Special Delegates Conference Address – Kumasi

Details

Category: Special Reports

Created on Friday, 31 August 2012 10:03

Hits: 2929

Special Delegates Conference Address – Kumasi

Address By H.E. Jerry John Rawlings Former President Of Ghana And Founder Of The National Democratic Congress - Special Delegates Conference – Kumasi, August 30, 2012

{sidebar id=11 align=right}Mr. Chairman, Mr. President and the Vice President, Nananom, members of the Council of State, members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the security agencies, delegates, party members and supporters, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I would like you to join me in congratulating our new President for responding to an urgent request I made to him to use his authority to help provide street lights to a few villages where a spate of killings – which have increased drastically over the past year – have been taking place with well anticipated impunity.

I had tried over the past year or more to draw the attention of some personalities and state institutions to the brutal killings, especially of women. I almost got the impression that some authorities did not want the re-emergence of these killings to be made public for reasons best known to themselves. Some of the opposition media however exposed it.

{sidebar id=10 align=right}While I am grateful to the President for his intervention, it is important that the lukewarm attitude of some of these authorities is investigated.

There is nothing more disheartening than poor villages being forced to stay indoors from 7pm because of the threat of kidnap and murder.

President John Mahama, today is your first hurdle towards being an elected President. Electoral victory will depend on a number of things – how quickly you can restore integrity to the Presidency, your government and to the party.

Mr. President, fellow Ghanaians it is said that we should not throw out the baby with the bath water, but what do we do when some of the babies in the tub are babies with teeth, biting and spewing invectives? Should they not be lowered out with the dirty water so we can concentrate on the good ones? After all one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the taste in your mouth.

When we find ourselves at a wooden bridge with some planks rotten, do we wait to get new planks before removing the rotten ones or do we remove the rotten ones immediately to prevent the potential loss of limbs and lives?

Fellow countrymen and women, the uncivilized tendency of poking thoughtlessly people who have sacrificed for both party and country, and later attempting to embrace them for political expediency, must stop. Let us begin to show civility towards each other, in the hope that it is not too late. How much credibility can be restored between now and the elections?

Mr President, those who have been sitting in the comfort of their homes both home and abroad waiting for others to win the elections for them, better wake up and hit the campaign trail.

The NDC as a party is composed of diverse political persuasions, groups and interests. It is therefore crucial that all these interests and their contributions to the continuous survival of the NDC are recognized, carefully weighed and harmonized at all times.

It is in the NDC’s interest to re-engage and remain focused on its core values, ideals and traditions of truth, honesty, integrity and justice. These are the cherished ingredients that have sustained the party over the past two decades.

Fellow countrymen and women, Ghana is a country many were proud to die for. Can we say so under the prevailing political climate? These are defining moments for the party and as we find ourselves at a crossroads let us use this gathering to get back to the noble principles and values that have always distinguished us from other political traditions.

It is crucial for us to reaffirm the party’s values and commitments, to hold them up against hard reality and to truly assess what legacy we are bestowing to the next generations.

Thank you and God Bless.

Source: JJR WordPress

No comments

300 illegal miners were trapped to death in 2011

Details

Category: Special Reports

Created on Monday, 27 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 3226

300 illegal miners were trapped to death in 2011

{sidebar id=10 align=right}More than 300 illegal miners were trapped to death at various illegal sites of the country in 2011, Mr Toni Aubyn, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines said on Saturday.

He said the fight against illegal mining in the country needed a more radical approach and appealed to District and Municipal Security Councils to effectively collaborate with the National Security to “nip this despicable act in the bud”.

Mr Aubyn said this at 2012 inter-mine safety and First Aid competition held at Newmont Ahafo Mine plant site at Kenyasi number two in the Asutifi District of Brong-Ahafo Region.

Newmont Ahafo Mine, Owere Mines, Kinross Chirano Gold, Ghana Bauxite and Noble Gold representing the zone two participated in the competition on oral and practical aspects of safety and first aid.

Mr Aubyn said illegal mining continues to disturb the peace and safety environment that mining companies needed to operate, a situation which consequently slows down the sector’s contribution to the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.

He said over the years the Chamber of Mines had consistently highlighted the threat of illegal mining to the mining industry as well as the people involved in the practice in fringe communities but the political will to address the issue was not forthcoming as expected.

