Fiapre (B/A), Nov. 19, GNA – Most Reverend Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholic Bishop of Sunyani Diocese, has cautioned the Catholic youth not to allow themselves to be manipulated by politicians to engage in acts that would affect a peaceful Election 2012.     He urged students to use the knowledge and training acquired to impact positively on their families and society.     Most Rev. Gyamfi was addressing a durbar of staff and students of Notre Dame Senior High School (SHS) at Fiapre near Sunyani to climax their 25th anniversary celebrations.     It was on the theme “Girls Education for National Development: Prospects and Challenge”.     He appealed to the students to aspire to greater heights in education by learning hard and have discerning minds in this age of globalisation.   Most Rev. Gyamfi appealed to teachers and school authorities to instil moral and spiritual discipline in their students and impact true knowledge in their lives to become committed citizens.     Mrs Lordina Mahama, First Lady in a speech read on her behalf, said girls’ education was a prerequisite for national development as the right to educate women would empower them to contribute and enhance national development.     She said some women had been appointed by government to various positions to serve as role models and stressed that such women did not get there by chance but through hard work and commitment to their chosen fields.     Mrs Mahama told the students that the training that they were going through would position them strategically for the future and advised them to be disciplined, respect their teachers and parents, learn hard, be patriotic and aspire to higher levels.     She asked the students not to waste the opportunity offered to them but become useful to their families and the nation.     The First Lady assured the students of government’s commitment to improve school infrastructure and the conditions of service for teachers to attain government’s objectives of expanding access and ensuring quality education in the country.     Mrs Mahama called on teachers and school authorities to be more committed to help the students achieve better foundation for their future, with the adoption of appropriate skills and techniques to help manage available resources to improve standard of education in the country.     Dr Mrs Lucy Acheampong, a retired educationist,  said women referred to as the weaker sex, were now the bedrock of society and national development.     She said denial of women to education was the greatest violation of human rights, adding that a generation of highly educated women would be able to transform the socio-economic development of the nation.     Dr Acheampong said the role of women in national development should be appreciated because gender equality would not only empower women to overcome poverty but benefit their children and families as well.     She noted that educated women tend to be healthier, participate in formal labour market, earn more income and had few children, provide better health care and educate their children.      Dr Acheampong urged government to increase the number of professional women in positions to serve as role models to girls and pleaded with parents and communities to invest in their girls’ education.      Ms Margaret Lucy Donkor, Headmistress of the school, said the authorities would not relent in their efforts to maintain the standards set to improve on girls’ education in the country.     She said the school attained 100 per cent in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) last year, and 133 out of the 180 students who sat for the examination qualified for admission into tertiary institutions.     Ms Donkor called on stakeholders to assist the school to construct more classrooms, bungalows for teachers and other infrastructure to enhance teaching and learning.   GNA...

Sunyani, Nov. 19, GNA – Ghana has concluded discussions with Cameroun for the importation of timber to increase her raw material supply in the timber industry, Mr Mike Hammah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said on Monday.   He said these were short and medium-term measures being adopted to ensure the industry remained in active business.   Mr Hammah said this in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the Northern Sector Timber Association (NORSTA) made up of exporters and importers of timber products in Sunyani.      Mr Hammah said the government was aware of the gradual depletion of forest resources and is pursuing policy interventions to address challenges in the timber industry.      He said Cabinet had approved the revision of the forest and wildlife policy which would be launched before the end of the year for implementation.      The revised policy now shifts focus from only timber production to non-consumptive values of the forest including protection of water bodies, conservation of biological diversity and ecotourism development.      Mr Hammah said the Ministry in collaboration with the Forestry Commission (FC) and other stakeholders had developed a draft Timber Procurement Policy to ensure that only legal timber were used in all public development projects.       He said he was optimistic that effective implementation of the policy would reduce the trade in illegal lumber on the domestic market.   Mr Hammah said the FC had also established a rapid response unit to deal with illegal chainsaw operations and other forest offences especially at the forest gate and major transportation routes.   In addition, the Ministry has secured a Fiat from the Attorney’s General’s Department to empower the FC to establish a unit to prosecute forest offences.      The Sector Minister explained that this was to ensure that sanctions imposed on culprits were more deterrent and advised the association to take active interest in the National Forest Plantation Development Programme to secure a more reliable raw material supply base for their operations.      He said a major challenge facing the sector was how to allocate timber resources outside forest reserves where illegal logging activities were widespread.      “The challenge is that the current law for the granting of timber rights did not provide for resources outside forest reserves. Efforts are being made to address this by the enactment of a Legislative Instrument for such areas.”      Mr Oduro Kwarteng, Chairman of NORSTA, said the association was formed because of the illegal felling of Rosewood in the sector with the active involvement of foreigners.      He said the association was determined to help eliminate the activities of illegal contractors and chainsaw operators who did not pay any stumpage to the FC.      Mr Oduro said NORSTA had acquired 40 acres of land in the Atebubu/Amantin District to commence an afforestation programme and appealed to the Government for assistance.   GNA...

