THE Judicial Service will designate specific courts to deal with election disputes that may arise before and after the December 7, 2008 elections.
According to the service, it had a role to play in ensuring a peaceful post-and pre-election period.
It, therefore, indicated its preparedness to quickly dispose of electoral disputes that might arise before and after the December 7, 2008 elections.
Responding to a questionnaire prepared by the Daily Graphic on plans to contribute to a peaceful elections, the Judicial Service said there were 19 election petitions currently pending at various courts in seven regions across the country, except the three northern regions.
It said the Greater Accra Region was the region that had most of the election dispute cases.
According to the service, 12 of the 19 cases pending at the courts were filed this year, while three were filed in 2007.
The questionnaire, which was answered by a Deputy Judicial Secretary, Mr Abdullah Iddrisu, further explained that four of the electoral-related cases were filed in 2006, while one was filed in 2005.
It further explained that the quick or slow disposal of electoral disputes depended on the co-operation of the parties in a matter, and said an electoral case could be disposed of between one and four weeks with the co-operation of both parties.
The Judicial Service said getting the co-operation of both parties to commit to a speedy disposal of cases was one of the challenges facing the Judiciary.
The service further explained that the idea of establishing designated courts to deal with electoral disputes was quite feasible.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2008
STORY PUBLISHED A WEEK AFTER SUBMISSION, INTERVIEW WITH PROF KOFI QUASHIGAH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA CUT OUT.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
BOOK REVIEW: FIGHTING ARMED ROBBERY IN GHANA
Book: Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana
Author: Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah
Pages: 332
Publisher: The Justice & Human Rights Institute, Accra
Reviewed by Caroline Boateng
Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana by Professor Ken Attafuah is a burst of fresh air in the stifling atmosphere of the seeming incidence of armed robbery and the apparent dearth of solutions to the challenge.
The book is the knowledgeable diagnosis and prescription on the scourge of armed robbery in the country that all agree has great social, economic and security implications.
In the very first chapter, Prof Attafuah uncovers the face of armed robbery and the quest of various societies over generations to rid themselves of the aberration with similar heinous deterrents, such as, crucifixion, castration and lynching all to no avail.
From the onset, the makings of armed robbery in real life and in newspaper pages, as well as electronic media spaces, is set in context and contrasted.
The media, the book points out, in meeting its basic need for profits on the information it provides, most times preys on the woes of victims by oversimplifying and exaggerating their experiences in ways that rake in profits.
The results have been “manipulation and fuelling of public fears.” Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana gives a sense that the media most often simply scratches the surface of social ills and leaves their audiences dazed with the enormity of the challenge or resigned as no solution is immediately provided by the reports they read and hear.
“Ghanaian journalists hardly focus attention on how their reportage of crime news affects crime, policing, criminal investigations, the processing of cases through the criminal justice system; the behaviour of offenders and the behaviour of would-be offenders (including the possibility of copy-cat crimes” the author’s indictment reads.
The urgency of a re-orientation in the way armed robbery is reported and presented to the public in keeping with a function of the media as a social change agent is the sense the critical reader is left with.
The book distinguishes robbery and armed robbery, the former, an offence under Ghanaian law and the latter, a “popular, criminological and sociological construct in Ghana.”
Prof Attafuah makes clear the real and perceived incidence of the phenomenon: “Often, much of the “increase” in the volume of crime is more apparent than real. Criminologists use the term crime wave to denote a situation where, due to extensive media news coverage (depictions and discussion) of a few particular heinous or notorious crimes, the public’s mind becomes saturated with information about crime and a consequential false perception that there has been an actual increase in the number of crimes... crime wave is a media creation arising from the exaggeration and concentrated coverage of particular crime stories.”
Region by region, he analyses the trends of armed robbery cases from the records of the Ghana Police Service and presents an insightful examination of some socio-economic and political factors that correlate directly with armed robbery in the country.
Details of regions with the highest and lowest cases of armed robbery and one’s probability of falling prey to the crime in each region is interestingly calculated and clearly set out in the book.
It is heartening that Prof Attafuah, an academician, lawyer and researcher of repute, does not analyse the phenomenon and prescribe theoretical and impracticable solutions.
His analysis is comprehensive, understandable and plausible even for lay people with no background in the science of crime, jurisprudence or law enforcement.
One implicating factor set out in the book is, ‘corruption, incompetence and mismanagement,’ which neatly concludes a brilliant analysis.
In “Becoming an Armed Robber,” we enter into the psyche of the armed robber and get to meet him face to face, not during an armed attack but in a more reflective state where the reader gets to know the motivating factors, the modus operandi and the thrills of those who engage in this practice.
Common sites of armed robbery that and why these sites attract robbers are discussed at length, as well as the three ingredients of a successful armed robbery operation which are “motivated offenders, suitable targets and absence of capable guardianship.”
