The chiefs and elders expressed their gratitude after Mr Anku delivered his New Year message at the conference room of the Madina Chief, Alhaji Baba Seidu, on Tuesday.

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA - Stakeholders in the business sector said several areas of the Ghanaian economy did not perform too well in the past year due to the eight-month election petition.Mr Edward Asare, an investor, told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday that investors could not invest properly in the economy because of the court case.He said there was the fear that investors would lose their investment if the economy did not perform well.Mr Asare said this notwithstanding, challenges and uncertainties in the global economy had also partially affected the economy.He said looking at how the election petition was resolved, investor confidence in the country is currently very high with a lot of indicators for a better 2014.Mr Emmanuel Boateng, a Banker, said transactions in the banking sector were slow, indicating that most clients were reluctant to do business while the election petition was on-going.He expressed the hope that now that the court case was over, more investors would be willing to invest in Ghana to grow and develop the economy.GNA

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama said it was incumbent on every worker, including the President and his ministers, to go on annual leave and he, therefore, did no wrong by taking his leave during the Christmas season.He said he put in place administrative measures to ensure that every public official went on annual leave to refresh his or her mind.President Mahama, who was answering a question on his recent visit to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Flagstaff House, Kanda, said apart from refreshing ones mind, going on leave also gave other workers the opportunity to be versatile.His recent leave and subsequent movement to spend the Christmas holidays in Dubai attracted all kinds of criticisms from the Ghanaian public with some saying he was insensitive to the economic plight of Ghanaians.The President also answered questions on appointments, job creation, corruption, stabilization of the economy, political affiliations and development projects throughout the Country.He said: "Nobody is indispensable in the public service and so we all need to take our annual leave for others to take over, unless you have something to hide from others in your office."President Mahama said his visit to Dubai during his leave was not to go and enjoy as was perceived by some Ghanaians but to honour the invitation of the ruler of Dubai and also explore investment opportunities.He said he had a fruitful meeting with the ruler and investors from Dubai would, early this year, come to Ghana to explore investment opportunities which would eventually step up trade and commercial ties between Ghana and the UAE.On the establishment of a second National Theatre in Kumasi, President Mahama announced that Government was currently holding talks with the Turkish EXIM Bank to construct it.He said feasibility studies had been carried out and very soon the plan and other details would follow to ensure its commencement and execution.President Mahama commended Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for providing land for the project and his instrumentality in the acquisition of funding and appealed to Ghanaians to support the Government to achieve similar goals.GNA

Bawku (UE), Jan. 7 GNA - The Bawku Traditional Council has reminded its subjects of the ban on activities of musical spinners in the traditional area.     According to the Council, the measure was part of efforts to critically preserve the traditions and culture of the people in the traditional area.     Instead, organizers of events such as funerals, naming, and festivals must use traditional cultural troupes, traditional violin players, (Goji) and traditional dancers to entertain their guests.       The Paramount Chief of the traditional area, Naaba Asigri Abugragu II, who gave the reminder said the ban which was more than two years old was to strengthen and maintain essential aspects of the culture of the people in the area.     Naaba Abugragu said this at the  29th annual Samanpiid Festival in Bawku, held to thank God for good harvest, good health and guidance during the previous year.     The Paramount Chief observed that spinning at funerals at night contributed to the moral decadence among the youth, and above all, affected the lives of the youth. We observed that spinning, especially at night had disastrous effects on the youth in many ways; morally, educationally and health wise. He added.     He admitted that though elimination of spinning was an uphill task, the traditional council was not relenting in its efforts to bring discipline and promote the culture of the area.     He said the traditional council supported moves to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation and any form of abuses that had negative impact on the lives of the people, adding that, the Council was engaged in the education of the people to promote girl child education.     The Chief enjoined people from the area as well as well wishers to support the Bawku Naba educational fund to assist needy and brilliant students from the area to further their education.GNA