Kwaman (Ash), Nov 19, GNA – The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kwamanman Rural Bank, Mr Joseph Ofori-Amanfo, has pleaded with the shareholders to increase their shareholding to enable it to meet the capital adequacy ratio.     He said they needed to pull together to fix the “capitalization albatross facing the bank before they are overtaken by events”.     Addressing the 18th annual shareholders general meeting of the bank at the Saint Andrews Anglican Church at Kwamang in the Sekyere Central District, he said it faced a real threat from its weak capital structure.           The bank in real terms has not attained the required stated capital of GH¢150,000.00 set by the regulator - Bank of Ghana (BOG).           Mr Ofori-Amanfo said the capital found in its account was mainly owned by the staff of the bank, whose provident fund had been converted to stated capital.           He said this arrangement is beset with ownership implications and governance of the bank, which do not provide much comfort for us as shareholders.            He said from the look of things, it is clear that the BOG will soon raise the stated capital of Rural and Community Banks and this will pose a very big challenge for the bank.            On the bank’s operational results in 2011, Mr Ofori-Manfo said it recorded an appreciable annual profit before tax of GH¢271,785.02 as compared with the previous year’s figure of GH¢146,915.93.            Deposits also rose from GH¢8,102,747.55 to GH¢11,794,337.11 during the period under review, with total assets going up to GH¢12,954,523.94 from GH¢8,806,855.29.            Loans granted stood at GH¢6,317,989.12 as against the year 2010 figure of GH¢4,014,154.91.           Mr Ofori-Amanfo called on loan beneficiaries to make sure that they paid back on schedule to allow the facility to be extended to others.   GNA...

Adaklu Kodzobi (V/R), Nov. 19,  GNA – Ghana cannot attain the goal of reducing new HIV infections by 50 per cent, eliminate mother to child transmission of the disease and optimize care for People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWA), if elimination of HIV-related stigmatisation and discrimination is not prioritized.       Stigmatization and discrimination severely undermine HIV prevention efforts, and people are afraid to seek information about how to reduce risk of exposure to the disease, go for voluntary testing, and discourage PLWA from disclosing their HIV and AIDS status publicly.      Mr. Victor Ntumi, Executive Director of AFRIWEB Foundation, a health and livelihood non-governmental organisation (NGO), said these at an outreach programme at Adaklu Kodzobi in the Adaklu District at the weekend.     The event was organised by the NGO with support from Ghana Aids Commission and Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.      Mr Ntumy said discrimination and stigmatization were barriers to achieving universal fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS.     He said AFRIWEB Foundation was using churches and mosques to educate people on the dangers of discrimination and stigmatization of PLWA adding “we must show love and compassion to such people”.      Mr Ntumy said about 2,000 people who randomly tested for AIDS and HIV voluntarily in the Ho Municipality lately, 20 of them tested positive.     He assured people who tested for the disease that results would be handled with the “greatest confidentiality”.      Mr Ntumy assured PLWA that “it is not the end of the road for them” and asked them to go for antiretroviral therapy in the country.      He appealed to community and faith-based organisations and opinion leaders to champion the fight against discrimination and stigmatization of PLWA.     More than 100 people were later tested voluntarily for the disease.   GNA...

