodafone prepaid customers can get daily unlimited browsing and electronic mails for only GH¢ 5.00; weekly unlimited browsing and e-mails for GHC 15.00 and monthly unlimited browsing, emails with 100 minutes of calls and 50 Short Messaging Service (SMS) for GHS 45.00.
“Vodafone Ghana offers the full and current range of BlackBerry devices offering our customers the mobility, convenience, security and efficiency that is necessary to run their virtual office," Mr Norris stated.
He explained that Vodafone customers on post-paid service would also enjoy 100 minutes of calls to all networks in countries including Ghana, the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom (fixed only).
Mr Norris said that the package also includes three gigabytes of data for GHC 35.00 per month.
He said that “For as little as GHC 75.00 per month, post-paid customers will receive a free BlackBerry smartphones, enjoy 400 minutes of calls to all networks in Ghana, the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom (fixed only), as well as three gigabytes of data, 200 free SMS and free calls among their user group.
Mr Deon Liebenberg, Regional Director of RIM for Sub-Sahara Africa, said: "Successful businesses in the 21st century would require superior technological solutions that give them the edge over their competitors.
He said, the Blackberry storm, Blackberry curve 8900, 8520, Blackberry bold 9700, smartphones are well balanced mobile phones that deliver advanced features, refined usability and stylish designs.
....Read More
McDonalds Arrives In Ghana
McDonalds, the world’s largest chain of restaurants serving more than 58 million customers daily is considering opening up branches in Ghana by early 2011. Seth El, a US-based Ghanaian businessman, who disclosed this to the Business Guide newspaper in an interview, stated that McDonalds would open its restaurant initially at some popular places in Accra such as the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Osu, Spintex road and the Accra Mall.
More of its branches would also spring up in a lot of the country’s cities later. The largest operator of McDonalds restaurants in Chicago, USA, one Canady is spearheading the move with some Ghanaian entrepreneurs resident in USA and UK. “We are also looking for a group of Ghanaian entrepreneurs who will partner Mr. Canady to run the business in Ghana as a joint venture,” Mr. El stated. McDonalds primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes and desserts.
In response to obesity trends in Western nations and in the face of criticism over its products, the company has modified its menu to include alternatives considered healthier such as salads, wraps and fruits. The business began in 1940 with a restaurant opened by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California.
....Read More
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