Sekondi, Jan. 7,  GNA  Henceforth, households within the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) are to pay directly for waste they generate to collectors.Captain (rtd) Anthony Cudjoe, Metropolitan Chief Executive of the STMA said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi.He said the STMA had introduced the Polluter Pay System to save the Assembly from incurring huge cost with regards to waste management.The STMA, he said, had paid over two million cedis to waste contractors from its Common Fund.He said after going through that bitter experience the assembly had adopted the Polluter Pay System of waste Management where individuals pay for the waste they generate.He said the assembly would be able to balance its expenditure particularly on waste management with the introduction of the polluter pay model.The MCE noted some challenges such as: difficulties in clients registration, logistics and financial constraints on the part of some waste contractors as well as poor public attitude to sanitation and waste management practices within the twin-city.Captain Cudjoe said the model when properly implemented could help raise the sanitation situation of the metropolis and therefore urged all to support it.I urge all honourable members to support this model so that we can further improve the sanitation and waste management in the metropolis, he said.GNA

Beahu (W/R), Jan.7, GNA  More than 500 haulage truck drivers and cocoa couriers on Tuesday demonstrated against  Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) over low loading fees and delay in offloading their goods.They burnt car tyres and barricaded the entrance to the CMC warehousing facility at Beahu in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region for over five hours amidst chanting of war songs.Mr Kofi Asare, a truck driver, told the GNA at the CMC Commodity Village at Beahu that he had spent three months at the place but his cargo had not being offloaded.Mr Asare complained that CMC paid 15 pesewas per bag to couriers who offload cocoa beans into the warehouse, saying this amount was woefully inadequate.He said, the couriers demanded an increase from 15 pesewas to 50 pesewas per bag offloaded but the officials of CMC rejected their request and rather brought some couriers from Tema to do the work.This according to him, resulted in confrontation between the couriers from Tema and Beahu, thereby, halting the offloading of the cocoa beans from the trucks.Wahab Mahama, a truck driver, also alleged that an official of the CMC locked the borehole at the facility  from which the drivers fetch water for bathing and cooking thereby igniting the cause of demonstration on Tuesday.He alleged that some officials of the Quality Control Division of the company that inspect the cocoa beans demanded between GHc200 and GHc300 before giving approval for offloading.  It took the timely intervention of police personnel from the Kwesimintsim District Command to calm tempers and removed the barricade from the entrance of the warehouse facility.The Kwesimintsim District Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Issah Yakubu, told the GNA that his outfit would convey an emergency meeting with all the stakeholders on Friday January 10 to resolve the concerns raised by the drivers and cocoa couriers.He advised the demonstrators to exercise restraint in order not to have a brush with the law.All the efforts by the GNA to get to the officials of CMC proved futile, since there was no official there to respond to the concerns raised by the demonstrators.GNA

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA -The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho on Monday dismissed a motion filed by a Minority Member of Parliament, demanding legislative inquest into the acquisition of the Merchant Bank Ghana by Fortis Equity Funds Limited.Mr Adjaho reasoned that both the Legislature and the Judiciary could not determine an issue simultaneously and that the House stood prejudicing the outcome of a case that was presently before a law court if it admitted the motion that sought to scrutinize the transaction.The House was recalled from recess by the Speaker pursuant to article 112(3) of the Constitution after the Member for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, backed by 80 other Minority MPs, requested for the summoning of Parliament to enable him move a Private Members motion for the investigation of the offer and acquisition of the bank.The minority also sought to invite the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and the Board of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to appear before Parliament to answer questions on the sale of Merchant Bank Ghana (MBG)Accordingly, the motion calling on this House to investigate the offer by and acquisition of Merchant Bank by Fortiz Equity Fund Limited and other related matters is ruled out of order. I must quickly add that there are other tools available to this House that we can utilize if the House so decides, said Speaker Adjaho.Resting his decision on Order 93(1) of the Standing Orders of the House that enjoins the legislature not to deliberate on issues in court in such a manner that, that discussion would prejudice the parties to such cases, and guided by previous rulings on such cases by his predecessors and other jurisdictions, Mr Adjaho said since the case had two legs in court and a third at the Appeals Court, discussions on the issue would not be beneficial to the parties in the case.He further stated that the relationship that must exist between the legislature and the judiciary should be based on mutual respect and trust.The MBG take-over by Fortis Equity Fund has dominated discussions in the media for more than a month, with the controversial issue overly drawing partisan and social considerations, necessitating civil society organization calling for inquiry into the transaction to clear lingering doubts about the deal.  Many of the voices calling for the scrutiny of the transaction, contended that there was no value for money in the deal, questioning the propriety of giving off a priceless national asset to an institution whose portofolio held no experience in that sphere over better experienced  establishment who were ready to bid more money for less shares in the bank.The case was sent to court, and the court ruled that the plaintiff had no locus to sue. The issue has been referred to an Appeals Court.But Fortiz Equity Fund has since taken over 90 percent of shares in the Merchant bank.Before Mr Adjaho read his decision, the Majority side cautioned that investigating the transaction would amount to an infringement on the powers of the JudiciaryThey argued that since the courts were dealing with the issue, Parliament should not interfere in the process.However, the Minority insisted that matters of public interested should override every other consideration and that since the sale and acquisition of MBG was of urgent public importance, Parliament should cause an investigation into matter.Paapa Owusu Ankomah, MP for Sekondi said Parliament as a representative of the people had the power to do anything and everything provided it is not in confusion with the Constitution.He said despite the Houses own the Standing Orders  that impedes the reference to matters pending in courts, Parliament should not consider that provision as an obstacle to its powers because it will be extremely dangerous to do so, cautioning that the house should hasten slowly in tying its hands.Moments after the ruling, both sides of the House took turns to brief the media on their stand on the Speakers decision, with the majority insisting that the MBG take-over transaction was conducted in conformity with all the laws of Ghana under the supervision of the BOG and expressed confidence that the new stakeholders will lift the MBG out of its present predicament.The Minority however, said that the Speakers decision not to allow the motion was a dangerous precedent because people would use court issues to escape legislative scrutiny and that the side would adopt other means to sustain the fight against the sale of the bank.GNA

