The lead story of the Daily Graphic says a 150 million Ghana cedis life line extended by President Kufuor to mitigate the effect of the world food crisis on Ghana is not yielding the desired dividend. The money is the revenue government is to lose due to the removal of duties on some imported items which was announced by the President last May to ease the effect of the crisis on the Ghanaian consumer. Also treated as a front page story is a reaction by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Fisheries, Emmanuel Mensah Quaye to concerns about the inability of the Ghana Navy to check pair trawling. He explains that government is in the process of equipping the Ghana Navy to police the country’s territorial waters. According to Mr. Mensah Quaye cabinet has agreed to acquire six new ships for the Navy.
All is not well with the organization of this year’s Hajj. According to the top story of the Ghanaian Times, there appears to be confusion over who is in charge of the organization of the Hajj. This is the result of the emergence of two bodies, the National Hajj Council and the Interim Hajj Management Committee each claiming the mandate to organize this year’s Hajj. Also given prominence by the paper is a report that the one Ghana pesewa coin introduced among other denominations into the monetary system by the Bank of Ghana is being rejected as a legal tender. The rejection is largely on account of its small size which many people say is unattractive and not easy to handle.
EDITORIALS
The Chronicle suggests amendment to some provisions of the 1992 constitution to reflect current realities. If this is not done, governments would continue to exploit the situation to their advantage and to the disadvantage of its opponents. To the paper it is morally wrong for DCE’s who are contesting the various seats to continue to be in office and preside over security matters especially those involving elections.
The Daily Graphic adds its voice to the urgent need to equip the Ghana Navy to enable it to protect the country’s territorial waters. The paper finds it a great relief, the disclosure by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Fisheries, Emmanuel Mensah Quaye that cabinet has agreed to acquire six ships for the Ghana Navy. It says the process for the acquisition of the ships should be stepped up because through that, the country will be killing probably so many birds with a single stone or bullet.
The Ghanaian Times calls for a comprehensive review of the way the National Farmers Day is organized. It suggests that instead of the whole farming community and the nation observing one day in the year as prize-giving day, the occasion should be a three-tiered one. The paper says a three-tiered observance will provide an opportunity to give due recognition to deserving farmers at all levels, notably by the media. This is because under the present system, district and regional winners tend to be overshadowed by the national prize-winners and this is not fair.
The Accra Daily Mail echoes its opposition to state funding of political parties. It says the political parties themselves have been engaging in various fund raising activities for their campaign. According to the paper, political parties are like business, some big, some medium, some small but they each have a role to play. The Accra Daily Mail says contribution to the upkeep of the political parties should be a purely voluntary affair, more like buying the shares of a business concern. The party therefore congratulates the NDC and NPP for taking their fundraising activities seriously and in the process making themselves visible and relevant political organizations.