A feature of Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana is that the reader gets an antidote to the diagnoses of a problem each step of the way, before a main chapter on solutions that highlights all of the prescriptions already mentioned.
This helps readers to immediately imbibe practical arrangements necessary for communities that are zero tolerance zones for armed robbery. He offers several useful suggestions on how the safety and security of individuals, homes, businesses and other facilities can be enhanced.
One of the simple arrangements by individuals to ensure capable or effective guardianship is alertness and vigilance by property owners, neighbours, relatives and friends, including individuals.
Armed robbery on highways is also discussed extensively, with the issue of the lack of a mechanism for the screening of light weapons at transportation yards and lorry stations raised.
Another great feature of the book is the way technical terms and words are explained for the lay person without making it pedantic for legal and security experts.
Content analysis of newspaper records of armed robbery, interviews with convicted robbers, and in-depth reviews of literature in the area, plus a wealth of practical knowledge and advice make up Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana.
For instance, readers are advised against playing the part of an over zealous “Rambo” particularly with motivated armed robbers. He rather charges victims at the time of such encounters to be attentive and observant to physical cues of offenders as “it pays to pay attention even in times of crisis. The living has a better chance of recovering lost property than the dead.”
Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana dissects the responses of the state, security agencies and individuals to armed robbery. For many in the country, “mob justice” or the resort to the instantaneous infliction of punishment primarily by assaulting the offender (sometimes till they die), is a preferred choice of dealing with the problem.
The heartbeat of an author who is a human rights advocate is never far removed from his passionate reasoning and analyses if this and other issues.
Prof Attafuah’s prescription in fighting armed robbery in the country deviates from the “conservative get tough approach,” which in various jurisdictions have yielded fool hardiness on the part of armed robbers. He calls for social development and equity policies that prevent crime and criminality by addressing underlying causes.
His brand of social development through deliberate policy measures termed “social engineering” encompasses expansions and improvements in educational systems, and improving day care facilities, ensuring the internalization of strong family values to foster the formation of socially responsible adults.
Prof Attafuah’s solutions to challenges are wise, practical and timely.
His book has received raving reviews and endorsements from eminent Ghanaians such as the an assistant Professor of the Human Rights and Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Dr Robert Kwame Ameh; the Chairman of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Advisory Council, Mr Sam Okudzeto; a former Inspector General of Police, Mr Kweku Pepra Kyei and the Director of Television at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Mr C. Kofi Bucknor.
While Mr Ameh described the book as “fascinating” and written “in a style that is accessible to both professionals and lay people alike”, Mr Okudzeto said “Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana has given us insights (into this) vexing question (of armed robbery...I doff my hat to Prof Atafuah for such scholarly work.”
Mr Kyei for his part highly recommended the book to the police administration as a core text book for the Police College with Mr Bucknor emphasising that “Ultimately Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana prescribes critical policy measures and behaviour to guard against the traumatic experience of being robed.”
The book is available at the Legon Bookshop, Omari Bookshop, the African Market, Alberto Pecaso (Mobile land) Enterprise, both at Osu, Accra, and the Goil Service Station at Suame, Kumasi.
It will soon be available at EPP Books, the Methodist and Presbyterian Bookshops and all other leading bookshops in the country.
DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2008, PG 10
Author: Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah
Pages: 332
Publisher: The Justice & Human Rights Institute, Accra
Reviewed by Caroline Boateng
Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana by Professor Ken Attafuah is a burst of fresh air in the stifling atmosphere of the seeming incidence of armed robbery and the apparent dearth of solutions to the challenge.
The book is the knowledgeable diagnosis and prescription on the scourge of armed robbery in the country that all agree has great social, economic and security implications.
In the very first chapter, Prof Attafuah uncovers the face of armed robbery and the quest of various societies over generations to rid themselves of the aberration with similar heinous deterrents, such as, crucifixion, castration and lynching all to no avail.
From the onset, the makings of armed robbery in real life and in newspaper pages, as well as electronic media spaces, is set in context and contrasted.
The media, the book points out, in meeting its basic need for profits on the information it provides, most times preys on the woes of victims by oversimplifying and exaggerating their experiences in ways that rake in profits.
The results have been “manipulation and fuelling of public fears.” Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana gives a sense that the media most often simply scratches the surface of social ills and leaves their audiences dazed with the enormity of the challenge or resigned as no solution is immediately provided by the reports they read and hear.
“Ghanaian journalists hardly focus attention on how their reportage of crime news affects crime, policing, criminal investigations, the processing of cases through the criminal justice system; the behaviour of offenders and the behaviour of would-be offenders (including the possibility of copy-cat crimes” the author’s indictment reads.
