Page 31: Daily Graphic, November 14, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Electoral Commission (EC) has requested heads of the security services to submit the names of security personnel who will be performing duties on December 7 to the returning officer for each constituency through the applicant’s superior officer before November 24, 2008.
This is to facilitate the processing of the personnel to vote on Tuesday, December 2, 2008, the special voting day for security personnel whose duties on December 7, 2008 will not allow them to vote at the polling stations where they registered.
Special voting centres will be opened in each of the 230 constituencies in the country for that purpose.
A memorandum from the EC, dated November 12, 2008 and addressed to the Inspector-General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff and copied to all regional directors of the EC, stated that “the list to be prepared by the superior officers of the applicants must contain the following: name of the applicant, voter ID number and polling station code”.
The memorandum, signed by Mr C.O. Addei, requested that “applicants to be considered for special voting must present their voter ID cards to enable the superior officers compile the list”.
Under the heading, “Processing of security personnel for special voting”, the memorandum said the list, when prepared, should be submitted to the regional director of the EC in the region concerned for further action.
The Chairman of the National Election Security Task Force, Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, who is also the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday to address what the task force described as misconceptions and provide answers to nagging questions in the minds of Ghanaians.
He expressed regret that some politicians had started peddling falsehood that the heads of the security agencies were collecting the voter ID cards of security personnel with a view to preventing them from voting.
He wondered how a superior officer might know which party a subordinate officer was going to vote for, for which reason he or she would collect that subordinate’s ID card to hide.
“I wish to assure all and sundry that no senior or junior officer of any of the security services has been mandated to collect any other officer’s card,” he stated.
Mr Acheampong appealed to politicians to have faith in themselves and in the electoral process to ensure that the democratic path chosen by Ghanaians became the envy of all.
He denied that the security services were in concert with the EC to rig the elections on behalf or a group or some groups.
“With all due respect, we do not see how this can be done, with the aid of the security services either as corporate bodies or individual officers,” he stated.
Mr Acheampong explained that most aspects of the electoral process, from the printing of ballot papers, through the escort of election materials and officials, to the day of the elections when ballot boxes were opened and shown to the public before voting started, were all supposed to be monitored by the agents of the political parties.
“The key agents are representatives of the political parties who monitor the printing of the ballot papers, what happens at the polling stations before, during and after voting and especially the counting of votes and declaration of results for each polling station,” he noted.
“We do not see how any member of this task force or the security services can influence these steps and we shall be very grateful if any individual or political party could give us some hint as to how the security services can or will assist in election malpractice,” he said.
Mr Acheampong noted that commanders of the various services at the national and regional levels were men and women of integrity, consummate professionals who had at least 25 years of diligent and loyal service to Ghana.
According to him, those officers had supervised men and women of the security services in the conduct of elections since 1979 and “if any of them had picked up a reputation for dishonesty, they would not have reached the high pedestal that they occupy now”.
He, therefore, urged politicians to stop whining about the security services and continue with their campaigns in the knowledge that they had nothing at all to fear from the security services.
“If any information comes to notice, it will be fully investigated and any officer found to be indulging in any malpractice will be dealt with according to the regulations of our services and the laws of Ghana,” he assured the nation.
Friday, November 14, 2008
CPU won’t be involved in electoral process - IGP
Page 16: Daily Graphic, November 14, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PERSONNEL of the Community Protection Unit (CPU), under the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment will not be involved in the maintenance of law and order on elections day, December 7, 2008.
They would, however, continue to provide other public order services such as traffic control throughout the country.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, announced this at a press conference by the National Elections Security Task Force (NESTF) in Accra yesterday.
He said, the maintenance of law and order, was the responsibility of the security services and no other organisation, agency or person, stressing that “no individual or other groups of persons have been mandated to ensure security at the stations”.
Mr Acheampong, who is also the Chairman of the NESTF, reminded Ghanaians that officers of the Electoral Commission were responsible for the conduct of elections at the polling stations while the security services were responsible for maintaining law and order.
He said any party agents who were dissatisfied with anything should make a complaint to the electoral officers in accordance with the regulations.
He said, criminal offences would, however, be dealt with by the security services.
Mr Acheampong also warned those who might take offensive weapons to electoral centres to stay off or be arrested and prosecuted for the appropriate offences irrespective of the personality involved.
He said, the security personnel would be adequatly prepared to apprehend people with offensive weapons on them either through body searches or other security mechanisms.
Mr Acheampong reminded Ghanaians that the privilege to carry a gun under the N.R.C.D 9, was not sacrosanct.
“The permit can be withdrawn when it is in the national interest to do so,” he stated.
He gave the assurance that the security services were fully prepared and poised to perform their functions in a non-partisan, unbiased but firm manner to assist the Electoral Commission to conduct free, fair and transparent elections.
As to whether the task force had been working in concert with the political parties on its preparations and security measures, Mr Acheampong said a lot of interactions had been taken place at the regional and district levels where most of the problems were.
He cited for instance the recent infraction at Berekum between supporters of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress where the district task force met all the political parties to address security challenges.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PERSONNEL of the Community Protection Unit (CPU), under the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment will not be involved in the maintenance of law and order on elections day, December 7, 2008.