Nkawie (Ash), Nov 19, GNA – Two farmers and a labourer, who broke into the Nkawie Pentecost Church and made away with some musical instruments, have been remanded into prison custody.        Kwaku Boamponsem, labourer, Yaw Manu and Kwadwo Owusu, both farmers, pleaded guilty  when they appeared before the Nkawie Circuit Court.       They would re-appear on Tuesday, November 27.       Police Detective Sergeant Jonas Adjei told the that the crime was committed on  September 23.      They broke into the church and stole a keyboard and an amplifier.      The prosecution said investigations led to the arrest of Manu, who mentioned Owusu and Boamponsem as the culprits.   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 19, GNA – Dr Lawrence Tetteh, President of Worldwide Miracle Outreach, UK on Monday described the late former Vice President Aliu Mahama “as a man who did not let his religious persuasion act as barrier with other faiths.   He noted that Alhaji Mahama attended numerous crusades he organised in Ghana over the years and after his term ended as Vice President.   Dr Tetteh made this known in a statement issued in the UK and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.   “It was characteristic of him to openly declare the goodness of God during his vivid narration of the miracles he witnessed during these crusades. His deep Muslim background was not a hindrance to his association with other religions- A true open minded leader!   “He abhorred indiscipline and his message on discipline was embraced by all. He was a man of peace.”   Dr Tetteh said when he lost his father; Sampson Tetteh, in 2008, Alhaji Mahama came to mourn with him and sat throughout the funeral and burial service.   “He stood with me and my family - a mark of his great sense of duty and unbridled love which is etched in my memory and indeed the memory of the... Tetteh family of Dodowa and beyond.   “His love for me drew me to his family. My heart goes out to his wife, Hajia Ramatu Mahama...  children and the...family.   “It is my prayer that his death will unite the country in our grief, irrespective of our political and religious backgrounds – this is what he stood for.   “Alhaji Aliu Mahama will be truly missed by me personally, my wife Barbara, the... Tetteh family and the Worldwide Miracle Outreach. May his soul find rest in the God who he so avidly served,” Dr Tetteh said.   Alhaji Mahama who was Vice President from 2001- 2009 under former President John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party died on Friday, November 16, at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, after a short illness.   He was buried in his private residence in Tamale on Sunday after a State Funeral at the Independence Square in Accra.   GNA...

Lawra (U/W), Nov. 19, GNA – Mr. Iddrisu Mahama, the Upper West Regional Director of Education, has appealed to heads of Senior High Schools (SHSs) to review some of the punishments meted out to students who break school regulations.       In his opinion, punishments such outright dismissal of students and indefinite suspensions should be a thing of the past because they deny educational access to students concerned and posed threats to their future development.      Mr. Mahama made the call at the fourth Speech and Prize Giving Day of the Lawra SHS.          He said to achieve academic excellence, stakeholders must ensure that discipline permeated all levels including academic and management of schools.      Mr. Mahama thanked the staff and management of the school for maintaining discipline and high academic performance so far.      He appealed to the Board of Governors and the Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) to continue to support the school by way of generating useful ideas that could help the school to develop and improve on performance.      Mr. Cezar Kale, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister congratulated the school for scoring 100% in the last West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE).      He said government had initiated numerous projects in the school with the view to maintaining the school as a model science school in the district and the region at large.      He commended the PTA and other philanthropists for the wonderful assistance they have been rendering the school.      Mr. Edward Kpimezie Puoviel, the Headmaster of the School, said the current population of the school stood at 2,641 students made up of 1,520 boys and 721 girls.      He said the school scored 100% at the last WASSCE with aggregate nine as the best.      Mr. Puoviel commended the government for the many projects that the school was benefiting from and appealed for a fence wall to enhance discipline among students and also prevent external interferences.      The Headmaster commended Mr. Ambrose Dery, Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Area and Mr. Sampson Abu, the Lawra District Chief Executive (DCE) for donating five computers each to the school.      Mr. Puoviel also thanked Mr. Anthony Karbo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Youth Organiser and the party’s parliamentary candidate for Lawra, for assisting the school with a set of jerseys.   Naa Puowele Karbo III, Paramount Chief of the Lawra Traditional Area, thanked all who have contributed in diverse ways to make the event a success and pledged his personal commitment to help develop the school.   GNA...

