TWO MORE IN POLICE GRIPS FOR ATTEMPTED BRIBERY (PAGE 32)

Two persons who attempted to bribe the District Commander of the Assin Fosu Police with GH¢300.00 to drop a case over 50 bails of treated mosquito nets have been placed in custody.
The two, who are assisting the police in investigations into the case, are Ken Breku and Kofi Kyere.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Akwasi Kankam-Boadu, who is also the District Police Commander, the two went to his house and made the offer, which he refused.
DSP Kankam-Boadu said on Saturday, April 18 the police intercepted two metro mass transit buses with registration numbers GR 5780 Y and GR 4462 with 20 and 30 bails of treated mosquito nets respectively.
He said when the conductors of the buses, which were travelling from Fosu to Accra were quizzed, they told the police that the nets were given to them by someone who said the owners would meet them in Accra, and collect them.
He said not satisfied with their explanation, the police impounded the nets and while investigations were going on Breku and Kyere went to his house and made the offer.

CHURCH ORGANISES SCREEENING FOR THE AGED (PAGE 20)

The Christ Church Anglican Cathedral in Cape Coast has organised a clinical session, medical screening, mass and get-together for the aged of the church and their families in recognition of their contributions to the church, community and the country.
Briefing the press at the ceremony, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Eric Amunquandoh, said the activities formed part of the church’s social responsibility to the elderly.
Dr Amuquandoh said each year about 200 adults benefited from such activities and that the church also donated to the adults who used the occasion as a point of interaction.
He said besides the screening for high blood pressure and diabetes, among other ailments, the beneficiaries were also given first line drugs.
He said the medical team also visited the aged who were confined to their homes and could not attend the programme at the church’s premises due to their conditions.
Mr Anthony Panyin Arhin, People’s Warden of the church called on society to support the aged who had made meaningful contributions to nation building.
He called on the youth to respect the elderly and lead exemplary lives in order to become useful citizens of the country in future.
He described the event as a forum for the aged to meet old friends apart from its health and spiritual significance.

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Poverty reduction in CR..ILO TO THE RESCUE (PAGE 20)

THE International Labour Organisation (ILO), in partnership with the government and other social partners, has initiated a programme aimed at reducing poverty in the country.
The programme, dubbed: “ILO’s Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP),” aims at removing social, legal, economic and other insecurities in the formal sector.
Under the DWCP, a Local Economic Development (LED) initiative was piloted in two districts and successfully replicated in two others, all in the Central Region between 2003 and 2007.
Through dialogue and partnership building, district assemblies and the local private sector, mainly small business associations from the informal sector, collaborated to determine economic opportunities in their localities with the view to exploiting them for increased production and job creation.
The framework was developed under the Sub-Committee for Production and Gainful Employment (SPGEs), which now serves as a permanent forum for public private partnership at the local level.
Based on the success of the pilot and its replication, the ILO now intends to extend the scheme to six additional districts, with additional focus on knowledge development and capacity building for more effective policies to reduce poverty in the beneficiary districts.
The programme targets women and men, especially the youth of the informal sector as well as those employed or aspiring to work in micro, medium and small scale enterprises.
Currently, the programme in the Central Region is being pursued in four districts - the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Effutu, Mfantsiman and Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira.
At a review workshop held for the SPGEs at the Teachers Resource Centre at Saltpond last Thursday, Dr Nii Moi Thompson of International Projet Expert and Local Economic Development (LED) charged the SPGEs to work hard and map out strategies to ensure the success of the programme in their respective areas.
Dr Thompson said most of the time projects had taken off with high expectations only to fizzle out as soon as donor partners handed them over to the participating communities.
The Municipal Co-ordinating Director of the Mfantsiman Municipal Assembly, Mr Amoako-Kwarteng, urged the participants to take the workshop seriously in order to formulate plans and programmes that would exclusively address the developmental challenges with the view to improving the lot of the majority of the rural people.
In a presentation, Mr Patrice A. Caesar Sowah, the National Project Officer of the Youth Employment and Women Entrepreneurship, called for positive action in support of women and the youth and the development of knowledge-base women entrepreneurs.
He also called for the promotion of representation, advocacy and voice, innovative support services for women entrepreneurs, strategic alliances and gender mainstreaming.