They would, however, continue to provide other public order services such as traffic control throughout the country.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, announced this at a press conference by the National Elections Security Task Force (NESTF) in Accra yesterday.
He said, the maintenance of law and order, was the responsibility of the security services and no other organisation, agency or person, stressing that “no individual or other groups of persons have been mandated to ensure security at the stations”.
Mr Acheampong, who is also the Chairman of the NESTF, reminded Ghanaians that officers of the Electoral Commission were responsible for the conduct of elections at the polling stations while the security services were responsible for maintaining law and order.
He said any party agents who were dissatisfied with anything should make a complaint to the electoral officers in accordance with the regulations.
He said, criminal offences would, however, be dealt with by the security services.
Mr Acheampong also warned those who might take offensive weapons to electoral centres to stay off or be arrested and prosecuted for the appropriate offences irrespective of the personality involved.
He said, the security personnel would be adequatly prepared to apprehend people with offensive weapons on them either through body searches or other security mechanisms.
Mr Acheampong reminded Ghanaians that the privilege to carry a gun under the N.R.C.D 9, was not sacrosanct.
“The permit can be withdrawn when it is in the national interest to do so,” he stated.
He gave the assurance that the security services were fully prepared and poised to perform their functions in a non-partisan, unbiased but firm manner to assist the Electoral Commission to conduct free, fair and transparent elections.
As to whether the task force had been working in concert with the political parties on its preparations and security measures, Mr Acheampong said a lot of interactions had been taken place at the regional and district levels where most of the problems were.
He cited for instance the recent infraction at Berekum between supporters of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress where the district task force met all the political parties to address security challenges.
Educate stakeholders in Ghana’s oil industry ... Appiah-Adu urges RMU
Page 11: Daily Graphic, November 14, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A PRESIDENTIAL Staffer, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, has challenged the Regional Maritime University (RMU) to organise holistic programmes to educate stakeholders in Ghana’s oil industry on security, environmental, health and safety threats that the emerging oil industry would give to the country.
He urged the RMU to establish demand-driven programmes such as certificates and training courses in legal and maritime issues, alternative livelihood and community issues to expand its academic domain, so as to meet the general needs of all stakeholders.
“Introduction of these courses will offer the university the opportunity to provide support for the emerging upstream petroleum industry in areas of standards development, training students in modern technology and academic research to help the students or staff of oil companies expand on their competence to ensure relevance to the industry’s standards,” he said.
Prof. Appiah-Adu made the call at an open forum organised by the RMU on the theme, “Safety training: A critical component for the sustainable development of the oil and gas sector” in Accra.
He said the university could introduce diploma and degree programs such as maritime and petroleum policy, international, maritime human resource development and maritime business communication as well as introduce courses relating to petroleum administration so that oil companies could train their staff on management, procurement and crisis management.
Prof. Appiah-Adu, therefore, urged the university authorities to acquire modern equipment to bridge the gap of theoretical analysis and practical demands to meet the changing global trend.
Globalization and technology have turned the world into a global village, and the environment should not be seen as a society, but should be competitive internationally and the standards in education and training must be kept, he stated, adding that, “Through this the country can manage its natural resources and industries effectively.”
Prof. Appiah-Adu said the petroleum industry needed to focus on providing adequate security to protect it to ensure the promotion of investor confidence.
According to him, putting effective regulatory framework in place to guide operations of companies would not be enough to ensure the safety of the industry against terrorism, piracy, vandalism, sabotage and other illegal activities.
He said apart from the safety, environmental and security issues, the industry was also faced with challenges of maintaining law and order, creation of community and livelihood issues as well as an enabling environment for the industry.
Prof. Appiah-Adu expressed the hope that the forum would enable stakeholders to collaborate towards finding solutions to issues raised on the petroleum industry.
The Rector of RMU, Captain Aaron Obeng Turkson, said the forum was to enlighten stakeholders on the safety in the off shore oil and gas sector.
He said RMU’s contribution to the development of maritime industry dated as far back as the 50’s when the institution was established by producing graduates to member and non-member countries.
Capt. Obeng Turkson indicated that safety was paramount and would form an integral part of the oil and gas industry, covering issues that would enhance the execution of jobs effectively and make a difference to not only realise the benefits but for more realistic and sustainable management.
He said the RMU in collaboration with its partners would continue to build on its dream and vision of being a maritime centre of excellence with emphasis on preventive maritime safety for the long term Sustainability of the industry.
Capt. Turkson said the collaboration would enrich their training programmes and help protect the image and reputation as a maritime player in education especially in the area of safety.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A PRESIDENTIAL Staffer, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, has challenged the Regional Maritime University (RMU) to organise holistic programmes to educate stakeholders in Ghana’s oil industry on security, environmental, health and safety threats that the emerging oil industry would give to the country.
He urged the RMU to establish demand-driven programmes such as certificates and training courses in legal and maritime issues, alternative livelihood and community issues to expand its academic domain, so as to meet the general needs of all stakeholders.
“Introduction of these courses will offer the university the opportunity to provide support for the emerging upstream petroleum industry in areas of standards development, training students in modern technology and academic research to help the students or staff of oil companies expand on their competence to ensure relevance to the industry’s standards,” he said.
