Togbe Afede XIV, President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs has called on all peace loving people to join forces to restore peace and development to Hohoe in the Volta Region.

Accra, July 10, GNA - Government is to pay another 1.3 million dollars judgment debt to a Spanish company, INSOFOTON SA, for a breach of contract, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information has said.   Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Accra, the Deputy Minister said the Company was contracted in September 2005 to provide solar PV powered water pumping and irrigation systems in remote rural areas in Ghana under the second Ghana-Spanish Financial Protocol.   Mr Ablakwa said however that INSOFOTON SA’s contract was abrogated and subsequently INCATEMA INDENMA, another Spanish firm, was awarded the contract to provide the pumping and irrigation systems.   INSOFOTON SA in a letter from its lawyers protested over the breach of agreement by the ministries of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Energy.   In the said letter, the company indicated its intention to commence legal action against the two ministries. Subsequently, it notified the Attorney General office’s to claim specific and general damages for breach of contracts.        The then Attorney General, Mr Joe Ghartey in response to INSOFOTON SA‘s letter, indicated that the NPP Government was in breach of contract with INSOFOTON SA and that the Company was entitled to special and general damages and interest on the said amount at the prevailing bank rate from the time of breach till the day of judgment.   According to Mr Ablakwa, Mr Ghartey’s letter therefore advised the then government that any law suit arising out of the matter would be detrimental to government and consequently, a substantial financial burden could be imposed on government.   In the said letter, Mr Ghartey recommended that to avoid a lawsuit by INSOFOTON, government was to try and reach an amicable settlement with them.   Government, however, ignored the said advice and ISOFOTON sued government.   Therefore, on October 10th 2008, INSOFOTON proceeded to Court and the State entered appearance. Both parties agreed to accept the payment of 1.3 million dollars out of which MoFA agreed to pay 850,000 dollars, while the Ministry of Energy agreed to settle 450,000 dollars.            The Court, therefore, entered into a consent judgment. Based on that Mr Ablakwa said government had so far paid one third of the judgment debts and it was finding ways to defray the rest.   “In the spirit of transparency and accountability, government has decided to come out with all judgment debts to put the ongoing national discourse into its proper prospective”, Mr Ablakwa indicated.    GNA...

The Progressive People's Party is against the decision by the three major political parties to sue the Electoral Commission on the Wulensi and Kwabre West by-election.

Cape Coast, July 10, GNA - Mr Stephen Anokye, the Central Regional Manager of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), has called on political parties to create safe environment for road users since most of their campaign trips begin and end with road transport.   He said road transport played a pivotal role in the socio-economic and developmental agenda of the country’s political system.   Mr Anokye said it was unfortunate that vehicular driving to political programmes in the country were characterized by poor driving standards, poor vehicle maintenance, overloading, over speeding, drunk driving as well as fatigue driving.   He said this at a day’s workshop held by the Commission for the various political parties in the Central Region in Cape Coast on Tuesday.   The workshop, which was attended by about 50 participants, was aimed at promoting a peaceful and crash-free election year, under the theme: “Road safety, my responsibility, your responsibility and our collective responsibility towards a peaceful and crash-free election”.   He pleaded with all political parties and their supporters, as well as Ghanaians at large to rededicate themselves to responsible road safety management since it was a collective responsibility and that it could affect anyone one way or another.   According to him, statistics available to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) suggest that previous election years had seen disturbing development in relation to road safety.   He observed that increased political activities had partly been identified as contributing to the rise in road-crash related deaths and injuries. He added that as at the end of May 2012, a total of 5,918 crashes had been recorded nationwide, with 928 persons losing their lives and 5,670 being injured.   For the Central Region, he said, a total of 621 crashes had been recorded as at June 2012 with 113 fatalities and 780 injuries.   He said 90 percent of these road crashes were as a result of human error and advised that if much attention was not given to road safety this year, the number of fatalities would increase drastically.   Mr. Thomas Tawiah Aquinas Quansah, Deputy Central Regional Minister called on political party leaders to advise their members to conform to road safety rules and regulations, particularly in this election year.   He also advised them to plan their time and travels well and also avoids the use of unnecessary motorcades which also contribute to road crashes.     Mr Quansah further advised political parties not to fight among themselves since insults and lies would not win them votes but rather live in peace and harmony and also accept the results of the December polls in good faith.   GNA...

