Palaver Challanges President Kufuor
Sale of CMS shares was publicly announced two months ago!
President Kufuor has not yet recovered from his monumental gaffe in announcing in his ‘State of the Nation’ Address on 8th February 2007 that Ghana will be receiving 200 megawatts of power from Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire within a fortnight of his speech before walking into another energy mess.
The President’s advisers had either not told him, or he himself had not understood, that there was no electricity inter-connectivity between the Nigeria grid and the Benin- Togo-Ghana grid and that even if Nigeria had the power to supply, there would be no transmission liners to carry it.
Since that embarrassing faux pas, Andrew Awuni the Presidential Press Secretary, Joshua Ofedie the VRA Chief Executive and Joseph Adda the Minister of Energy himself, have all tried without success to salvage some dignity and respect for the President.
Now matters are worse. From nowhere, President Kufuor waded into the affairs of CMS and TICO (Takoradi International Company), the Company that co-owns the Aboadze Thermal Plant with the VRA. The President chided and chastised the management for off loading its shares in TICO without advertisement and without notice to the Government or the VRA.
The President could not have been more wrong. It turns out that as far back as February 6, 2007, two days before the President read his ill-fated "State of the Nation" Address, CMS had advertised publicly the sale of its shares in TICO and other of its interests in companies around the world.
A simple reading of CMS Energy Form 8-K and 10-K would have availed the public information to President Kufuor and his advisers.
The advertisement on the Internet read as follows:
JACKSON, Mich., Feb. 6, 2007
CMS ENERGY ANNOUNCES SALE OF OWNERSHIP INTERESTS IN BUSINESSES IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA, AND INDIA
http://ww.answers. Com/topic/cms-energy-corporation
CMS ENERGY CORP (Form: 8-K, Received: 02/06/2007 08:57:39)
"The other businesses included in the sale are CMS Energy’s ownership interests in the Jorf Lasfar Energy Company in Morocco, the Jubail Energy Company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Takoradi International Company in Ghana, and the ST CMS Company in Neyveli, India. The sale doesn’t include the company’s non-utility North American electric generating plants."
We ask again: what is wrong with President Kufuor’s advisors? Are his energy experts not supposed to track the dealings of energy companies in which the Government has shares and which are of strategic importance to Ghana?
What about the Bank of Ghana? It claims that energy is one of the most important economic indicators that they watch. Did they watch the CMS Energy shares and other indicators? So how did it happen that President Kufuor was kept in the dark for nearly two months only to open his mouth in the most embarrassing manner by claiming that CMS Energy had sold its shares clandestinely?
Another faux pas by President Kufuor.
Another damage control exercise for the troika of Messrs Andrew Awuni, Joshua Ofedie and Joseph Adda.
Will they succeed with CMS Energy, when they could not convince even their own supporters in Ghana with the Nigeria power supply goof?
Time will tell.
Source:
Ghanaian Palaver
New Education Reform Launched
..JSS replaced by JHS
SSS will be SHS
Accra, April 11, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday launched a new Education Reform Programme that proposes eleven years of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) and four years of Senior High School (SHS) formerly Senior Secondary School (SSS).
The new system, which would be implemented from September 1, 2007, starts with two years of kindergarten for pupils at age four; six years of primary school at which the pupil attains age 12; to be followed by three years of Junior High School (JHS) till the pupil is 15 years. After the JHS, the student may choose to go into different streams of the four years of Senior High School which would offer General Education with electives in General, Business, Technical, Vocational and Agricultural Education options for entry into Tertiary Institutions or the job market.
President Kufuor noted that the reform was designed, among other things, to prepare the appropriate human resource in the form of skilled, technologically-advanced and disciplined workforce with the right ethics to service the growing economy.
He said the Reform placed emphasis on Mathematics, Science and Technology, but to develop a well rounded society, the Arts and Social Sciences would continue to receive the necessary support in the curriculum.
"This should promote Ghana's surge into the Golden age of business and national prosperity. It should also reinforce Ghana's role as a beacon nation in the resurgence of Africa as envisioned in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)."
President Kufuor said the expectation of the Education Reform, which coincided with the UN's Millennium Development Goals, was to advance the literacy rate to 100 per cent by 2015, pay special attention to girls' education to make them better mothers and heighten awareness of the environment to preserve national resources.