Dormaa-Ahenkro (B/A), Nov. 19, GNA – The Reverend Dr Kofi Effa-Ababio, Chairperson of West Brong Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, has stressed the need for partnership between government and religious bodies in the  quest to mobilise human and material resources to enhance health care delivery in the country.      He said government could assist such institutions such as the Dormaa Presbyterian Midwifery Training School with the necessary equipment, infrastructure and teaching staff to admit more students, including Senior High School (SHS) graduates.      Dr Rev. Effa-Ababio made the call at the second Matriculation of Dormaa Presbyterian Midwifery Training School at Dormaa-Ahenkro.      The second batch of 78 students were admitted for the 2012-2013 academic year.      The school which was established about two years ago, now has 110 students to pursue a two-year professional training in midwifery.      Madam Georgina Sam, a representative of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Secretariat of Nurses and Midwifes Council (NMC) administered the Matriculation Oath to the students.      Dr Rev. Effa-Ababio pointed out that the era when people enrolled and trained in health institutions for glamour and academic laurels must give way to a more purposeful era when nurses and midwives would submit wholeheartedly to the philosophy of Florence Nightingale, Mother of Nursing whose ideals and values they were trained to uphold and cherish.      He noted that nurses and midwives had much to offer Ghana in her strive to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 by 2015.      Dr Timothy Letsa, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of Health, in a speech read for him, noted that access to quality health care was gradually becoming the preserve of a few individuals in society due to insufficient human resources and health facilities.      He urged the students to seek more knowledge through reading and research into their field of study to prepare adequately for the task ahead of them.      Mr Kwaku Asante Krobea, National President of Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) announced that it would soon establish a second-tier pension scheme to guarantee members lump sum of money during retirement.      Madam Hilda Mary Commey, Principal of the school said it admitted 78 students out of 189 applicants due to lack of infrastructure and equipment.      She therefore appealed to government for assistance with infrastructure, teachers and equipment.      The Reverend Mavis Hanna Yeboah, Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital Chaplain deplored the slow pace of Ghana’s maternal healthcare delivery which was not conducive to the achievement of the health-related MDGs.           She said available statistics indicated that Ghana’s maternal mortality rate as at 2008 was 451 per 100,000 births which was nowhere near the MDG target of 185 per 100,000 births by 2015.      Mr Gordon Kwaku Asubonteng, Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive and Mr Kwaku Agyemang Manu, NPP Member of Parliament for Dormaa-West, pledged their support to the school and commended the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its role in the provision of social amenities in the country.      They appealed to the electorate to eschew violence and verbal attacks during Election 2012.   GNA...

Accra, Nov.18, GNA - Two construction groups have jointly proposed the creation of an independent multi-stake-holder body to scrutinize contract agreements, and ensure efficient and competent delivery of work in the construction industry in Ghana.       The Construction and Building Material Workers Union (CMBWU) of Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), and the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana, suggested that such a body should be akin to the Construction Industry Development Board of South Africa.                 The two groups at meeting in Accra on Friday said that any such body should be tasked to ensure that contractors, who win bids include issues regarding safety gadget, labour-management cordial relations and fair labour practices in contract agreements.          Mr Pius Micheal Quaino, General Secretary of the CMBWU of the TUC,   called on stakeholders to collaborate and improve the welfare of workers and contractors.      He appealed to the association to remain politically neutral in the award of contracts.       Mr Martins K. Nnuro, President of the Association, expressed concern about domination of foreigners in the award of contracts in the country to the disadvantage of local contractors with better qualification.       He said the association has engaged the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Ghana Highway Authority and Feeder and Urban Roads Department, in pursuit of regulatory framework for the industry.   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 19, GNA - Madam Eunice Ijeoma Aku Ogbugo, Award Winner of the National Youth Achievers Award 2012 has pledged to establish a Foundation that would focus on education, women and children in the country.   She said the Foundation would also provide special orientation to people on Enterprise Development and private sector management.   Madam Ogbugo, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on her achievements, said the high rate of unemployment in the country needed some radical moves that could encourage the youth to establish their own enterprises rather than rely on government and other organizations.   As Chief Executive Officer of Eugo Terrano Limited, a Tema-based Construction firm, Madam Ogbugo said soon after completing her Civil Engineering Course at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology she established her company and believed that with a little support others could do the same in the country.   She was adjudged the Winner of the National Youth Achievers Gold Award for 2012 for Business Excellence and the Overall Youth Personality in the female Division.   The Chief Executive officer pledged to do everything under her purview to support the course of women and children, education and enterprise development to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy throughout the country.     GNA...