FOUR DIE IN ACCIDENT AT MPEASE (PAGE 31)

Four persons died, two on the spot and the other two later in the hospital, when a 33-seater Benz passenger bus and a Hyundai truck collided at Mempeasem on the Elmina-Takoradi Highway on Easter Monday.
Twenty-eight others who sustained serious injuries are on admission at the Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast.
According to the Elmina District Police Commander, Superintendent Joseph Haywoode, the accident occurred around 6 p.m. when the Hyundai truck, which was heading towards Takoradi, in an attempt to overtake a fleet of vehicles, ran into the Benz bus which was coming from Takoradi.
Supt Haywoode said even though the driver of the passenger bus attempted to avoid the truck, he could not because the truck had completely taken over his lane.
He said so far only the driver of the Benz bus had been identified as Joseph Essien, while the rest of the victims were yet to be identified.
He said the impact was so great that the passengers sustained serious injuries, with one woman having one of her legs completely chopped off.
Supt Haywoode said people had been trooping to the hospital to look for their relatives.
He attributed the seriousness of the injuries sustained by the passengers to the rough metals used in making the seats of the Benz bus.

ASSEMBLY MEMBERS URGED TO BE VIGILANT, CHECK CORRUPTION (PAGE 15)

The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe has asked assembly members to be vigilant and check corruption in their respective assemblies.
She said, as representatives of the people, they should ensure that the tax payer’s money was utilised in a responsible way to champion the cause of the people.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe also asked the people to be patient and rally behind the government to address their challenges.
Addressing separate durbars of the chiefs and people of Breman Nwomaso and Jamra to mark their annual Okyir festival last Thursday, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said it would be too early to judge the government of Professor John Evans Atta Mills as incompetent in solving the myriad of challenges facing Ghanaians.
She said with his background and experience under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, President Mills was in a better position to tackle the problems of the economy.
The regional minister advised the people to revitalise the communal spirit in the area and use their festive occasions as periods for stock taking and making of new plans for the future.
She also gave the assurance that new metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives would be appointed soon to enhance the decentralisation process.
The Chief of Nwomaso, Nana Odanfo Akyen IV, called on the government to provide classroom blocks for the school to absorb the growing number of children in the town.
Nana Tutu Abaam III, Chief of Jamra, explained that the importance of the festival was to bring reconciliation, peace, a bountiful farming season as well as ensure a healthy environment.
He called on the government to offer good leadership and provide the needed infrastructure to enhance the living standards of the people of Ghana.

ENCOURAGE INVESTORS TO DO BUSINESS IN CR (PAGE 28)

THE Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, has urged the United States Ambassador to Ghana to impress upon private investors to do business in the region in order to speed up the development of the area.
She said the region, which is the cradle of education and tourism of the country, is ranked among the most deprived in the country despite its potentials in agro and fish processing.
Speaking during a courtesy call on her by the US Ambassador, Mr Donald Teltelbaum, Mrs Benyiwa-Doe said the region abounded in citrus, pineapple, palm oil production, fishery resources and salt mining, which could be exploited to create jobs and wealth to alleviation poverty.
She commended the US for assisting in the conservation project at the Kakum National Park and the restoration of the forts and castles in the region through the United States Agency for International Development.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe expressed the hope that the scope of co-operation would be expanded for the mutual benefit of their peoples.
Mr Teltelbaum pledged to explore more areas of co-operation between the two countries.

EYE-SCREENING FOR 52 ASSIN COMMUNITIES (PAGE 28)

VISION Aid Overseas (VAO), a United Kingdom based non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with World Vision, Ghana has organised an eye-screening for people in 52 communities in the Assin North and Assin South districts in the Central Region.
The two-week exercise was carried out in four centres, namely Fosu and Akropong in Assin North and Nyankumase Ahenkro and Amoaben in the Assin South districts.
Briefing the press during the exercise at Assin Fosu, Mr Alex Kumi-Okyere of the Assin District Project of World Vision, Ghana, said a total of 1,806 people were given free medicated glasses while 680 were referred for specialists attention.
Mr Kumi-Okyere said eye diseases identified during the exercise included cataract, trachoma and glaucoma.
The team used the exercise to educate the people on how to keep their eyes safe since they are vital organs that empower people to be more productive.
An Ophthalmologist, Mr Peter Varees, the leader of the medical team, commended the people for the high patronage of the exercise.

COURT STRIKES OUT ASSAULT CASE (PAGE 28)

A CAPE Coast Circuit Court has struck out the case of assault filed by the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA), Dr J.S. Annan, against the former Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur.
Dr Annan, who is also a Deputy Minister of Education, has formally sent a letter to the court to discontinue the case for an out of court settlement.
The court presided over by Mr Beresford Acquah consequently struck out the case and awarded no cost.
It would be recalled that prior to last December’s presidential and parliamentary elections, Dr Annan accused Nana Ato Arthur of assaulting him during a confrontation over voters’ transfer at the premises of the KEEA’s offices of the Electoral Commission.
Dr Annan who was not in court, did not assign any reason for his action and the court had no objection than to grant his request and subsequently struck out the case.
When the Daily Graphic contacted Nana Ato Arthur after the court sitting, he said he had accepted the court’s ruling.