Students of the new university are expected to take various degree programmes in administration, theological studies and computer science.

Apremdo (W/R), July 10, GNA — Confusion broke-out on Tuesday between artisans occupying a parcel of land at Apremdo near Takoradi and the Police over a demolition exercise ordered by the court.   It started when bulldozers stormed the area near the Galaxy Oil Filling Station at Apremdo, where the artisans and traders had erected temporal structures for their businesses.   According to the Chairman of Apremdo Garages Association, Mr. Peter Quazi, a court bailiff in the company of the Police was at the area at about 0530hours on Tuesday morning to carry out the demolition exercise.   This, he said, did not go down well with the artisans, who prevented the users of the bulldozers from carrying out the exercise.   Mr. Quazi said that the Police tried to prevail upon the artisans to allow the exercise to continue but that resulted in the scuffle.   The situation, however, calmed later when the Police softened their stance and stopped the demolition exercise.   Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Sekondi-Takoradi, Captain (Retired) Anthony Cudjoe, said his outfit was not informed about the demolition exercise and therefore faulted the Police for the confusion.   He said since the demolition exercise would economically affect the artisans, it should have been properly communicated to them earlier for them to vacate voluntarily.   Captain Cudjoe said although the Assembly intended evacuating artisans in the Metropolis to Kokompe Large Industrial Enclave, the project had not been completed.   He said funds had been secured by the Assembly for the project while a consultant had been engaged to look into the design of the project.   The Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered that the parcel of land belonged to a stool at Apremdo and the owners went to court for an order to evict the squatters.   GNA...

Gyan went on a self-imposed exile following what he described as hate campaign by Ghanaians who blamed him for Ghana's exit from the Africa Cup of Nations after wasting a decisive penalty kick in a semi-final match against eventual winners Zambia.

The Ghana Football Association has less than two weeks to look for a substantive coach for the national Under-20 male team, Black Satellites, following the resignation of head coach Orlando Wellington.

A number of schoolchildren are complaining that Saturday classes prevent them from washing their clothes, helping their parents at home and above all, having the much-needed rest after five days of busy classroom work and extra classes.

Street children are the unfortunate children who have been abandoned by their parents or go through difficult circumstances in life.

Ghana Saturday welcomed home its medal winning young talented swimmers who took part in the 41st International Swimfest in Ansberg, Germany in May.

Former Attorney General Joe Ghartey is challenging government to subject the controversial Isofoton $1.3 million judgment debt to further investigations, denying any liability by the Kufuor administration.

The Ghana National Association of Private Schools has resumed the debate on the three-year or four-year duration of the senior high school and called for a national referendum to take a final decision on the subject matter.

Accra, July 11, GNA - The Management of the Amputee National Football team, the Black Challenge, is to organize two special justify-your-inclusion sessions in Kumasi and Accra to create an opportunity to amputee footballers to exhibit their prowess to be selected for the national team.   The first session will be held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. with the second to take place at the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) on Tuesday, July 24, 2012.   The Kumasi exercise is meant for potential players from the northern sector which comprises the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East Regions, whilst the one in Accra will bring together potential players from the Volta, Eastern, Western, Central and Greater Accra Regions.    The Liaison Officer of the team, Philip Otuo in an release to GNA Sports said the Management is therefore inviting prospective players to avail themselves of the opportunity to ensure their inclusion in the national amputee football team, the Black Challenge.   He appealed to the general public, especially the corporate bodies to support the team to excel in their activities and events.   GNA...