Prof. Appiah-Adu made the call at an open forum organised by the RMU on the theme, “Safety training: A critical component for the sustainable development of the oil and gas sector” in Accra.
He said the university could introduce diploma and degree programs such as maritime and petroleum policy, international, maritime human resource development and maritime business communication as well as introduce courses relating to petroleum administration so that oil companies could train their staff on management, procurement and crisis management.
Prof. Appiah-Adu, therefore, urged the university authorities to acquire modern equipment to bridge the gap of theoretical analysis and practical demands to meet the changing global trend.
Globalization and technology have turned the world into a global village, and the environment should not be seen as a society, but should be competitive internationally and the standards in education and training must be kept, he stated, adding that, “Through this the country can manage its natural resources and industries effectively.”
Prof. Appiah-Adu said the petroleum industry needed to focus on providing adequate security to protect it to ensure the promotion of investor confidence.
According to him, putting effective regulatory framework in place to guide operations of companies would not be enough to ensure the safety of the industry against terrorism, piracy, vandalism, sabotage and other illegal activities.
He said apart from the safety, environmental and security issues, the industry was also faced with challenges of maintaining law and order, creation of community and livelihood issues as well as an enabling environment for the industry.
Prof. Appiah-Adu expressed the hope that the forum would enable stakeholders to collaborate towards finding solutions to issues raised on the petroleum industry.
The Rector of RMU, Captain Aaron Obeng Turkson, said the forum was to enlighten stakeholders on the safety in the off shore oil and gas sector.
He said RMU’s contribution to the development of maritime industry dated as far back as the 50’s when the institution was established by producing graduates to member and non-member countries.
Capt. Obeng Turkson indicated that safety was paramount and would form an integral part of the oil and gas industry, covering issues that would enhance the execution of jobs effectively and make a difference to not only realise the benefits but for more realistic and sustainable management.
He said the RMU in collaboration with its partners would continue to build on its dream and vision of being a maritime centre of excellence with emphasis on preventive maritime safety for the long term Sustainability of the industry.
Capt. Turkson said the collaboration would enrich their training programmes and help protect the image and reputation as a maritime player in education especially in the area of safety.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Do illegal migrants have rights?
Page 7: Daily Graphic, November 12, 2008.
Asks Albert K. Salia
“THE mass expulsion of non-nationals shall be prohibited. Mass expulsion shall be that which is aimed at national, racial, ethnic or religious groups” - Article 12 (5) of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
IT is an understatement to say that in most West African countries, the legal system is inadequate to protect the rights of many vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
In many of them, there is little or no public funding for legal aid, most members of the legal profession are concentrated in large cities and not easily accessed by large numbers of rural population while non-governmental organisations (NGO) legal services are under-funded.
To make the situation worse, much of the citizenry in the sub-region have little or no knowledge of their basic legal rights. Moreover, many in West Africa lack the economic capacity to pursue the enforcement of their rights, particularly in an environment where there were systemic challenges in the slow pace of the administration of justice in many jurisdictions and members of the legal profession are seen as resistant to voluntary or even required pro bono obligations.
The problem is compounded with concerns about corruption in the justice system which individual litigants are more vulnerable to and at the same time less well-equipped to tackle.
It is in the wake of all these that the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) launched the West African Public Interest Litigation Centre (WAPILC) to help improve access to justice for citizens of the sub-region by initiating and supporting public interest litigation in national, sub-regional, and regional courts and other adjudicatory fora.
The strategy envisages that once decided by a court or other tribunal, critical public interest litigation including good governance, rule of law and human rights issues, can benefit several others either directly or indirectly.
Through the WAPILC, a West Africa Public Interest Lawyers Forum to support individual persons and organisations advocating the rule of law in West Africa, would be established.
The centre will also facilitate information sharing between public interest litigation centres in West African countries by promoting public interest communities and networks of mutual interest and support.
The centre would maintain a documentation unit which serves as a repository of up-to-date information on contemporary human rights, public interest and constitutional issues in the region.
The facility will also disseminate regional human rights instruments on ECOWAS and UEMOA and research on comparative law and practice in West Africa with respect to public interest cases and the legal systems in West Africa.
For instance, it is a fact that the media, not only in Ghana but elsewhere in the sub-region, often give publicity to stories of deportees from other countries without the requisite questions on the rights of the deportees and whether appropriate steps were taken before deporting them.
In any case, in what conditions were they deported? What happens to them after their arrival? Indeed, most often, the deportees are threatened with prosecution but nothing is heard thereafter.
Whether we like it or not migration has come to stay and it would continue to be part of mankind. Migration has become part of globalisation and populations need to understand the impact, complexities of the phenomenon, issues that are involved in integration and how to deal with them.
Migration was a growing global phenomenon, particularly in Africa, which could only be managed if proper policies were in place.
Migration is linked to escaping from poverty to seek opportunities and security for families, which no state could stop.
Many people move to improve their livelihood options, seek opportunities and to escape poverty. Other reasons for movement of people include forcible displacement or coercion as a result of wars, violent conflicts and human rights abuses and discrimination.
Attacks, therefore, on innocent migrants and the manhandling of migrants by receiving states would not stop the phenomenon and should, therefore, be condemned.