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA Lorry stations in Accra are congested, as passengers, cars, buses and vendors struggled for space.Ghana News Agencys monitoring of major stations in Accra on Tuesday revealed.At most of the stations visited, GNA observed that drivers had parked haphazardly at the stations as they waited for their turn to load or off-load passengers.Some of the lorry stations visited included; Tema Station near the Ministries, Aflao Station at Tudu, 37 Military Hospital Station, Dansoman Last Stop, Agbogbloshie Market Station, La Station, Accra New Town Station, Madina-Zongo Junction Station and Nkrumah Circle stations.At the Tema Station, GNA noticed that drivers had taken over the roads in front of the Ghana Health Service and Rent Control offices, whilst structures at the station were fast deteriorating.In the midst of the confusion, food vendors had taken over structures meant for passengers. Likewise, second hand clothing and shoes sellers had also pitched camp on the pavements.At Dansoman, GNA noticed that most commercial vehicles were in bad state. Madam Selina Mensah, a passenger expressed concern about the condition of Benz buses that conveyed passengers to circle.She said in spite of the poor condition, passengers were forced to adjust and sit in rolls of five even if there was no space for the fifth person.I was forced to sit in a roll in a Benz bus from Dansoman last stop to circle...I suffered before getting to my destination, she stated.Mr Edward Kottey, a shop owner at the La Station revealed that they were charged a fee of GHȻ20.00 at the end of every month to enable the station master to clean the place but he sometimes failed to do so.Madam Gloria Donkor, recounted to the GNA the frustrations workers went through daily to and from work, adding that, you either join the long queue to board a trotro or pick a taxi.At the Madina Station, GNA noticed that abattoir and scrub dealers had invaded a portion of the station.Mr Tahiru Iddrisu, Station Master for the Madina-Tema-Lapaz-Kosoa Union said the conditions at the station had been improved, even though it was not the best.We pay taxes to the urban council, but our chairman does everything by himself, he added.Mr Iddrisu stated that this had resulted in misunderstanding between drivers and officers of the urban council, whose duty was to collect taxes.Mr Kofi Kwakye, one of the drivers at the station said government officials took monies from them on daily basis, yet when it rains there is no place to park our vehicles.When it rains passengers do not come here, due to the bad nature of the area, he added and urged government to help them to develop the station.Mr Reuben Awusi Mbroh, Public Relation Officer for the La Nkwantanang Municipal Assembly disclosed that drivers paid GHȻ10.00 daily.Mr Kofi Acquaye, Accra New Town Station Master, said the station was open to only registered members and cars in their union to enable passengers to retrieve lost items.People have been coming with complaints, but with just a phone call and good description of the car, driver and mate, lost items are returned to their owners, he added.GNA