Accra, July 11, GNA - The National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) has intensified its efforts to help reduce the spread of the disease through a new campaign dubbed the ‘KICK TB’.   The campaign aims at raising the awareness of Tuberculosis (TB) among children through the use of football events in schools.   Due to its enormous popularity and potential as an attention grabber, football is being used by the ‘KICK TB’ campaign to promote the cough etiquette and respiratory hygiene, said the NTP Manager, Dr Frank Bonsu, after a two day workshop in Accra.    The workshop, on the theme “making KICK TB Live in Ghana”, follows the launch of the national campaign and the World TB day by the National TB Control Program and the Ghana Health Service in March.   Dr Bonsu said the South African (SA) KICK TB campaign is being replicated in Ghana due to its success adding that a consultant from SA is taking participants from NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, health officials and the Media to discuss the concept as well as brainstorm to adopt appropriate implementation strategies in Ghana.   He said children through the knowledge acquired from the campaign would “serve as communication tools to effect change and at the same time help spread the cough etiquette message”.   Dr Bonsu said one expected outcome amongst others, is that a proportion of school children would have positive attitudes towards TB cases and that more people would report early to clinics should the need arise.   He said the objective of the campaign is to increase TB case detection, increase awareness and knowledge, dispel common myths and misconceptions, promote behavioural changes required to prevent infection and to increase treatment outcomes.   Ms Wena Moelich, SA National Project Manager of KICK TB, appealed to participants to take advantage of every opportunity as South Africa did with the 2010 World cup to push the campaign forward.   She described the programme as her brainchild and that she worked on her dream for a year before the World Cup came to SA saying "you have to take advantage of such a huge international event like The FIFA World Cup."    Ms Moelich said the campaign focused on primary school learners where footballs with appropriate messages were distributed to them in their schools.    She said one of the challenges affecting the management of TB was the stigma attached to the disease and suggested that educating people was the answer to de-stigmatizing.   Ghana, she said, could replicate the South Africa campaign and that monitoring and evaluation was crucial to the program.   According to the WHO global TB report release in 2011, Ghana  is  among few African countries  that have met the world health assembly target of  seventy percent TB case detection and eighty-five percent treatment  success target.   Ghana’s TB incidence and prevalence has reduced almost by fifty percent. However with no interventions in place to address the problem of childhood tuberculosis as there is for adult tuberculosis it was time to put childhood TB on the agenda through the game of football as a communication strategy.   GNA...

Accra, July 11, GNA – The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has named Maxwell Konadu as the interim coach of the Black Satellites.   Konadu, who is also the deputy trainer of the Black Stars will hold the fort following the 'shock' resignation of coach Orlando Wellington last Tuesday.   According to the sources from the  GFA, the out-going Asante Kotoko coach will handle the team until a substantive coach is named.   Meanwhile, Prince Yaw Owusu, Head Coach of Tema Youth has been drafted into the team as one of the assistants alongside Charles Akunnor of Accra Hearts of Oak FC.   The Satellites are due to play Uganda in the qualifier of the 2013 African Youth Championship later this month.   GNA...

Accra , July 11, GNA - Government has between 2009 and 2011 spent some GH¢121,443.71 on renovation works on the Flagstaff House,   Ghana’s Presidential Palace, a move intended to shore up the structural integrity of the sprawling national asset.   This was revealed on Wednesday on the floor of Parliament by Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, when asked by the MP for Binduri, Stephen Yakubu, on what renovation works had been done on the edifice since 2009 and how much that had cost the nation.   Giving a breakdown of the cost of the renovation, the Minister said fumigation of the facility within the period under review (2009-2011) cost government an amount Gh¢48,956.99, whilst the sum of GH¢41,554.57 was expended on the maintenance and repair of the edifice’s central air condition system.   He said an amount of GH¢26,291.15 was incurred in the maintenance and servicing of generators and minor renovation works on electrical fittings, with the supply and installation of two airconditioners and re-routing of server room costing an additional Gh¢4,641.00.        The Flagstaff House previously served as the residence and office of the President of Ghana, it was reconstructed and inaugurated with the name Golden Jubilee House in November 2008 when construction was nearly complete.   The facility is currently occupied by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, after fire gutted its high-rise offices within the ministries in 2010.   GNA...

