The Ghanaians Times welcomes the decision by the Minerals Commission to amend its laws to provide stiffer punishments for illegal miners. It hopes that the move will be actualised to help bring sanity into the mining industry. The Times is however, disappointed that the Commission is now waking up to its responsibilities, when things have reached the crisis stage. It considers the existing punishment for illegal miners especially, foreigners, as ridiculous saying it is not deterrent enough. To this end, the Times wishes that the planned amendment will not only propose stiffer fines but also prison sentences.

The Heritage writes about the death of the President. It says his death presents us with a tricky situation thus the State versus the Culture. The paper says it is true that in Ghanaian culture whenever a person passes on, the body automatically belongs to his or her father's family. According to the paper it is for this reason the bereaved family of Ekumfi Otuam and the entire people of the Central Region have a legitimate case in demanding that the body of our departed President be brought to them for burial. The paper says, because Atta Mills was the President of Ghana, elected by a majority of the people in accordance with democratic tenets, he therefore belong to the State and not only the citizens of Otuam or Central Region.

Making Senior High School admissions this year hassle-free is the focus of the Daily Graphic. In the paper's view, the release of the provisional BECE results is a moment of joy ad anguish. This is because, while candidates who are able to come out with flying colours will be excited, that excitement will be short-lived due to the rigorous Senior High School admission process they will encounter. It therefore expects that the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System will be fast tracked to avert the delays that characterise it. The paper regrets that government has not been able to resource all schools adequately for them to provide tuition in ICT and technical skills. It hopes government's initiative of 30 percent quota reserved for students from the catchment areas to enable them to also benefit from secondary education within their communities will be effective.

GBC