Hwediem (B/A), Nov. 19, GNA – The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the police to act decisively to stop what it said was the lawlessness and political vandalism by supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Asutifi South Constituency.        This comes on the heels of an alleged ambush of a Nissan pick-up vehicle carrying seven bicycles meant for distribution to some polling agents to aid the NPP’s electioneering campaign, by suspected thugs of the ruling party at Dadiesoaba.        They were reported to have seized and vandalized the bicycles as Madam Cecilia Dapaah, former Ambassador to Cuba, who was distributing them watched on helplessly and in complete surprise.       Mr Boakye Boateng Yiadom, the NPP Parliamentary Candidate in the area, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that a formal complaint had been made to the police.       He said the expectation was that the police would do everything to bring the offenders to justice.       “The impunity should not be allowed to continue. We have had enough of that”, he added.       The police at Hwediem confirmed the incident and said they had launched thorough investigations to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.   GNA...

Takoradi, Nov.19, GNA - Emmanuel Koomson, a disc jockey, and Francis Essuman, a driver, were on Friday remanded by Takoradi Circuit Court “A” for allegedly conspiring to commit crime and stealing.      The pleas of the suspects were not taken and they would re-appear before court on November 30.      Police Inspector Seth Ahelegbe told the court that Koomson lived at Ngyinamoabekem and Essuman lived at Essaman, near Sekondi.      He said the suspects on November 12 at about 0300 hours,  stole six goats from Nkotompo and hid the animals in the bush near the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital mortuary roundabout.   Inspector Ahelegbe said the suspects approached another driver of a vehicle and solicited his help to transport the animals.      Inspector Ahelegbe said the driver agreed, and the vehicle, which was being driven by Essuman, developed mechanical fault on the way.      The prosecution said a group led by the Assembly Member for Nkotompo suspected a foul deal.   Insp. Ahelegbe said when the group started to interrogate the suspects, Essuman and Koomson escaped but the driver of the vehicle was arrested and handed over to the police.      The prosecution said Essuman was arrested when the driver in a statement said he (Essuman) hired his vehicle to transport the animals.       Insp. Ahelegbe said Essuman mentioned Koomson as his accomplice and he (koomson) was also arrested.      The prosecution said some people from Essaman and Nkotompo identified the goats as theirs.      Insp. Ahelegbe said the suspects in cautioned statements admitted the offence.   GNA...

Mankessim (C/R), Nov 19, GNA – The Obaatan of the Nkusukum Traditional Council, Nana Beenyi III, has appealed to all registered voters to exercise their franchise on December 7.   “No one must boycott the elections under any circumstance,” Nana Beenyi said when addressing the media after the citizens of New Nkusukum in Mankessim went on a “Peace March” for a peaceful election on December 7.   He said elections were important events for citizens to elect their leader and added “If the wise refuse to vote, fools would elect people to rule the wise.”   Nana Beenyi expressed disappointment about the failure of parliamentary candidates and leaders of the political parties to participate in the Peace March and said they could have used it to outline their policies and programmes.   Representatives of Hairdressers Associations, Mfantseman Youth and Development Association and the banks stressed on the need for Ghanaians to sustain the peace before, during and after the election.   Nana Beenyi appealed to the Inspector-General of Police to post more police personnel to the town to control crime in the municipality and that he was ready to release land for the construction of the District Police Command.   The Chief said Mankessim had expanded to the extent that it needed to be given a separate district status and appealed to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to consider giving it that status.   Nana Beenyi expressed concern about failure of the Municipal Assembly to pay royalty to the Twidan Clan, the owners of the land on which Mankessim Market is situated, since the market was handed over to the government in 1925 and appealed to the government to rectify the situation.   He called for the expansion of the market to contain the large influx of traders from all over the country to the town.   GNA...