The urgency of a re-orientation in the way armed robbery is reported and presented to the public in keeping with a function of the media as a social change agent is the sense the critical reader is left with.
The book distinguishes robbery and armed robbery, the former, an offence under Ghanaian law and the latter, a “popular, criminological and sociological construct in Ghana.”
Prof Attafuah makes clear the real and perceived incidence of the phenomenon: “Often, much of the “increase” in the volume of crime is more apparent than real. Criminologists use the term crime wave to denote a situation where, due to extensive media news coverage (depictions and discussion) of a few particular heinous or notorious crimes, the public’s mind becomes saturated with information about crime and a consequential false perception that there has been an actual increase in the number of crimes... crime wave is a media creation arising from the exaggeration and concentrated coverage of particular crime stories.”
Region by region, he analyses the trends of armed robbery cases from the records of the Ghana Police Service and presents an insightful examination of some socio-economic and political factors that correlate directly with armed robbery in the country.
Details of regions with the highest and lowest cases of armed robbery and one’s probability of falling prey to the crime in each region is interestingly calculated and clearly set out in the book.
It is heartening that Prof Attafuah, an academician, lawyer and researcher of repute, does not analyse the phenomenon and prescribe theoretical and impracticable solutions.
His analysis is comprehensive, understandable and plausible even for lay people with no background in the science of crime, jurisprudence or law enforcement.
One implicating factor set out in the book is, ‘corruption, incompetence and mismanagement,’ which neatly concludes a brilliant analysis.
In “Becoming an Armed Robber,” we enter into the psyche of the armed robber and get to meet him face to face, not during an armed attack but in a more reflective state where the reader gets to know the motivating factors, the modus operandi and the thrills of those who engage in this practice.
Common sites of armed robbery that and why these sites attract robbers are discussed at length, as well as the three ingredients of a successful armed robbery operation which are “motivated offenders, suitable targets and absence of capable guardianship.”
A feature of Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana is that the reader gets an antidote to the diagnoses of a problem each step of the way, before a main chapter on solutions that highlights all of the prescriptions already mentioned.
This helps readers to immediately imbibe practical arrangements necessary for communities that are zero tolerance zones for armed robbery. He offers several useful suggestions on how the safety and security of individuals, homes, businesses and other facilities can be enhanced.
One of the simple arrangements by individuals to ensure capable or effective guardianship is alertness and vigilance by property owners, neighbours, relatives and friends, including individuals.
Armed robbery on highways is also discussed extensively, with the issue of the lack of a mechanism for the screening of light weapons at transportation yards and lorry stations raised.
Another great feature of the book is the way technical terms and words are explained for the lay person without making it pedantic for legal and security experts.
Content analysis of newspaper records of armed robbery, interviews with convicted robbers, and in-depth reviews of literature in the area, plus a wealth of practical knowledge and advice make up Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana.
For instance, readers are advised against playing the part of an over zealous “Rambo” particularly with motivated armed robbers. He rather charges victims at the time of such encounters to be attentive and observant to physical cues of offenders as “it pays to pay attention even in times of crisis. The living has a better chance of recovering lost property than the dead.”
Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana dissects the responses of the state, security agencies and individuals to armed robbery. For many in the country, “mob justice” or the resort to the instantaneous infliction of punishment primarily by assaulting the offender (sometimes till they die), is a preferred choice of dealing with the problem.
The heartbeat of an author who is a human rights advocate is never far removed from his passionate reasoning and analyses if this and other issues.
Prof Attafuah’s prescription in fighting armed robbery in the country deviates from the “conservative get tough approach,” which in various jurisdictions have yielded fool hardiness on the part of armed robbers. He calls for social development and equity policies that prevent crime and criminality by addressing underlying causes.
His brand of social development through deliberate policy measures termed “social engineering” encompasses expansions and improvements in educational systems, and improving day care facilities, ensuring the internalization of strong family values to foster the formation of socially responsible adults.
Prof Attafuah’s solutions to challenges are wise, practical and timely.
His book has received raving reviews and endorsements from eminent Ghanaians such as the an assistant Professor of the Human Rights and Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Dr Robert Kwame Ameh; the Chairman of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Advisory Council, Mr Sam Okudzeto; a former Inspector General of Police, Mr Kweku Pepra Kyei and the Director of Television at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Mr C. Kofi Bucknor.
While Mr Ameh described the book as “fascinating” and written “in a style that is accessible to both professionals and lay people alike”, Mr Okudzeto said “Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana has given us insights (into this) vexing question (of armed robbery...I doff my hat to Prof Atafuah for such scholarly work.”
Mr Kyei for his part highly recommended the book to the police administration as a core text book for the Police College with Mr Bucknor emphasising that “Ultimately Fighting Armed Robbery in Ghana prescribes critical policy measures and behaviour to guard against the traumatic experience of being robed.”