He said an Apprenticeship Programme, organized jointly by the State and Industry for skills acquisition would be available for students, who opted for employment after Junior High School, of which the cost of the first year would be borne by the State.
President Kufuor said the Reform also acknowledged the mastery of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a priority and that as skills in ICT had become crucial for the survival of the global world, government would extend the national broadband backbone connectivity throughout the country to facilitate the development of ICT infrastructure in schools.
President Kufuor said teacher quality was critical to the implementation of the Reform Programme at all levels hence the Government was committed to improving the conditions of service of teachers to motivate them to give of their best.
He said currently the upgrading and refurbishment of all the 38 Teacher Training Colleges in the country were underway and that 15 of them were being specially equipped for Science, Mathematics and Technology which constituted the new focus of the educational delivery programme.
He said the Government was establishing a National Teachers Council to regulate the profession and that a Distance Education Programme to upgrade teachers while still at post was ongoing to ensure that they were abreast with the best practices of their profession to serve all schools irrespective of their location in the country. He said Tertiary education would also benefit from the Reform as a policy was underway to expand residential accommodation, lecture halls, laboratories and libraries of the 15 Universities and 10 Polytechnics of the country.
He said the Educational Reform Programme had been under preparation since 2002 and commended Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba and his Review Committee Team for a remarkable work done in analyzing the educational structures and contents to make the Reform possible.
President Kufuor said nurturing a child was hardly the exclusive preserve of educational institutions and called on families; religious groups; nongovernmental organisations (NGOs); Civil Society at large and the Media to join hands with school authorities to create comprehensive network of oversight for a rational educational system.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, noted that a sober look at the country's education system brought out major failures, which if left unresolved would hinder efforts to propel Ghana to a great future.
He said about 60 per cent of Junior Secondary School (JSS) graduates left school ill equipped and not proficient in craft and technical skills to enter the job market.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah said the new Education Reform was the best that the country could afford, that would address these systemic faults and correlate to the needs of industry so as to maximize potentials.
He said the Reform had innovation at its core with the decentralization of Government's supervision and monitoring to enhance effectiveness and create a paradigm shift in the approach to education. Papa Owusu-Amkomah said some of the innovations included emphasis on literacy; numeracy, creative arts and problem solving skills, adding that lessons would be learnt through play at the kindergarten level. At the Lower Primary, English, Basic Mathematics Skills; Natural Science and the Dominant Ghanaian Language of the area would be taught. "Tackling the toughest problems is indeed the truest sign of leadership and to that extent we laud again the efforts of President Kufuor, Professor Anamuah-Mensah and countless other unsung heroes who have made this day possible."
Professor Jerome Djangmah, Chairman of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), who chaired the launch, urged the Government to ensure that conditions of service for teachers were improved to support the implementation of the Reform.
"If West African countries ignore their teachers, they will pay dearly for their sins" he said, adding that at the appropriate time Past Director Generals Ghana Education Service would send a memorandum to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to enhance the implementation process.
Source:
GNA
Big Demo To Hit Tamale
The biggest ever demonstration in the history of the Northern region is set to rock the Tamale metropolis.
A group calling itself the Concerned Citizens Association of Tamale (CCAT) had indicated its preparedness to embark on the demonstration against what is termed, “the desertion of the Tamale Teaching Hospital by Government and misuse of funds.
In a statement signed by its president, Mr. Basharu Dali, the group announced that the peaceful demonstration would come off on April 17, 2007 to register its displeasure over the delay in the rehabilitation of the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
According to the statement, the facility had never seen any meaningful facelift ever since it was commissioned more than three decades ago, leaving it in a deplorable state. It added that despite several appeals to successive governments, nothing was being done.
The statement indicated that on September 4, 2006 the group petitioned the Minister of Health through the Northern Regional Minister on the rehabilitation and refurbishment of the hospital, but nothing was heard about the matter.
Following this, the group organized a press conference, indicating that it would be compelled to embark on a demonstration by the end of March to re-echo its dissatisfaction over the state of the hospital if government did not take steps to rehabilitation the facility.