For most people in Africa, migration has become a necessity for security, education, employment and an avenue to realise their aspirations.
The challenge, therefore, is for African governments to adopt comprehensive migration policies that will address the challenges facing migrants and citizens of receiving states.
Such a policy should include legislation and programmes to educate not only the citizenry of receiving states but also the migrants.
The framework must also address potential sources of migratory flows, structural causes of migration, absorption capacity of states, as well as integration issues in receiving states.
It is a fact that most of the migrants were young unemployed people from relatively poor countries moving for relatively better prospects and perceived prosperity for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, they are often accused of stealing jobs and competing with indigenes for other resources and public goods.
No doubt, this is often a reflection of the frustration and resentment by citizens of receiving states with their own governments, which in turn, take on migrants, seen as easy targets.
Migrants have a right to go from place to place to seek better conditions of life and also have the right to be protected by receiving governments.
Governments have the right to control the level of migration through policies and legislation in a measured way, but the absence of such a regulatory framework would make citizens think they have a responsibility to curb what they consider as a threat to their security or economic well-being.
While there has been greater integration of the global markets for goods and services, for which the international community has devised rules and regulations for flows across borders, there has not been the development of concomitant rules and regulations to effectively and efficiently facilitate the flow of humans within the global market framework.
As a result there has emerged a phenomenon of irregular migration where migrants were exposed to serious abuses and exploitation including human smuggling and trafficking and other trans-national crimes that threaten the security of sovereign states.
This has resulted in the rise of detention of illegal migrants without due process in the name of preserving the security of the state as well as the rampant imposition of more stringent visa requirements for certain groups and contributing to a climate of intolerance.
This is why every country should have a migration legislation in place and also ensure the enforcement of its laws so that those who breach the laws would be dealt with while vulnerable migrants are protected.
As the Director of the Ghana Immigration Service, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, said in a recent interview, “A deliberate and comprehensive policy framework and management are required to leverage migration as a vehicle to secure national interests”.
She said it was important that countries and their populations were sensitised to the migration cycle to enable them to appreciate the motivation for migration.
Ms Adjei admitted that the presence of migrants could cause tension, especially in countries with high unemployment rates.
Besides, some migrants could undermine a country’s culture, security, human rights, cohesion and other development issues of receiving countries.
It is for such reason that some countries insist that migrants to their countries learn their language and culture before moving in.
The bad management of migration could lead to conflicts and disintegration of states.
It is important to state that the rights of migrants do not also cease just because they are migrants. It is, therefore, imperative that human rights activists join the OSIWA initiative and support the process to ensure its success.
Asks Albert K. Salia
“THE mass expulsion of non-nationals shall be prohibited. Mass expulsion shall be that which is aimed at national, racial, ethnic or religious groups” - Article 12 (5) of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
IT is an understatement to say that in most West African countries, the legal system is inadequate to protect the rights of many vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
In many of them, there is little or no public funding for legal aid, most members of the legal profession are concentrated in large cities and not easily accessed by large numbers of rural population while non-governmental organisations (NGO) legal services are under-funded.
To make the situation worse, much of the citizenry in the sub-region have little or no knowledge of their basic legal rights. Moreover, many in West Africa lack the economic capacity to pursue the enforcement of their rights, particularly in an environment where there were systemic challenges in the slow pace of the administration of justice in many jurisdictions and members of the legal profession are seen as resistant to voluntary or even required pro bono obligations.
The problem is compounded with concerns about corruption in the justice system which individual litigants are more vulnerable to and at the same time less well-equipped to tackle.
It is in the wake of all these that the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) launched the West African Public Interest Litigation Centre (WAPILC) to help improve access to justice for citizens of the sub-region by initiating and supporting public interest litigation in national, sub-regional, and regional courts and other adjudicatory fora.
The strategy envisages that once decided by a court or other tribunal, critical public interest litigation including good governance, rule of law and human rights issues, can benefit several others either directly or indirectly.
Through the WAPILC, a West Africa Public Interest Lawyers Forum to support individual persons and organisations advocating the rule of law in West Africa, would be established.
The centre will also facilitate information sharing between public interest litigation centres in West African countries by promoting public interest communities and networks of mutual interest and support.
The centre would maintain a documentation unit which serves as a repository of up-to-date information on contemporary human rights, public interest and constitutional issues in the region.
The facility will also disseminate regional human rights instruments on ECOWAS and UEMOA and research on comparative law and practice in West Africa with respect to public interest cases and the legal systems in West Africa.
For instance, it is a fact that the media, not only in Ghana but elsewhere in the sub-region, often give publicity to stories of deportees from other countries without the requisite questions on the rights of the deportees and whether appropriate steps were taken before deporting them.
In any case, in what conditions were they deported? What happens to them after their arrival? Indeed, most often, the deportees are threatened with prosecution but nothing is heard thereafter.
Whether we like it or not migration has come to stay and it would continue to be part of mankind. Migration has become part of globalisation and populations need to understand the impact, complexities of the phenomenon, issues that are involved in integration and how to deal with them.
Migration was a growing global phenomenon, particularly in Africa, which could only be managed if proper policies were in place.
Migration is linked to escaping from poverty to seek opportunities and security for families, which no state could stop.