Accra, Nov. 19, GNA - Seven in 10 women in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to a safe toilet, threatening their health and exposing them to shame, fear and even violence.   This means that on World Toilet Day, which falls on November 19, some 297 million African women and girls lack safe and adequate sanitation and of those 107 million don’t have a toilet at all.   This is contained in a statement issued by WaterAid, an international NGO dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people, to mark World Toilet day.    It said a survey commissioned by WaterAid of women living across five slums in Lagos, Nigeria, showed that one in five had first or second hand experience of verbal harassment and intimidation, or had been threatened or physically assaulted in the last year when going to the toilet.   It said anecdotal evidence from other African countries suggested that the scale of the problem might be much larger than this.   Ms Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of WaterAid, said: “When women don’t have a safe, secure and private place to go to the toilet they are exposed and put in a vulnerable position and when they relieve themselves in the open they risk harassment.   Women are reluctant to talk about it or complain, but the world cannot continue to ignore this.   “Adequate sanitation, coupled with access to clean, safe water to drink, transforms lives, improving health, safety and productivity. Governments are urged to take action and invest in access to sanitation and water.”   The statement said other studies from Uganda and Kenya showed that such experiences of fear, indignity and violence appeared to be common in Africa wherever women lacked access to safe and adequate sanitation.    It quoted Sandimhia Renato, 18, from Mozambique as saying she walks 15 minutes every day to defecate in the bush. Renato said: “Sometimes when I go I feel ashamed and go back without defecating. Sometimes I wait until dark to go there so no one can see me.   I will be very concerned about Diani, my daughter, going to the bush because it is so far from here.   “At night it is very dangerous. People get killed. A woman and a boy were killed with knives. One woman I know of has been raped.” WaterAid said security came out as a recurring concern in the poll of women from slums in Lagos, with 67% of respondents saying they felt unsafe even using shared or community toilets in a public place.   It said poor hygiene had serious implications on health. “Every day, over 1,000 African mothers lose a child to diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of adequate sanitation and clean water. Lack of decent sanitation also affects productivity and livelihoods.    “Women and girls living in sub-Saharan Africa without toilet facilities spend 20 billion hours each year finding a place to go in the open,” WaterAid said. Ms Frost said: “This World Toilet Day, WaterAid is joining the call of hundreds of organisations around the world, for governments to keep the promises they have made to get adequate sanitation and safe water to the world’s poorest people.”    GNA  ...

  Apam (C/R), Nov. 19, GNA – Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, the Gomoa West District Chief Executive, has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would win the December 7 general election.      “Ghanaians will vote massively for the NDC in honour of the late President John Evans Atta Mills for the good work he has done for the country,” Mr Aidoo-Mensah told newsmen at Apam.    He said he was confident the NDC would win not less than 20 out of the 23 seats in the Central Region including the five seats being contested for by the female candidates of the party.    Mr Aidoo-Mensah said whilst the government was focussed on working to improve conditions of Ghanaians, its opponents have decided to use the radio and television stations to attack leading NDC members.    “Since radio and television stations do not vote, we can assure our opponents that defeat is awaiting them on December 7,” he said.   He appealed to his colleague Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to support the party’s parliamentary candidates in their constituencies in their campaign.    Mr Aidoo-Mensah said the Constitution demanded a gradual approach towards the implementation of a free SHS education which includes expansion of accessibility, training of enough teachers and many others.   He said anything short of that could lead to mediocrity and could compound problems in the education sector and asked “how can we implement free SHS system when kindergarten, primary and junior high school children are studying under trees and dilapidated structures?”   Mr Aidoo-Mensah appealed to the youth to take their education seriously and must not allow politicians to misuse them.   GNA...