“The delay in arresting this menace has obviously emboldened these illegal miners who now cause havoc to the environment by polluting water bodies with mercury and other dangerous chemicals such as cyanide with abandon,” The Chief Executive Officer stated.

Mr Aubyn said the chamber had also noted with concern the involvement of some foreigners in illegal mining either by directly engaging in the menace or providing support to the illegal miners.

He said the mining sector continues to be a major contributor of value to the economy disclosing that in 2011, the sector returned about 3.1 billion dollars representing 75 percent of their mineral revenue to the country.

In the same period the industry spent about 1.4 billion dollars to procure goods locally for their operations, out of which 30 million dollars was on electric power, 322 million dollars on diesel and 771,920,186 dollars was also on other inputs.

Mr Aubyn said the sector also voluntarily contributed an amount of about 43 million dollars to its host communities and 1 billion dollars to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) representing 27.61 percent of the total GRA collections last year.

He said by local purchases the industry created value for the local economy in addition to the royalties, taxes and import duties it paid to the government.

Between January and June 2012, mining companies are estimated to have paid about 140 million dollars in royalties to the state, Mr Aubyn said , indicating that the amount represented about 19 percent increase over the same period in 2011 which was about 115 million dollars.

This amount, he added, did not include other taxes such as corporate tax and PAYE and duties which were expected to be significant.

Mr Stephen Nathaniel Piedu, Chief Inspector of Mines at the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission, said the division had teamed up with the National Security sub-committee on Lands and Natural Resources to form a number of taskforce to deal with illegal miners.

This he said would go a long way to help curb the growing pollution of water bodies and air pollution as well as land degradation.

He said the inspectorate had opened its doors to prospective small scale miners to regularize their activities by registering so to enable them use appropriate technologies and scientific mining practices.

Mr Piedu said the inspectorate had directed all mining companies to produce their own emergency preparedness and response peculiar to their operations and in line with the World’s best practices.

He said the competition would go a long way to inculcate the sense of safety in the mining workforce and appealed to mining companies not to relent in their efforts at maintaining precautionary health and safety measures in their work places.

Mr Jeop Coenen, General Manager, Ahafo operations of the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, said the company launched its safety journey programme in 2009 which involved going through awareness, consent, participation, ownership and integration.

He gave the assurance that Newmont Ahafo mine would continue to operate in a safe and responsible manner consistent with its value of demonstrating leadership in safety, stewardship of the environment and social responsibility.

Newmont Ahafo mine won the competition and will represent the zone in the national competition with 92 points and will represent the zone in the national one expected November this year.

Chirano gold placed the second with 84 points followed by Noble gold 82, Owere mines, 80 and Ghana Bauxite 63.3 points.

From: Ghana News Agency

No comments

Can John Dramani Mahama Make The Right Choice

Details

Category: Features

Created on Tuesday, 28 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 75467

Can John Dramani Mahama Make The Right Choice

....FOR THE 2012 ELECTIONS? When the news finally hit town, after many days of intense lobbying and speculation, that Mr. Kwesi Amissah Arthur was nominated as the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, I shriveled.

No comments

2010 Population And Housing Census Reveals Women Out Number Men In Ghana

Details

Category: Special Reports

Created on Monday, 27 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 3479

2010 Population And Housing Census Reveals Women Out Number Men In Ghana

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Results of the long awaited 2012 population and Housing Census have finally been announced.

The Ag Government Statistician, Dr Phelomena Nyarko who made the announcement in Accra said Ghana's population now stands at 24,658,823.

Of this figure 51.2% are females while 48.8% are males.

Dr Nyarko said the dependent population is also made up of over ten million.

Compared to the 2000 census, Ghana's population is growing at a rate of 2.5% annually.

Meanwhile in an interview with Radio Ghana, the Acting Government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarko said detailed analysis collected from the field which includes data on disability, Education, Literacy among others will be released before the end of the year.

She also explained that the GSS does not determine boundaries saying, that is the work of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Publicity Officer of the Census Secretariat, David Kombat has been explaining the challenges that made it impossible to release the 2010 Population and Housing Census results early.

He cited challenges such as five million households that needed to be covered by 50,000 field workers, scanning of forms and difficulties in enumerating people in some selected communities.

Source: GBC

No comments