Many people move to improve their livelihood options, seek opportunities and to escape poverty. Other reasons for movement of people include forcible displacement or coercion as a result of wars, violent conflicts and human rights abuses and discrimination.
Attacks, therefore, on innocent migrants and the manhandling of migrants by receiving states would not stop the phenomenon and should, therefore, be condemned.
For most people in Africa, migration has become a necessity for security, education, employment and an avenue to realise their aspirations.
The challenge, therefore, is for African governments to adopt comprehensive migration policies that will address the challenges facing migrants and citizens of receiving states.
Such a policy should include legislation and programmes to educate not only the citizenry of receiving states but also the migrants.
The framework must also address potential sources of migratory flows, structural causes of migration, absorption capacity of states, as well as integration issues in receiving states.
It is a fact that most of the migrants were young unemployed people from relatively poor countries moving for relatively better prospects and perceived prosperity for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, they are often accused of stealing jobs and competing with indigenes for other resources and public goods.
No doubt, this is often a reflection of the frustration and resentment by citizens of receiving states with their own governments, which in turn, take on migrants, seen as easy targets.
Migrants have a right to go from place to place to seek better conditions of life and also have the right to be protected by receiving governments.
Governments have the right to control the level of migration through policies and legislation in a measured way, but the absence of such a regulatory framework would make citizens think they have a responsibility to curb what they consider as a threat to their security or economic well-being.
While there has been greater integration of the global markets for goods and services, for which the international community has devised rules and regulations for flows across borders, there has not been the development of concomitant rules and regulations to effectively and efficiently facilitate the flow of humans within the global market framework.
As a result there has emerged a phenomenon of irregular migration where migrants were exposed to serious abuses and exploitation including human smuggling and trafficking and other trans-national crimes that threaten the security of sovereign states.
This has resulted in the rise of detention of illegal migrants without due process in the name of preserving the security of the state as well as the rampant imposition of more stringent visa requirements for certain groups and contributing to a climate of intolerance.
This is why every country should have a migration legislation in place and also ensure the enforcement of its laws so that those who breach the laws would be dealt with while vulnerable migrants are protected.
As the Director of the Ghana Immigration Service, Ms Elizabeth Adjei, said in a recent interview, “A deliberate and comprehensive policy framework and management are required to leverage migration as a vehicle to secure national interests”.
She said it was important that countries and their populations were sensitised to the migration cycle to enable them to appreciate the motivation for migration.
Ms Adjei admitted that the presence of migrants could cause tension, especially in countries with high unemployment rates.
Besides, some migrants could undermine a country’s culture, security, human rights, cohesion and other development issues of receiving countries.
It is for such reason that some countries insist that migrants to their countries learn their language and culture before moving in.
The bad management of migration could lead to conflicts and disintegration of states.
It is important to state that the rights of migrants do not also cease just because they are migrants. It is, therefore, imperative that human rights activists join the OSIWA initiative and support the process to ensure its success.
Korle-Bu records breakthrough
Page 3: November 11, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA’S premier hospital, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, yesterday recorded a medical breakthrough when it performed the first kidney transplant in the country.
An 11-member team from the Birmingham University Hospital, with support from Transplant Links in the United Kingdom, assisted their Ghanaian counterparts to undertake the kidney transplant on a 24-year-old male.
The 21-year-old sister of the patient donated one of her kidneys to the brother.
The harvesting of the kidney from the donor took about two hours to complete at 11:30 a.m. before the beneficiary was brought in for the transplant, which started about 2.00 p.m. and ended at 3.00 p.m.
Two more are scheduled to be done today and Wednesday.
More than 200 Ghanaians across the country need kidney transplant, many of whom have had to depend on renal dialysis to survive. A dialysis costs 100 euros per session and kidney patients require three sessions of dialysis a week.
Charity Transplant Links of the UK facilitated the trip of the British surgeons, including the internationally acclaimed Ghanaian kidney transplant specialist, Dr Dwomoa Adu, anaesthetists and nurses to collaborate with their Ghanaian counterparts, including Dr Charlotte Osafo, the Head of the Dialysis Unit at Korle-Bu, Dr Samuel Gepi-Attee, Dr Bernard Morton, Dr J. E. Mensah, Dr Matthew Kyei, all of the Urology Unit, and Dr Henry Baddoo, an anaesthetist of the hospital, among others.
Under the programme initiated by the UK charity organisation, the team would visit Ghana three times next year and continue the collaboration until a fully trained Ghanaian team is put in place within two years to undertake the transplant on its own.
The cost of each transplant is $30,000.
An elated Dr Osafo described the successful transplant as a victory for "my numerous dialysis patients and all those who have not been able to pay for the dialysis".
She said kidney transplant was the best solution to kidney problems, since dialysis was expensive and not the best way out.
She expressed the hope that people would support the Kidney Foundation to assist hundreds of Ghanaians to undertake kidney transplant.
According to her, 10 per cent of medical admissions at the hospital were attributed to renal failure, stressing that "kidney transplant is an escape from death".
Dr Osafo said a time would come when patients might not even get dialysis due to the increase in cases of kidney failure.
"I am grateful to God that this dream has become possible. It gives the team the greatest joy because this nation has lost a lot of manpower through kidney failure," she said.