Responding to the statement, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mohammed Amin Adam said according to a report on the 29th page of January 26, 2007 edition of the Daily Graphic, government had sourced funding of more than 50 million Euros from the Dutch government to undertake the rehabilitation of the facility.
Source:
Daily Guide
Police arrest suspects in PM's murder
Atronie (B/A), April 10, GNA -
The Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Command has arrested 16 youth suspected to have murdered Mr. Anthony Yeboah Boateng, an administrator of the Goaso Government Hospital, on Easter Sunday at Atronie in the Sunyani municipality.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Lartey Lawson told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday the police on Monday mounted a barrier on the road to Atronie following the incident and a check in some vehicles led to the arrest of the suspects.
The suspects are all residents of the town but had bolted after the incident.
The deceased, who was the Presiding Member of the Asunafo North District Assembly, was murdered by some unidentified youth at Atronie near the police station and adjacent to the chief's palace. An eyewitness told the GNA that the late Mr. Boateng, his wife and a Catholic reverend sister were conveying the body of his aunt in his private car from Sunyani to the Goaso government hospital. On reaching Atronie at about 2100 hours the assailants had barricaded the road for a street jam to celebrate the Easter festivities.
The eyewitness said the youth ordered the deceased, who was driving, to stop which he did and when they went near the vehicle they saw the dead body in the car and suspected him to be a serial killer. "When Mr. Boateng came out from the vehicle to explain to the angry youth they attacked him with stones and other offensive weapons killing him instantly in the presence of the wife and the reverend sister who looked on helplessly", the eyewitness said.
The policeman on duty at the police station went in and attempted to rescue the deceased but the youth assaulted him. He whisked the deceased's wife and the reverend sister to the safety of the station before rushing to a near by clinic where he was treated and discharged.
When members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) visited the town most residents, particularly the youth, had deserted the town leaving only children and the aged.
Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC, condemned the act and consoled the family of the deceased. He gave the assurance that REGSEC would thoroughly investigate the case to bring the perpetrators to face the full rigours of the law. The Regional Minister appealed to the public to provide the police with information for the arrest of the assailants. The people of Atronie experienced serial killings early this year as a result of which the chief of the town ordered all non-citizens to leave the town.
In another development, Mr Amo, a 27-year-old science and mathematics teacher of the Seventh Day Adventist Junior Secondary School at Offuman in Techiman Municipality was on Tuesday stabbed to death by a friend.
Mr. Emmanuel Atodra Kyere, Assembly Member for Dankwaso electoral area, told the GNA the teacher had an argument with his friend, Washington Kwame Anim, unemployed, over a wrist watch during which Anim stabbed him in the ribs.
The teacher was taken to the Offuman Health Centre but was transferred to the Holy Family Hospital in Techiman where he died shortly on arrival.
The assembly member said Anim had absconded and the community had mounted an intensive search for him.
Source:
GNA
About 1,166 youth recruited under NYEP in Yendi
Yendi, April 10, GNA -
About 1,166 youths in the Yendi District of the Northern Region have been recruited for training under the National Youth and Employment Programme (NYEP).
Seven hundred and fifty had been engaged for the Youth in Agriculture programme, Youth in Teaching Assistant, 212, Youth in Nursing Assistants 148, Youth in Sanitation and Environment 46. Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, Yendi District Chief Executive, announced this in Yendi on Monday during the opening ceremony of a six-month training course for 148 of them who were recruited to become nursing assistant under the NYEP.
He said the District might require about 1,000 nursing assistants to help augment the health needs of the people, adding that the acute shortage of nursing professionals to adequately provide medical staff for the six health centres in the District accounted for the demand for the increasing intake.
Alhaji Tijani advised the youth to shun pride and respect the facilitators of the programme during their six-month training. Mr George Abraham, Yendi District Director of Ghana Health Services, said the successful trainees would be placed at various health centres in the area at the completion of the course.
He said examinations would be conducted to ensure the good ones capable of handling human lives are selected and employed for the NYEP. Mr Sampson Anin Abankwah, District's Medical Superintendent of the Government Hospital said the trainees would be taken through 16 topics some of which were; organizational structure of the health sector, current issues in health, ethics, patients rights and understanding the human body. 10 April 07Source:
GNA