Accra , July 11, GNA - Government is working towards completing the housing projects initiated by the previous administration, committing itself to source funding to undertake the venture.   To this end, a committee has been constituted to advice government on interventions aimed at realising that goal to ensure that the initial investment by government was not lost.   Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister, who disclosed this in Parliament on Wednesday, said the Ministry had also constituted a Housing Project Committee to evaluate proposals received from the public on the issue for implementation.   He was answering a questioned posed by the MP for Oforikrom, Mrs Elizabeth Agyemang on what was being done by the ministry to complete the various affordable housing projects being currently occupied by squatters.   Mr Mensah told the House that under the affordable housing programme, not a single unit out of the over 4,700 housing units dotted across the country were completed even though some 70 million Ghana cedis had been sunk into the project, drawing criticisms and heckling from the minority.   He said the ministry had to devise measures that would enable the completion of the projects, including a technical audit to determine why the programme stalled; the exact status of each single unit of housing; the contractors working on the project and those on site; how much it would cost to complete those facilities; where to acquire funds and revaluation of the housing units and the mode of allocation.   The Minister said investigations revealed that the housing project had been held up due to a plethora of reasons that created complexities to completing the projects.   One major hindrance to completing the project, he noted, was a directive by the previous government that the ministry procured building materials for the project and supply same directly to contractors working on the project, describing it as a “disincentive to contractors that compromised the diligent execution of work”.   The Minister said that stance meant the progress of the project was dependent on the ability of the ministry to mobilize financial and other resources to supply the inputs, which led to the stalling of the project.   He said the ministry had also initiated action to get contractors who had been paid advance mobilisation but did not move to site to refund the monies paid to them.   The project was initially funded with an amount of 40 million Ghana cedis from HIPC sources and an additional 30 million Ghana cedis sourced from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust.   The projects including the Nungua Bortey-man, Kpone, Asokore-Mampong, Koforidua, Tamale and Wa housing units are at various stages of completion.   GNA...

Koforidua, July 11, GNA - The Eastern Regional Police Command, on Wednesday destroyed 45 acre Indian hemp plantation at Obosi in the Upper Manya Krobo District.      Two suspects Tetteh Narnor, 30,  Moses Bualor, 26, who claimed ownership of the plantation have also been arrested.      Three others, who had been identified as co-owners of the plantation are on the run and are being pursued by the police who located the plantation based on a tip-off.      The combined team of police personnel led by Superintendent Richardson Kumeko, the Asesewa District Commander, later set fire to the plantation, which was located on a hill.      The suspects told the police that hitherto they were cultivating cash crops but foraging cattle destroyed them hence their decision to switch to the cultivation of Indian hemp.      They said they started the Indian hemp cultivation about a year ago.   GNA...

Accra, July 11, GNA - Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, said on Tuesday in Suzhou, China, that relations between China and Africa must be based on a win-win situation in which the aspirations of both Africans and Chinese are met.   He said Africa should seek partnerships that will open up the enormous wealth of their markets in a way that will benefit their people and not those that deprived them of their well-being even as their resources were being taken away.   Former President Kufuor was speaking at a banquet in honour of the 150 delegates attending the Second China-Africa People's Forum at the Taihu International Conference centre. It is under the theme:"People's Voice, People's Friendship and Cooperation of the People."   This was contained in a release signed by Mr Frank Agyekum, Spokesperson and Special Aid to former President John Agyekum Kufuor and issued on Wednesday   It said five other former African heads of state and two current first ladies are attending. They are Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Joaquim Chicano of Mozambique,  Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Sylvestere Ntibantunganya of Burandi and Abdel Rahman Swar el-Dahab of Sudan.   The first ladies are Mrs Azeb Mefin of Ethiopia and Mrs Widad Babiker Orner Mudawi of Sudan.   Former President Kufuor said China's immense influence in the world must affect Africa positively to enable her to develop alongside other continents.   "Africa should benefit from the technical know-how of China and there should be equity in transactions. Chinese companies must take seriously the social responsibilities of the communities in which they work and the government must offer scholarships for studying and training to the youth," he said.       The two-day conference was opened by the Vice-President of China, Mr Jiangping Xi.   GNA...