Dr Osafo said to show how nation-wide the problem was, the first three patients were selected from Kumasi, Cape Coast and Accra for people to appreciate its enormity.
The head of the surgeons from the UK, Mr Andrew Ready, said the team recognised the problem in Ghana, hence the decision to kick-start the kidney transplant project.
He said the team would be visiting frequently until Korle-Bu became self-sufficient in manpower and equipment to handle cases on its own.
For her part, Dr Jennie Jewitt-Harris, who is the Head of Charity Transplant Links, said the organisation sought to bring joy to the homes of many who might otherwise lose their loved ones to kidney failure.
She said during such visits and programmes, the UK team shared experiences with and transferred skills to their local counterparts and facilitated the purchase of medical equipment to support the hospitals.
"It has been really exciting and I am happy that it has been successful. It is a dream come through, particularly the efforts of Dr Osafo and Dr Morton in putting this together," she added.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA’S premier hospital, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, yesterday recorded a medical breakthrough when it performed the first kidney transplant in the country.
An 11-member team from the Birmingham University Hospital, with support from Transplant Links in the United Kingdom, assisted their Ghanaian counterparts to undertake the kidney transplant on a 24-year-old male.
The 21-year-old sister of the patient donated one of her kidneys to the brother.
The harvesting of the kidney from the donor took about two hours to complete at 11:30 a.m. before the beneficiary was brought in for the transplant, which started about 2.00 p.m. and ended at 3.00 p.m.
Two more are scheduled to be done today and Wednesday.
More than 200 Ghanaians across the country need kidney transplant, many of whom have had to depend on renal dialysis to survive. A dialysis costs 100 euros per session and kidney patients require three sessions of dialysis a week.
Charity Transplant Links of the UK facilitated the trip of the British surgeons, including the internationally acclaimed Ghanaian kidney transplant specialist, Dr Dwomoa Adu, anaesthetists and nurses to collaborate with their Ghanaian counterparts, including Dr Charlotte Osafo, the Head of the Dialysis Unit at Korle-Bu, Dr Samuel Gepi-Attee, Dr Bernard Morton, Dr J. E. Mensah, Dr Matthew Kyei, all of the Urology Unit, and Dr Henry Baddoo, an anaesthetist of the hospital, among others.
Under the programme initiated by the UK charity organisation, the team would visit Ghana three times next year and continue the collaboration until a fully trained Ghanaian team is put in place within two years to undertake the transplant on its own.
The cost of each transplant is $30,000.
An elated Dr Osafo described the successful transplant as a victory for "my numerous dialysis patients and all those who have not been able to pay for the dialysis".
She said kidney transplant was the best solution to kidney problems, since dialysis was expensive and not the best way out.
She expressed the hope that people would support the Kidney Foundation to assist hundreds of Ghanaians to undertake kidney transplant.
According to her, 10 per cent of medical admissions at the hospital were attributed to renal failure, stressing that "kidney transplant is an escape from death".
Dr Osafo said a time would come when patients might not even get dialysis due to the increase in cases of kidney failure.
"I am grateful to God that this dream has become possible. It gives the team the greatest joy because this nation has lost a lot of manpower through kidney failure," she said.
Dr Osafo said to show how nation-wide the problem was, the first three patients were selected from Kumasi, Cape Coast and Accra for people to appreciate its enormity.
The head of the surgeons from the UK, Mr Andrew Ready, said the team recognised the problem in Ghana, hence the decision to kick-start the kidney transplant project.
He said the team would be visiting frequently until Korle-Bu became self-sufficient in manpower and equipment to handle cases on its own.
For her part, Dr Jennie Jewitt-Harris, who is the Head of Charity Transplant Links, said the organisation sought to bring joy to the homes of many who might otherwise lose their loved ones to kidney failure.
She said during such visits and programmes, the UK team shared experiences with and transferred skills to their local counterparts and facilitated the purchase of medical equipment to support the hospitals.
"It has been really exciting and I am happy that it has been successful. It is a dream come through, particularly the efforts of Dr Osafo and Dr Morton in putting this together," she added.
Police warn of weapons at electoral centres
Page 55: November 10, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration has issued a strong reminder that it is illegal for anyone to carry any weapon, lethal or non-lethal, licensed or unlicensed, to polling stations or electoral centres on December 7.
The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwesi Ofori, said in an interview that the list of banned weapons on election day included all forms of pistols, pump action guns, single and double-barrelled guns, locally manufactured guns, jack knives, machetes, kitchen knives, forks, petrol bombs, stones, clubs and non-lethal weapons such as pepper sprays, perfume sprays or any other adapted implement that could be used to cause bodily harm.
He said the electorate would only be going to cast their votes to elect their leaders at the constituency and national levels, "not going to war", stressing that "weapons are, therefore, not needed at the polling and election centres".
DSP Ofori, therefore, warned political parties, their followers and other persons not to carry any such weapons to election centres.
He also warned the political leadership not to engage the services of machomen or make any pseudo security arrangements on election day because there would be no need for such arrangements, as the National Security Task Force would be in firm control of affairs.
DSP Ofori said the security services would not compromise on security arrangements for the elections and "anyone who breaches these security arrangements will be arrested, investigated and dealt with according to law".