Accra , Nov 19, GNA - The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), an Accra-based  civil society organisation, on Monday urged Ghanaians, especially the clergy, to intensify intercessory prayers for Ghana in the trying moments of fatal accidents and demise of national leaders.   AFAG recalled the death of President Mills and most recently the death of former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and said, “This is a national tragedy considering the fact that by their positions, Ghana stood the chance to benefit enormously from their experiences to enhance the quest for development.   “Again, the recent road accident on the Bolga-Tamale road which claimed more than 30 lives adds to the long list of similar ones which have occurred in the course of the year 2012”.   These were contained in a statement signed by Mr Arnold Boateng, a leading member of AFAG and three others, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra. The statement said it was also important that, “in times like these, the nation in complementing its efforts in dealing with such situations has mostly looked up to the clergy to intercede and also provide spiritual direction and guidance to the nation’”.   It however regretted that nevertheless, the clergy, in stating its opinion on national issues had become problematic for certain people and said AFAG was urging the clergy to rise above the insults hurled at members  anytime they stated an opinion on important national matters and commit themselves to prayers and advise as and when the need arose.   “We strongly hold the view that this call is imperative and urgent and the clergy must not be intimidated by the insults ... because it has a role in the destiny of this nation and majority of Ghanaians support them”.   GNA...

Paris, NOV. 19 (dpa/GNA) - France's conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) was in turmoil Monday as the two candidates to succeed former president Nicolas Sarkozy as party leader both claimed victory in a contest and accused the other camp of voting fraud.   Jean-Francois Cope, the party's right-wing secretary general, and Francois Fillon, former prime minister under Sarkozy, and a centrist, each rushed to claim victory in Sunday's contest despite the vote count still being underway.   Cope was the first to claim the mantle of party president late Sunday.   "UMP members have given me a majority of their votes today and therefore elected me president of the UMP," the 48-year-old mayor of the town of Meaux near Paris told a group of supporters, saying he looked forward to working "hand in hand" with Fillon.   Shortly thereafter, Fillon announced that he had a 224-vote advantage.   "The results give me a narrow victory," he said, adding he would not let the victory be "stolen," and that the party's internal election commission must verify the winner.   On Monday, the two rivals remained entrenched in their positions, despite appeals by senior party figures for unity.   Former party leader Alain Juppe called on Fillon and Cope to "immediately stop the abuse".   "I'm issuing a real cry of alarm, it's the veritable existence of the UMP which is in jeopardy today, so this confrontation has to stop," he told i-Tele channel.   Laurent Wauquiez, Sarkozy's former education minister, who backed Fillon for leader, admitted to France Inter radio that the party had covered itself in "ridicule."   Early Monday the election commissioned resumed the count which had been suspended during the night. Around 300,000 people were eligible to vote. Turnout appeared to have been brisk with people waiting for three hours in some places to cast their ballot.   The eventual victor will lead the party into local elections in 2014 and be in a strong position to win the party's nomination for president in 2017.   Polls ahead of the vote had consistently show Fillon as the favourite of UMP supporters but the combative Cope had warned of a surprise when paid-up party members were asked to choose.   The two men agree on many issues, including their opposition to gay marriage, but represent different visions for the party's future.   Fillon believes the best chance of winning back power from President Francois Hollande's Socialists is by repositioning the UMP as a centre-right party.   Cope, by contrast, has called for an "uninhibited right."   Hanging over the election is the ghost of Sarkozy, who is still popular among UMP supporters.   For the conservative Le Figaro daily, the real winner of the election are those who want Sarkozy to make a comeback.   "They couldn't have hoped for better than a bitter legitimacy battle between the two contenders to succeed him to create the conditions for his return," the paper wrote. GNA  ...