BAAFIFROM WATER WORKS SERVES 30 COMMUNITIES (PAGE 28)

THIRTY-SIX communities within the catchment area of the Baafikrom Water Treatment Plant are reaping the benefits from the rehabilitation of the system.
Some of the communities which have benefited immensely from the rehabilitation of the plant are in the Mfantsiman, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam districts which previously experienced frequent water shortage during the dry season.
With the rehabilitation of the system, areas within Ekumfi, Saltpond and Moree and their environs now enjoy continuous water supply .
This came to light during a tour of the system by selected students from the Mfantsiman Girls, Methodist High School and the Mankessim Senior High Technical School as part of the World Water Day celebration in the Central Region.
Briefing students and newsmen, the Municipal Manager of the Ghana Water Company, Mr Isaac Essilfie, said water supply from the system had increased from 1,500 cubic metres to 3,000 cubic metres daily.
He said the system had also been integrated into the Cape Coast supply system to offset any future shortages in case of a breakdown at the Baafikrom plant.
Commenting on the theme: “Shared water, shared opportunities”, the Zonal Public Relations Manager of the company in charge of Central, Eastern, Volta and the Western regions, Mr Napoleon Appiah-Dadson, called for cross boundary water management to preserve water bodies for the benefit of the people within and beyond the catchment area of rivers.

FREE MEDICAL SCREENING FOR CR RESIDENTS (PAGE 28)

THE Central Region has benefited from a free medical screening exercise carried out by the Revenue Agencies in collaboration with the German Technical Co-operation and GCNet.
The team has so far offered screening in Assin Fosu, Dunkwa-on-Offin, Cape Coast and Agona Swedru where about 1,500 people were tested for high blood pressure, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
Briefing the Daily Graphic during the exercise in Cape Coast, the Chairman of the Revenue Agencies Health Care team and the Internal Revenue Service focal person, Mr Godwin Monyo, said the exercise was part of the social responsibility of the revenue agencies for taxpayers.
The exerise, he said, was aimed at promoting health among staff of the agencies and the communities.
Mr Monyo said its other objectives were to reduce the HIV/AIDS infection rate in the country as well as minimising stigmatisation of people infected with the virus.
He said it was also meant to create awareness in the workers in particular and the people in general that HIV/AIDS is a manageable chronic disease and not a killer disease as previously thought of.
He said the exercise would help reduce medical cost and the excessive excuse duty at the various work places and thereby increase productivity.
He said so far the team had visited nine regions with the exception of Aconite, which would be covered by June, this year.

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER CALLS FOR CLOSER LINKS (SPREAD)

THE British High Commissioner in Accra, Dr Nicholas Westcott, has called for closer links and co-operation between Ghana and the United Kingdom for the mutual benefit of their peoples.
He said such links and co-operation could create a forum for sharing ideas and experiences in the socio-economic and political spheres to promote better understanding between the two countries and tackle their challenges more effectively.
Dr Westcott made the call when he delivered the first in the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Occasional Lecture Series in Cape Coast last Tuesday. His topic was, “Ghana and Britain: Parallel histories, converging futures”.
He traced the political history of the UK, which he described as often chequered, bumpy and turbulent, and said such experiences offered a great opportunity for both countries to learn from each other.
He mentioned the problems associated with drugs, crime, climate change, migration, among others, as some of the areas which needed to be tackled through shared experiences and approach in the interest of their peoples.
He said the current international financial crunch which was impacting negatively on the economies of both developed and developing countries called for a common approach to solutions.
He said closer links could also be established between universities in the UK and the UCC on exchange programme basis to promote education in both countries.
Commenting on the UK’s aid to its partners, he said aid was provided for countries as stimulants for economic growth based on the priorities of the beneficiaries without any conditions.
The High Commissioner said aid to partners was also geared towards weaning recipients from their over-reliance on donor support.
He commended Ghanaians for their high sense of responsibility and capability to rise to the occasion in times of seeming crisis and cited the successful conduct of the December elections as a demonstration of that resolve.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UCC, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who chaired the function, advocated democracy that would go beyond the ballot box to make governments more functional to promote peace and serve the needs of the people.