Bolgatanga, Jan. 7, GNA  Business in the Bolgatanga Municipality is slow after two weeks of aggressive buying and selling.    A survey conducted in the Municipality by the Ghana News Agency  has revealed.It was observed that most shops even though were opened had no patronage with a few found doing window shopping.At the Old Bolgatanga Central Market, most of the shops were closed, while the few that were opened were less busy.     At a  Mother Care Shop on the Palace Road, the shop attendant, Ms Eva Atibila, told the GNA that market had drastically gone down immediately after the Christmas season.     Ms Atibila attributed the sharp decline in sales to the lack of money in the system and expressed the hope that government would pay January salaries on time as was done previously.     Alhaji Ibrahim Gumah, Proprietor of Top Western Enterprise, said sales was very good during the Christmas holidays because customers bought mobile phones and other gifts from my shop for friends and loved ones, but was quick to add that sales has slowed from the beginning of the year..     According to the proprietor, prior to the yuletide sales was not bad, we could sell so much and during the yuletide sales increased even more, but unfortunately, sales is so slow this year that you wonder if you are really into business and where the people are he added.     Mr Henry Adilvila, a Regional Sales Representative of Hills Pharmaceuticals said more than 90 per cent of his clients were National Health Insurance Accredited facilities and said the facilities are unable to settle their credit purchases with his outfit because the National Health Insurance Scheme had failed to pay them.     He said even though most of the facilities claimed they had received some allocation for July, they had used such monies to pay bonuses for staff as a measure of encouraging them to be productive in the coming year and so could not release any money to clear part of their debts.    Mr Adivila was emphatic that market was generally slow as customers were not confident enough to buy because they could only buy on credit which I was not ready to offer now.GNA

Ho, Jan. 7, GNA - Systemic changes could only succeed if administrators and beneficiaries accepted those changes wholly, Mr Ibrahim Alhassan, Volta Regional Coordinating Director has said.He was speaking at the sensitization tutorials on the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and System Cheque Printing, under the Ghana Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) for heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the Volta Region in Ho.GIFMIS is an ICT-based public financial management system, which provides a universal platform from where virtually all administrative transactions could be done efficiently and timely.Mr Alhassan said since human beings operated systems they must be amenable to making the schemes successful.Mac-Effort K. Adadey, GIFMIX Project Deputy Director said the system was designed to reduce transaction time by up to 70 per cent.He said under the system, clients needed not be in the offices to do business because their claims would be taken through all the processes electronically.Mr Adadey said bidding, evaluation, approval and payment for job done or supplies, indeed the whole government business cycle had been automated.As it is, clients soon would not be asking schedule officers if their cheques were ready, but rather if their EFTs had been done, he stated.Mr Adadey said it was important that officers were conversant with computers and the workings of the system so as not to depend solely on project advocates.He said the system was designed to cut out alleged loss of documents and processing delays, as time lag at every point of the process, was traceable.Mr Adadey said the system could increase revenue generation as only individuals and companies with tax identification numbers could do business with government.Mr Moses Akaglah, Volta Regional Director of the Controller and Accountant-Generals Department in a comment said the system was simple and therefore should not confound any officer.Participants included budget, finance and procurement officers of the MDAs as well as service providers.             GNA