The book is available at the Legon Bookshop, Omari Bookshop, the African Market, Alberto Pecaso (Mobile land) Enterprise, both at Osu, Accra, and the Goil Service Station at Suame, Kumasi.
It will soon be available at EPP Books, the Methodist and Presbyterian Bookshops and all other leading bookshops in the country.
DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2008, PG 10
Sunday, June 1, 2008
TALK TIME TAX IN FORCE
THE Communications Service Tax (CST), popularly referred to as the “talk time tax”, has come into force.
The tax legally came into force yesterday, the Director of Budgets at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), Mr Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
The six-per cent excise tax on airtime will be charged on the use of all multi-media enabled communication in the country.
A minute of airtime spent on the use of mobile telephones, the Internet and fax machines and other technologically enabled communications will attract the six per cent tax.
The excise duty was introduced by the government in the 2007 budget to replace the old system of taxation, where import duties and value-added tax (VAT) was charged on all mobile handsets imported into the country.
The government said the country was not deriving maximum revenue from the expected taxes on mobile handset imports because most of them were either smuggled into the country or were brought in with no declaration at the country’s entry points.
The introduction of the tax generated public debate, with those in favour lauding it as an appropriate tax mechanism and those against it labelling it as an additional financial burden on Ghanaians
Mr Adjei-Mensah said all arrangements for the tax to be implemented had been finalised.
These included meetings with communication service providers and other agencies, while all the guidelines and regulations to implement the tax successfully were also in place.
The tax, he said, would be collected just as the VAT and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) tax on the handsets were collected.
“We expect that just as these taxes were collected, the new system will also be collected and returns made to the government,” he said.
Mr Adjei-Mensah said the government was also in negotiations to acquire equipment to monitor and evaluate the collection of the tax, adding that the process was far advanced.
He explained, though, that the equipment was just for monitoring purposes to verify taxes returned to government chest and not for purposes of collection.
Mr Adjei-Mensah expressed the hope that by June 15, the first tranche of the tax would have been returned to government chest.
“The tax is similar to VAT in its administration, thus by June 15, the VAT Service is to make returns on the tax,” he said.
According to the 2007 Budget, the impact of the tax is expected to be minimised with further technological advancement and improvements in the communication sector.
On May 23, 2008, the VAT Service planned a launch of the tax, which was aborted at the last meeting because the President, Mr J. A. Kufour, had made a prior announcement of some tax reprieves in connection with spiralling global food and fuel prices.
DAILY GRAPHIC, JUNE I, 2008, PG 1
The tax legally came into force yesterday, the Director of Budgets at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), Mr Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
The six-per cent excise tax on airtime will be charged on the use of all multi-media enabled communication in the country.
A minute of airtime spent on the use of mobile telephones, the Internet and fax machines and other technologically enabled communications will attract the six per cent tax.
The excise duty was introduced by the government in the 2007 budget to replace the old system of taxation, where import duties and value-added tax (VAT) was charged on all mobile handsets imported into the country.
The government said the country was not deriving maximum revenue from the expected taxes on mobile handset imports because most of them were either smuggled into the country or were brought in with no declaration at the country’s entry points.
The introduction of the tax generated public debate, with those in favour lauding it as an appropriate tax mechanism and those against it labelling it as an additional financial burden on Ghanaians
Mr Adjei-Mensah said all arrangements for the tax to be implemented had been finalised.
These included meetings with communication service providers and other agencies, while all the guidelines and regulations to implement the tax successfully were also in place.
The tax, he said, would be collected just as the VAT and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) tax on the handsets were collected.
“We expect that just as these taxes were collected, the new system will also be collected and returns made to the government,” he said.
Mr Adjei-Mensah said the government was also in negotiations to acquire equipment to monitor and evaluate the collection of the tax, adding that the process was far advanced.
He explained, though, that the equipment was just for monitoring purposes to verify taxes returned to government chest and not for purposes of collection.
Mr Adjei-Mensah expressed the hope that by June 15, the first tranche of the tax would have been returned to government chest.
“The tax is similar to VAT in its administration, thus by June 15, the VAT Service is to make returns on the tax,” he said.
According to the 2007 Budget, the impact of the tax is expected to be minimised with further technological advancement and improvements in the communication sector.
On May 23, 2008, the VAT Service planned a launch of the tax, which was aborted at the last meeting because the President, Mr J. A. Kufour, had made a prior announcement of some tax reprieves in connection with spiralling global food and fuel prices.
DAILY GRAPHIC, JUNE I, 2008, PG 1
GOVERNMENT EXPANDS LEAP PROGRAMME
The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme has been expanded to cover an additional 1,600 households, bringing the total number of beneficiary households to 3,200.