Brussels, NOV. 19 (dpa/GNA) - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday urged Israel to show "restraint" in its defence against attacks from Gaza.   "Of course Israel has the right to self-defence, and attacks against Israel must end. But the international community would also expect Israel to show restraint," Rasmussen said.   "I'm very much concerned about the escalation of violence in both Gaza and Israel," Rasmussen said, adding that NATO was not involved in the Middle East peace process and didn't see a role in it.   "I welcome regional and international efforts to find a settlement," he said. GNA    ...

Phnom Penh, NOV. 19 (dpa/GNA) – US President Barack Obama arrived in the Cambodian capital Monday to join talks with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and participate in the East Asia Summit.   The newly re-elected president was expected to meet ASEAN leaders in Phnom Penh Monday. After a gala dinner, he was set to take part in Tuesday’s East Asia Summit, where territorial disputes surrounding the South China Sea were expected to be raised.   “Invariably - inevitably, the leaders will want to discuss the salient strategic and security issue facing the region, which is the issue stemming from the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea,” said Danny Russel, National Security Council senior director for Asia, in a press briefing by US officials last week.   China claims most of the South China Sea, including a vital shipping lane and resource-rich areas. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – all ASEAN members – also have overlapping claims in the area, as does Taiwan.   Obama was also expected to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on the summit margins. Tensions between Japan and China have flared up in recent weeks over a small group of disputed islands in the East China Sea. The president was also expected to broach human rights issues in talks with Hun Sen, the prime minster of ASEAN chair Cambodia, officials said.   Obama’s two-day Cambodia visit follows stops in Yangon, Myanmar, and Bangkok, Thailand. The significance of heading to Asia less than two weeks after being elected has been seen as part of a pivoting of US foreign policy towards the region. Obama was due to leave Cambodia for the US on Tuesday.   ASEAN groups Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei. GNA US President Barack Obama arrives in Cambodia     Phnom Penh, NOV. 19 (dpa/GNA) – US President Barack Obama arrived in the Cambodian capital Monday to join talks with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and participate in the East Asia Summit.   The newly re-elected president was expected to meet ASEAN leaders in Phnom Penh Monday. After a gala dinner, he was set to take part in Tuesday’s East Asia Summit, where territorial disputes surrounding the South China Sea were expected to be raised.   “Invariably - inevitably, the leaders will want to discuss the salient strategic and security issue facing the region, which is the issue stemming from the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea,” said Danny Russel, National Security Council senior director for Asia, in a press briefing by US officials last week.   China claims most of the South China Sea, including a vital shipping lane and resource-rich areas. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – all ASEAN members – also have overlapping claims in the area, as does Taiwan.   Obama was also expected to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on the summit margins. Tensions between Japan and China have flared up in recent weeks over a small group of disputed islands in the East China Sea. The president was also expected to broach human rights issues in talks with Hun Sen, the prime minster of ASEAN chair Cambodia, officials said.   Obama’s two-day Cambodia visit follows stops in Yangon, Myanmar, and Bangkok, Thailand. The significance of heading to Asia less than two weeks after being elected has been seen as part of a pivoting of US foreign policy towards the region. Obama was due to leave Cambodia for the US on Tuesday.   ASEAN groups Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei. GNA  ...

Half Assini (W/R) Nov. 19, GNA – An official of the Institute of Local Government Studies has appealed to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to step up their efforts to increase their Internally Generated Funds (IGF).      The Head of Environmental Science Policy of the Institute, Mrs Fustina Essando-Yeddu, said this  when closing a three-day workshop on Social Accountability for Stakeholders for the Jomoro District Assembly at Half Assini.          It was oragnised by the Institute in collaboration with Local Governance Decentralization Programme (LODOGEP) and the United State Agency for Institutional Development (USAID).     Mrs Essando-Yeddu said the situation where some Assemblies do not generate enough internally generated funds but rely only on the District Assemblies Common Fund was not the best and added that   MMDAs “should be ran as business instead of depending on Common Fund from the government”         The participants urged the Jomoro District Assembly to put committed and dedicated persons in key and sensitive positions of the Assembly to ensure social accountability in the district.     They said the aims and objectives of the Social Accountability would never be achieved if committed persons were not placed in sensitive positions.   GNA...