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA  Government has said that plans are underway for the establishment of an Environment University at Somanya in the Eastern Region.Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah, Deputy Minister of Education disclosed this on Monday during a public forum in Accra.Dubbed Advancing the Better Ghana Agenda: Prospects for 2014, the forum formed part of activities marking the first anniversary of President John Dramani Mahamas government.Mr Ablakwa disclosed that the chiefs and people of Somanya had made land available for the commencement of the university project.He said creation of an Environment University was in fulfillment of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) electoral promise of establishing one public university in every region of the country; adding that, the government would keep faith with the electorate by providing quality, affordable and equitable education for all.According to Mr Ablakwah, the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology had won International Excellence Awards for research, worth eight million dollars each, which he said had brought honour to the country.He said government had decided to cancel the payment of allowances to teacher trainees, explaining that GH¢ 57,000,000 was spent annually for trainee allowances; hence governments decision to restrict their intake.He said following the cancellation of teacher trainee-allowances, colleges of education were permitted to admit students based on their capacities, adding that, from an intake of 9,000 students in the 2012/2013 academic year, admissions had shot up to over 15,000 for the 2013/2014 academic year.The Deputy Education Minister said government was on course to establish 10 new colleges of education to help boost enrollment in the teaching profession.According to him, in line with governments vision of creating 200 new senior high schools, priority would be placed on deprived newly created district assemblies and districts with over-subscribed schools, adding that, government would ensure that no SHS had an enrollment of more that 1,500 students.He added that 50 of such new schools to be set-up were placed on tender last year and that another 50 would also be placed on tender this year.Dr Edward Kofi Omane-Boamah, Minister of Communications said in 2013 over two million new subscribers of SIM cards were registered; adding that, work on the fibre optic network line from Ho to Bawku to bring internet services to the door-steps of the people there, was progressing smoothly.According to him, infrastructural works such as road works, water works and electricity were on-going.He mentioned the Kwame Nkrumah interchange and the Awoshie-Pokuase road all in Accra, as well as expansion works on the Kpone water treatment plants and the Akyem Oda Water works, among others.Dr Omane-Boamah said government in 2013 ensured that works on the Bui Dam was brought to a successful completion leading to its commission.GNA

Accra, Jan. 7, GNA  A couple, Rita Baffour Awuah and Evans Cecil, operators of a drinking spot, on Tuesday appeared before an Accra Circuit Court for possession of narcotic drugs.The couple, who pleaded not guilty to both charges, were remanded by the court into police custody to reappear on January 13.The facts of the case as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Patrick Morkeh was that, complainant and witnesses are police personnel in Accra, while accused persons, Rita Baffour Awuah and Evans Cecil, are couples who operate a drinking spot at the Arts Centre popularly called Louis Bar.He said the bar has a store room, where drinks are sold and a base where drinks are served, as well as a bamboo fence around where patrons pay a fee to access the bar.He told the court that on January 1, 2014, the Ministries District Police Command undertook patrols and observation duties at the beach which was extended to the Louis Bar.DSP Morkeh said at the Bar, the police observed that the customers of the bar were smoking  substances suspected to be Indian hemp, and so  entered the store room and found Rita busily selling drinks.He said a search revealed 44 wraps of dried plants suspected to be Indian hemp concealed in a black polythene bag kept in-between the crates of drinks Rita was selling.The prosecution said Rita was arrested together with the substances, but attempts to arrest Evans resulted into violence, whereby Evans mobilized some customers who attacked the police with stones and bottles resulting in some of the policemen sustaining injuries.He said on January 2, 2014, Evans was spotted at the station and was arrested, and investigations revealed that the two jointly owned the bar.DSP Morkeh told the court that when the two were interrogated, they  failed to tell the police the source of supply of the substances.GNA

The maiden meeting provided the platform for the MP to inform his constituents about his achievements during his first year in office, as well as his vision for the constituency.

He said Effutu people have unique and beautiful cultures such as the Aboakyere and the Masquerading that needs to be preserved, upgraded and branded to create jobs for the people especially the youth.

She said this was mainly because symptoms of the condition easily make sufferers look like witches in the eyes of people, who are ignorant of the condition and superstitious as well.

Among the fresh fruits, oranges are the most favourite fruits in the metropolitan area, followed by pineapple, mango, watermelon and pawpaw in that order.

He told the GNA in an interview in Sunyani though there were to murders in the Region, particularly on December 30, there was general calm during the festivities.

Speaking at the homecoming durbar organized by the Nakolo Students Union (NASU) on Wednesday at Nakolo, he appealed to students in the area to desist from the practice since it would jeopardize their future.

Mr. Zuobog Philip Neri, Assemblyman for Tapumu- Chetu Electoral area, said the only source of water for the people was an open stream that runs through the community and with low water levels due to poor rains, the stream would soon dry up.

The decision was taken after the Ministry considered a petition received from Ghana-Ivory Coast Rice Importers to enable them clear the commodity.