The expanded programme will still cover the initial 21 districts under the pilot programme which began in March this year. However, more extremely poor households in these districts are expected to benefit from a minimum grant of GH¢8 and a maximum of GH¢15 each month under the second phase of the programme, which will start early next month.
Fifty districts have been targeted under the programme for this year.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, which was addressed by Mrs Angela Asante Asare and Mr Lawrence Ofori-Addo, the co-ordinators of the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) and the LEAP programme, respectively, they said the payment of the grants would begin on June 3, 2008.
They explained that preparations, which involved meeting with their partners at the district and local levels, such as officials of post offices in the various localities, some community leaders and district assembly members who helped in identifying the target households, would be carried out a day before payment is effected.
According to Mr Ofori-Addo, initial feedback from disbursements done in March had shown changes in the lives of some extremely poor households, some of whom had been able to engage in some form of subsistent business venture.
During the initial programme, a flat rate of GH¢8 was paid to all targeted households in March and April.
That was to test the systems and structures put in place for the programme.
In the second phase, with the success of the pilot programme, each targeted extremely poor household will get an initial sum of GH¢8.
After a household has been targeted for the payment of the initial grant, each additional person in the household identified as aged, orphaned, vulnerable or a person with a severe disability attracts an additional GH¢2.
That is, one eligible beneficiary in the household gets GH¢8, two eligible beneficiaries in a household get GH¢10, three get GH¢12, while four get GH¢15.
Fifteen Ghana cedis (GH¢15) is the maximum and a household with more than four beneficiaries will still get the maximum.
Mrs Asare explained the rationale behind that, saying that the LEAP programme was “to give households a push and not create a dependency situation, while preventing abuse of the system”.
The two co-ordinators said beneficiaries were expected to be on the programme for a minimum of six months and a maximum of three years, after which they would be weaned off it and linked up to other livelihood enhancing programmes.
Mr Ofori-Addo stressed that the programme was for the extremely poor who had not been able to benefit from development initiatives so far, while Mrs Asare said LEAP was a means to an end, a supportive mechanism for extremely poor households to link up with complementary services.
They disclosed that a technical work group on social protection had been set up in districts, targeted at the extremely poor and also as a social protection mechanism for them.
The technical team identified the extremely poor and other social indicators, such as employment and child protection and how these impacted on their lives.
On the current hikes in food and fuel prices, Ms Asare said the NSPS policy document stipulated that the programme would respond to any emergencies.
She said some donors were ready to help the programme to meet that challenge, while the government had already completed a programme to rope in areas affected by floods last year and districts that were prone to food shortages and crises.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008, PG 24
The expanded programme will still cover the initial 21 districts under the pilot programme which began in March this year. However, more extremely poor households in these districts are expected to benefit from a minimum grant of GH¢8 and a maximum of GH¢15 each month under the second phase of the programme, which will start early next month.
Fifty districts have been targeted under the programme for this year.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, which was addressed by Mrs Angela Asante Asare and Mr Lawrence Ofori-Addo, the co-ordinators of the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) and the LEAP programme, respectively, they said the payment of the grants would begin on June 3, 2008.
They explained that preparations, which involved meeting with their partners at the district and local levels, such as officials of post offices in the various localities, some community leaders and district assembly members who helped in identifying the target households, would be carried out a day before payment is effected.
According to Mr Ofori-Addo, initial feedback from disbursements done in March had shown changes in the lives of some extremely poor households, some of whom had been able to engage in some form of subsistent business venture.
During the initial programme, a flat rate of GH¢8 was paid to all targeted households in March and April.
That was to test the systems and structures put in place for the programme.
In the second phase, with the success of the pilot programme, each targeted extremely poor household will get an initial sum of GH¢8.
After a household has been targeted for the payment of the initial grant, each additional person in the household identified as aged, orphaned, vulnerable or a person with a severe disability attracts an additional GH¢2.
That is, one eligible beneficiary in the household gets GH¢8, two eligible beneficiaries in a household get GH¢10, three get GH¢12, while four get GH¢15.
Fifteen Ghana cedis (GH¢15) is the maximum and a household with more than four beneficiaries will still get the maximum.
Mrs Asare explained the rationale behind that, saying that the LEAP programme was “to give households a push and not create a dependency situation, while preventing abuse of the system”.
The two co-ordinators said beneficiaries were expected to be on the programme for a minimum of six months and a maximum of three years, after which they would be weaned off it and linked up to other livelihood enhancing programmes.
Mr Ofori-Addo stressed that the programme was for the extremely poor who had not been able to benefit from development initiatives so far, while Mrs Asare said LEAP was a means to an end, a supportive mechanism for extremely poor households to link up with complementary services.
They disclosed that a technical work group on social protection had been set up in districts, targeted at the extremely poor and also as a social protection mechanism for them.
The technical team identified the extremely poor and other social indicators, such as employment and child protection and how these impacted on their lives.