He said the security services would conduct thorough bodily search on any person suspected to be carrying any kind of weapon.
According to him, the National Elections Security Task Force had outlined elaborate security arrangements to ensure that this year’s elections were incident-free.
"The security coverage of the elections will be done by the legally mandated security agencies which will be operating under the umbrella of the National Elections Security Task Force through its regional and district task forces," he said.
The National Elections Security Task Force is made up of personnel from the Police Service, the Immigration Service, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Fire Service and the Prisons Service.
DSP Ofori said the national task force, which was under the chairmanship of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr P. K. Acheampong, had done a lot of work at the strategic, operational and tactical levels to ensure incident-free elections.
He explained that violence in elections since 1992 had been attributed to the activities of machomen and pseudo security arrangements by political parties and candidates on election day.
He made it clear that the administration of the elections was the responsibility of electoral officers, while the security agencies would be responsible for ensuring the security of the elections.
DSP Ofori said no use of physical force, including aggressive behaviour such as insults, on electoral officers would be tolerated.
He mentioned some electoral offences as giving one’s voter ID card to another person to vote, forgery, counterfeiting or fraudulently destroying a ballot paper or the official mark on a ballot paper, supplying a ballot paper to any person without authority, selling or offering to sell a ballot paper to any person, as well as purchasing or offering to purchase a ballot paper from any person.
Other offences, he said, were intentionally putting anything other than the ballot paper into the ballot box, possessing a ballot paper which had an official mark without authorisation, opening, taking, destroying or interfering with a ballot box, ballot paper in use or intended to be used for the purposes of an election, printing a ballot paper or anything capable of being used as a ballot paper at an election, making a mark on a ballot paper issued to somebody with the intention of it being counted as the vote of that person and voting at an election at which one was not entitled to vote.
DSP Ofori said the rest were voting more than once at an election, interfering with the work of a presiding officer, removing posters lawfully posted in connection with the election, compelling somebody to vote in a particular way, impeding or preventing a voter from freely exercising his/her right to vote, assisting a political party or a candidate to gain unfair advantage over others and making or publishing by written or spoken word or by song a false statement about the personal character of a candidate or the conduct of a political party.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration has issued a strong reminder that it is illegal for anyone to carry any weapon, lethal or non-lethal, licensed or unlicensed, to polling stations or electoral centres on December 7.
The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwesi Ofori, said in an interview that the list of banned weapons on election day included all forms of pistols, pump action guns, single and double-barrelled guns, locally manufactured guns, jack knives, machetes, kitchen knives, forks, petrol bombs, stones, clubs and non-lethal weapons such as pepper sprays, perfume sprays or any other adapted implement that could be used to cause bodily harm.
He said the electorate would only be going to cast their votes to elect their leaders at the constituency and national levels, "not going to war", stressing that "weapons are, therefore, not needed at the polling and election centres".
DSP Ofori, therefore, warned political parties, their followers and other persons not to carry any such weapons to election centres.
He also warned the political leadership not to engage the services of machomen or make any pseudo security arrangements on election day because there would be no need for such arrangements, as the National Security Task Force would be in firm control of affairs.
DSP Ofori said the security services would not compromise on security arrangements for the elections and "anyone who breaches these security arrangements will be arrested, investigated and dealt with according to law".
He said the security services would conduct thorough bodily search on any person suspected to be carrying any kind of weapon.
According to him, the National Elections Security Task Force had outlined elaborate security arrangements to ensure that this year’s elections were incident-free.
"The security coverage of the elections will be done by the legally mandated security agencies which will be operating under the umbrella of the National Elections Security Task Force through its regional and district task forces," he said.
The National Elections Security Task Force is made up of personnel from the Police Service, the Immigration Service, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Fire Service and the Prisons Service.
DSP Ofori said the national task force, which was under the chairmanship of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr P. K. Acheampong, had done a lot of work at the strategic, operational and tactical levels to ensure incident-free elections.
He explained that violence in elections since 1992 had been attributed to the activities of machomen and pseudo security arrangements by political parties and candidates on election day.
He made it clear that the administration of the elections was the responsibility of electoral officers, while the security agencies would be responsible for ensuring the security of the elections.
DSP Ofori said no use of physical force, including aggressive behaviour such as insults, on electoral officers would be tolerated.
He mentioned some electoral offences as giving one’s voter ID card to another person to vote, forgery, counterfeiting or fraudulently destroying a ballot paper or the official mark on a ballot paper, supplying a ballot paper to any person without authority, selling or offering to sell a ballot paper to any person, as well as purchasing or offering to purchase a ballot paper from any person.
Other offences, he said, were intentionally putting anything other than the ballot paper into the ballot box, possessing a ballot paper which had an official mark without authorisation, opening, taking, destroying or interfering with a ballot box, ballot paper in use or intended to be used for the purposes of an election, printing a ballot paper or anything capable of being used as a ballot paper at an election, making a mark on a ballot paper issued to somebody with the intention of it being counted as the vote of that person and voting at an election at which one was not entitled to vote.
