The busted 380 parcels of cocaine by officials of the Cape Coast MTTU win the top spot of the Daily Graphic. The paper reports that at about 8: am yesterday officials of the Cape Coast MTTU intercepted a SUV with registration number GR 1204 Y loaded with substances suspected to be cocaine concealed in 19 traveling bags at Atabadze Junction near Elimina. Two of the suspects immediately bolted into a nearby bush but were later arrested while the driver, Samuel Mills Robertson, who offered a bribe of US$5,000 to the officials was arrested. The paper shows a picture of the driver Samuel Mill Robertson and some of the bags containing the cocaine. Also given front page treatment is the swoop by a joint police-military force in Accra which resulted in the arrest of 200 suspected criminals from their hide out in suburbs of the capital.
The Ghanaian Times also gives prominence to the busted cocaine at Atabadze under the headline “another cocaine haul: 380 parcels seized”. The paper also shows on its front page a picture of Ghana’s President, John Agyekum Kufuor on arrival at the Airport of the Red Sea Resort of Sharma El-Sheikh on Saturday for the 11th Africa Union Heads of State and Governments summit. With him is Foreign Minister, Akwasi Osei-Agyei. The paper says this will be the President’s last attendance and will use the opportunity to say “AU revoir” to his colleagues.
THE EDITORIALS
The Daily Graphic believes it is about time those fanning the conflict in the Bawku area realized that they are not creating problems for the Bawku people alone but the country as a whole. This is because the economic cost of the conflict is becoming too much for government to bear. The paper also cites the curfews which are making it impossible for people to effectively carry out their day to day activities. The Graphic therefore cautions those fanning the conflict to stop and spare the nation the agony.
The Ghanaian Times says as the African Union summit gets underway in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt there is no doubt that the arrival of the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will focus the eyes of the world on the summit. The paper recalls advice and suggestions from all corners of the world for the postponement of the Presidential run-off which fell on deaf ears as well as a statement by the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping for a free, transparent and non-violent election. In the paper’s view, the AU reportedly sent election observers to Zimbabwe ahead of the poll hence; the time has come for the Union to hear from its own observers or the Pan African Parliament who reported that the vote had neither been free nor fair for appropriate action to be taken.
The Public Agenda regrets that the National Awards which started as a novel national project is fast losing its value, meaning and worth with the injection of political sentiments which have reduced it to a bidding process in which the highest bidder wins. To the paper, though all over the world presidents’ reward deserving individuals, in Ghana however, the mode of selecting nominees has been the bane of the National Awards triggering many questions than answers. The paper notes that though the president has the prerogative to bestow awards on whom he deems fit, a National Committee made up of religious, regional, professional and interest groups should composed to device a credible means of selecting National Award winners.
The Daily Searchlight is appalled by the mood of operation adopted by the National Identification Authority NIA. To the Searchlight, it is clear that majority of the personnel recruited for the exercise which begins in the Central region will be strangers and unfamiliar with the people. Additionally, the short term which they will operate coupled with poor publicity points to the possibility of poor results. It also believes that the NIA did not do the appropriate consultation and the exercise may end up a waste of the public’s money.