On the current hikes in food and fuel prices, Ms Asare said the NSPS policy document stipulated that the programme would respond to any emergencies.
She said some donors were ready to help the programme to meet that challenge, while the government had already completed a programme to rope in areas affected by floods last year and districts that were prone to food shortages and crises.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008, PG 24
CHALLENGE GOVERNMENTS TO PURSUE GOOD POLICIES, ARNETT URGES JOURNALISTS
A veteran Australian journalist, Mr Peter Arnett, has called on Ghanaian journalists to always challenge the government to pursue better alternatives for the people.
Mr Arnett is a world-renowned journalist who covered Gulf War I for CNN when all other journalists had been asked by the American government to pull out.
Sharing his experiences at a public forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Wednesday, he urged journalists to strive to capture alternative information and communicate it professionally, especially in crisis situations such as conflicts and war.
Mr Arnett started his career reporting the Vietnam War for the Associated Press and during Gulf War I he was the only reporter from CNN in Baghdad when all other media institutions had been pressurised to withdraw their reporters by the American government.
Some high points of his career as a journalist are when he interviewed Saddam Hussein 10 days into Gulf War I and later an interview with Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and other installations in the US.
Now 73, Mr Arnett is a professor at the Shantou University in China.
Recounting some of his experiences, he said his time in Vietnam was part of the most formative years of his life.
“It was in Vietnam, where men fought and died, that I learned to be a reporter,” he told his audience.
He said at that time he paid attention to the feelings of the soldiers he accompanied onto the battlefield, captured them and communicated them to the American people.
He said he wrote articles that challenged the generals at the helm of affairs and the conscience of people on the value of civilian lives in battle, in spite of the sides they belonged to.
Mr Arnett said communicating the truth then was worth dying for, saying that encouraged journalists to do just that.
Dwelling later on his topic for the forum, “Journalism in a Globalised World — Prospects and Challenges”, he stressed that the basis of all reporting was getting the facts right and communicating them professionally.
He said with tremendous improvement in the social, political and economic sectors of countries such as China and Ghana, journalism had also improved.
That, according to him, was because the media could not thrive in a country where there were poverty, hopelessness and wanton abuse.
He expressed satisfaction at the fact that journalism in Ghana was not confronted by some of those challenges, hence its growth and progress.
Mr Arnett also pointed out the waning influence of the foreign media and said that was an opportunity for journalists in the country to better their trade by professionally gathering information and packaging it for their people.
He envisaged a period in the immediate future when the developing world would produce 24-hour TV channels similar to CNN.
A member of the Council of State and former President of the GJA, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, who chaired the function, urged Ghanaian journalists to be dedicated to their watchdog role, instead of becoming pipe organs of governments and politicians.
She said it was time for journalists to take the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter 6 of the 1992 constitution and use them as a measure against the sayings and actions of politicians and policy makers.
Mrs Afenyi-Dadzie also asked the GJA to revise the guidelines on election reporting which were produced some four years ago to make them relevant to the upcoming elections.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008, PG 25 (SPREAD)
Mr Arnett is a world-renowned journalist who covered Gulf War I for CNN when all other journalists had been asked by the American government to pull out.
Sharing his experiences at a public forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Wednesday, he urged journalists to strive to capture alternative information and communicate it professionally, especially in crisis situations such as conflicts and war.
Mr Arnett started his career reporting the Vietnam War for the Associated Press and during Gulf War I he was the only reporter from CNN in Baghdad when all other media institutions had been pressurised to withdraw their reporters by the American government.
Some high points of his career as a journalist are when he interviewed Saddam Hussein 10 days into Gulf War I and later an interview with Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and other installations in the US.
Now 73, Mr Arnett is a professor at the Shantou University in China.
Recounting some of his experiences, he said his time in Vietnam was part of the most formative years of his life.
“It was in Vietnam, where men fought and died, that I learned to be a reporter,” he told his audience.
He said at that time he paid attention to the feelings of the soldiers he accompanied onto the battlefield, captured them and communicated them to the American people.
He said he wrote articles that challenged the generals at the helm of affairs and the conscience of people on the value of civilian lives in battle, in spite of the sides they belonged to.
Mr Arnett said communicating the truth then was worth dying for, saying that encouraged journalists to do just that.
Dwelling later on his topic for the forum, “Journalism in a Globalised World — Prospects and Challenges”, he stressed that the basis of all reporting was getting the facts right and communicating them professionally.
He said with tremendous improvement in the social, political and economic sectors of countries such as China and Ghana, journalism had also improved.
That, according to him, was because the media could not thrive in a country where there were poverty, hopelessness and wanton abuse.
He expressed satisfaction at the fact that journalism in Ghana was not confronted by some of those challenges, hence its growth and progress.