DSP Ofori said the rest were voting more than once at an election, interfering with the work of a presiding officer, removing posters lawfully posted in connection with the election, compelling somebody to vote in a particular way, impeding or preventing a voter from freely exercising his/her right to vote, assisting a political party or a candidate to gain unfair advantage over others and making or publishing by written or spoken word or by song a false statement about the personal character of a candidate or the conduct of a political party.
Investor advisory council commends government
Page 47: November 10, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ghana Investors Advisory Council has commended the government for turning around the economy from a heavily indebted poor country status to the achievement of more than six per cent Gross Domestic Product.
It noted that in spite of the challenges that confronted Ghana in the early part of President Kufuor’s administration, the government had achieved remarkable success that was acknowledged world-wide.
"Ghana is now regarded by the World Bank as one of the top 10 reforming countries in the world and the best place to do business in West Africa," it said.
These were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the eighth meeting of the council at Akosombo at the weekend.
The council consists of 33 selected corporate leaders from the international and local private sector and four observers and it was inaugurated in May 2002 to advise the President of Ghana on the strategies to be taken to attract investment into Ghana’s economy and improve the business climate.
The communiqué recognised the challenges that confronted Ghana at the inception of the council, notably macro-economic instability, extremely high interest rates, the high cost of doing business, low levels of investment and later the energy crisis, escalating petroleum and rising food prices.
It commended the government for the significant progress made on the mutually agreed specific interventions key to Ghana achieving its developmental goals, especially reforms in the financial sector, labour, land administration, the public sector, agriculture and agri-business to build investor confidence and a firm level of competitiveness in Ghana.
It noted in particular the establishment and operationalisation of the International Financial Services Centre, further liberalisation and improved management of the foreign exchange market and a strong re-denominated currency that was stable, with an impressively low record of depreciation.
It also mentioned increased availability of credit to the business community, the passage of legislation to facilitate the establishment of private employment centres, consistently improved minimum wage for workers from GH¢0.31 in 2000 to GH¢2.25 currently and income for farmers such as the quadrupling of the producer price of cocoa from GH¢21.7 in 2000 to GH¢102 currently.
Other achievements, it said, were the creation of the first land information bank, the establishment of functioning client services units in 23 government agencies and the passage of the Pension Reform Bill into law that expanded access to long-term funds.
The communiqué said the council also acknowledged the complementary achievements in the energy, communications and road transport sectors, as well as ports, harbours and railways.
It also mentioned the expansion of the road network by 60 per cent from 38,000 kilometres to 64,000 kilometres, the easing of port congestion and reduction in ship turn around time through measures such as the construction of new container terminals and the modernisation of cargo handling, as well as significant and continuing reduction in the time it took to export and import goods.
"We recognise the high level of responsiveness of the entire Executive machinery to our critical reviews and recommendations," it said, stressing, "We collectively express the view that the council has served its purpose as intended at its inception in 2002."
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ghana Investors Advisory Council has commended the government for turning around the economy from a heavily indebted poor country status to the achievement of more than six per cent Gross Domestic Product.
It noted that in spite of the challenges that confronted Ghana in the early part of President Kufuor’s administration, the government had achieved remarkable success that was acknowledged world-wide.
"Ghana is now regarded by the World Bank as one of the top 10 reforming countries in the world and the best place to do business in West Africa," it said.
These were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the eighth meeting of the council at Akosombo at the weekend.
The council consists of 33 selected corporate leaders from the international and local private sector and four observers and it was inaugurated in May 2002 to advise the President of Ghana on the strategies to be taken to attract investment into Ghana’s economy and improve the business climate.
The communiqué recognised the challenges that confronted Ghana at the inception of the council, notably macro-economic instability, extremely high interest rates, the high cost of doing business, low levels of investment and later the energy crisis, escalating petroleum and rising food prices.
It commended the government for the significant progress made on the mutually agreed specific interventions key to Ghana achieving its developmental goals, especially reforms in the financial sector, labour, land administration, the public sector, agriculture and agri-business to build investor confidence and a firm level of competitiveness in Ghana.
It noted in particular the establishment and operationalisation of the International Financial Services Centre, further liberalisation and improved management of the foreign exchange market and a strong re-denominated currency that was stable, with an impressively low record of depreciation.
It also mentioned increased availability of credit to the business community, the passage of legislation to facilitate the establishment of private employment centres, consistently improved minimum wage for workers from GH¢0.31 in 2000 to GH¢2.25 currently and income for farmers such as the quadrupling of the producer price of cocoa from GH¢21.7 in 2000 to GH¢102 currently.
Other achievements, it said, were the creation of the first land information bank, the establishment of functioning client services units in 23 government agencies and the passage of the Pension Reform Bill into law that expanded access to long-term funds.
The communiqué said the council also acknowledged the complementary achievements in the energy, communications and road transport sectors, as well as ports, harbours and railways.
It also mentioned the expansion of the road network by 60 per cent from 38,000 kilometres to 64,000 kilometres, the easing of port congestion and reduction in ship turn around time through measures such as the construction of new container terminals and the modernisation of cargo handling, as well as significant and continuing reduction in the time it took to export and import goods.
"We recognise the high level of responsiveness of the entire Executive machinery to our critical reviews and recommendations," it said, stressing, "We collectively express the view that the council has served its purpose as intended at its inception in 2002."
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