Mr Arnett also pointed out the waning influence of the foreign media and said that was an opportunity for journalists in the country to better their trade by professionally gathering information and packaging it for their people.
He envisaged a period in the immediate future when the developing world would produce 24-hour TV channels similar to CNN.
A member of the Council of State and former President of the GJA, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, who chaired the function, urged Ghanaian journalists to be dedicated to their watchdog role, instead of becoming pipe organs of governments and politicians.
She said it was time for journalists to take the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter 6 of the 1992 constitution and use them as a measure against the sayings and actions of politicians and policy makers.
Mrs Afenyi-Dadzie also asked the GJA to revise the guidelines on election reporting which were produced some four years ago to make them relevant to the upcoming elections.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008, PG 25 (SPREAD)
CHALLENGE GOVERNMENTS TO PURSUE GOOD POLICIES, ARNETT URGES JOURNALISTS
A veteran Australian journalist, Mr Peter Arnett, has called on Ghanaian journalists to always challenge the government to pursue better alternatives for the people.
Mr Arnett is a world-renowned journalist who covered Gulf War I for CNN when all other journalists had been asked by the American government to pull out.
Sharing his experiences at a public forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Wednesday, he urged journalists to strive to capture alternative information and communicate it professionally, especially in crisis situations such as conflicts and war.
Mr Arnett started his career reporting the Vietnam War for the Associated Press and during Gulf War I he was the only reporter from CNN in Baghdad when all other media institutions had been pressurised to withdraw their reporters by the American government.
Some high points of his career as a journalist are when he interviewed Saddam Hussein 10 days into Gulf War I and later an interview with Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and other installations in the US.
Now 73, Mr Arnett is a professor at the Shantou University in China.
Recounting some of his experiences, he said his time in Vietnam was part of the most formative years of his life.
“It was in Vietnam, where men fought and died, that I learned to be a reporter,” he told his audience.
He said at that time he paid attention to the feelings of the soldiers he accompanied onto the battlefield, captured them and communicated them to the American people.
He said he wrote articles that challenged the generals at the helm of affairs and the conscience of people on the value of civilian lives in battle, in spite of the sides they belonged to.
Mr Arnett said communicating the truth then was worth dying for, saying that encouraged journalists to do just that.
Dwelling later on his topic for the forum, “Journalism in a Globalised World — Prospects and Challenges”, he stressed that the basis of all reporting was getting the facts right and communicating them professionally.
He said with tremendous improvement in the social, political and economic sectors of countries such as China and Ghana, journalism had also improved.
That, according to him, was because the media could not thrive in a country where there were poverty, hopelessness and wanton abuse.
He expressed satisfaction at the fact that journalism in Ghana was not confronted by some of those challenges, hence its growth and progress.
Mr Arnett also pointed out the waning influence of the foreign media and said that was an opportunity for journalists in the country to better their trade by professionally gathering information and packaging it for their people.
He envisaged a period in the immediate future when the developing world would produce 24-hour TV channels similar to CNN.
A member of the Council of State and former President of the GJA, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, who chaired the function, urged Ghanaian journalists to be dedicated to their watchdog role, instead of becoming pipe organs of governments and politicians.
She said it was time for journalists to take the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter 6 of the 1992 constitution and use them as a measure against the sayings and actions of politicians and policy makers.
Mrs Afenyi-Dadzie also asked the GJA to revise the guidelines on election reporting which were produced some four years ago to make them relevant to the upcoming elections.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008, PG 25 (SPREAD)
Mr Arnett is a world-renowned journalist who covered Gulf War I for CNN when all other journalists had been asked by the American government to pull out.
Sharing his experiences at a public forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Wednesday, he urged journalists to strive to capture alternative information and communicate it professionally, especially in crisis situations such as conflicts and war.
Mr Arnett started his career reporting the Vietnam War for the Associated Press and during Gulf War I he was the only reporter from CNN in Baghdad when all other media institutions had been pressurised to withdraw their reporters by the American government.
Some high points of his career as a journalist are when he interviewed Saddam Hussein 10 days into Gulf War I and later an interview with Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and other installations in the US.
Now 73, Mr Arnett is a professor at the Shantou University in China.
Recounting some of his experiences, he said his time in Vietnam was part of the most formative years of his life.
“It was in Vietnam, where men fought and died, that I learned to be a reporter,” he told his audience.
He said at that time he paid attention to the feelings of the soldiers he accompanied onto the battlefield, captured them and communicated them to the American people.
He said he wrote articles that challenged the generals at the helm of affairs and the conscience of people on the value of civilian lives in battle, in spite of the sides they belonged to.
Mr Arnett said communicating the truth then was worth dying for, saying that encouraged journalists to do just that.
Dwelling later on his topic for the forum, “Journalism in a Globalised World — Prospects and Challenges”, he stressed that the basis of all reporting was getting the facts right and communicating them professionally.
He said with tremendous improvement in the social, political and economic sectors of countries such as China and Ghana, journalism had also improved.
That, according to him, was because the media could not thrive in a country where there were poverty, hopelessness and wanton abuse.
He expressed satisfaction at the fact that journalism in Ghana was not confronted by some of those challenges, hence its growth and progress.
Mr Arnett also pointed out the waning influence of the foreign media and said that was an opportunity for journalists in the country to better their trade by professionally gathering information and packaging it for their people.
He envisaged a period in the immediate future when the developing world would produce 24-hour TV channels similar to CNN.
A member of the Council of State and former President of the GJA, Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, who chaired the function, urged Ghanaian journalists to be dedicated to their watchdog role, instead of becoming pipe organs of governments and politicians.
She said it was time for journalists to take the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter 6 of the 1992 constitution and use them as a measure against the sayings and actions of politicians and policy makers.
Mrs Afenyi-Dadzie also asked the GJA to revise the guidelines on election reporting which were produced some four years ago to make them relevant to the upcoming elections.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008, PG 25 (SPREAD)
CDD BOSS CALLS FOR FUND FOR EC
THE Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Ghana, Prof Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, says it will be a good idea, if the government can set aside a dedicated fund for the Electoral Commission (EC) to access in case the country needs to go for a run-off.
He said that source of funding could also be used for other contingent activities in the run-up to the December 7 polls, so that the commission would not be totally dependent on the government at every stage of its activities leading to the elections.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic after a colloquium organised by the Coalition of Domestic Observers (CODEO), Prof Gyimah-Boadi said the assurances of the Government to provide all funding needed by the EC at every stage could be depended on by Ghanaians for now.
“For now, we must take the assurances of the government. What we must be concerned with is whether the EC has the resources to do what it has to do now,” he said.
He, however, agreed to the suggestion of a separate funding for a run-off and other activities of the EC because of current global changes in oil and commodity prices that could make the government cash-strapped at the time when the electoral process needed funding for a particular activity.
Prof Gyimah-Boadi said this in response to a statement by the Chairman of the EC, Mr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, that the EC had not been allowed to include a contingency amount of GH¢7 million in its budget.
The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Fred Deegbe, also in an interview with the Daily Graphic, was of the view that CODEO would have to discuss the issue further for the way forward.
Meanwhile, according to the Head of Elections, CDD-Ghana and co-ordinator of CODEO, Mr John Larvie, the colloquium was one of the activities being planned by the coalition in the run-up to the elections.
He said other colloquia involving other election stakeholders would be held soon.
Another project to be introduced in a month’s time, he said, was the nation-wide training of media practitioners on basic public policies.
He said that was to enable them to better understand these policies for better interviews involving policy makers and a better analysis of responses by journalists.
“Most times, when you read the article, you find a clear disconnection between the issues raised and the responses in the same article and does not engage readers,” he said.
He said it was in response to the need for media practitioners to be clear of issues for better coverage that the initiative was being planned.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2008, PG 47
He said that source of funding could also be used for other contingent activities in the run-up to the December 7 polls, so that the commission would not be totally dependent on the government at every stage of its activities leading to the elections.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic after a colloquium organised by the Coalition of Domestic Observers (CODEO), Prof Gyimah-Boadi said the assurances of the Government to provide all funding needed by the EC at every stage could be depended on by Ghanaians for now.
“For now, we must take the assurances of the government. What we must be concerned with is whether the EC has the resources to do what it has to do now,” he said.
He, however, agreed to the suggestion of a separate funding for a run-off and other activities of the EC because of current global changes in oil and commodity prices that could make the government cash-strapped at the time when the electoral process needed funding for a particular activity.
Prof Gyimah-Boadi said this in response to a statement by the Chairman of the EC, Mr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, that the EC had not been allowed to include a contingency amount of GH¢7 million in its budget.
The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev Fred Deegbe, also in an interview with the Daily Graphic, was of the view that CODEO would have to discuss the issue further for the way forward.
Meanwhile, according to the Head of Elections, CDD-Ghana and co-ordinator of CODEO, Mr John Larvie, the colloquium was one of the activities being planned by the coalition in the run-up to the elections.
He said other colloquia involving other election stakeholders would be held soon.
Another project to be introduced in a month’s time, he said, was the nation-wide training of media practitioners on basic public policies.
He said that was to enable them to better understand these policies for better interviews involving policy makers and a better analysis of responses by journalists.
“Most times, when you read the article, you find a clear disconnection between the issues raised and the responses in the same article and does not engage readers,” he said.
He said it was in response to the need for media practitioners to be clear of issues for better coverage that the initiative was being planned.
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2008, PG 47
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