Law prohibits hunting from August to DecemberTakoradi, August 03, GNA - Mr Richard Gyamfi Boakye, an Assistant Wildlife Officer
at the Western Regional Office of the Wildlife Division, on Wednesday said it is against the law to hunt, capture or destroy
wildlife from August 01 to December 01 every year. Speaking in an interview with the GNA in Takoradi, he said this was the
period that wild animals breed and move with their young. Mr Boakye said grass cutter is exempted from the law because it
breeds all year round.
He said the law is intended to conserve wildlife some of which are under threat of extinction.
Mr
Boakye said for purposes of conservation and prevention of indiscriminate killing of wild animals, it is prohibited to use
bushfires, dogs, snares artificial lights or bulbs for hunting. He said it is prohibited to keep wild animals as pets without
licence and that those wishing to trade in bush meat have to obtain valid license from district assemblies.
Mr Boakye
said wild animals have important medical uses and a small South American monkey, the cotton-tapped marmoset, is being used
to develop a potent vaccine against lymphatic cancer. Venom from vipers is being used with modifications as non-addictive
painkillers and in the treatment of hypertension and thrombosis. 03 Aug 05
Emancipation/PANAFEST is a successAccra Aug 3, GNA - Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Modernization
of the Capital City, on Wednesday said the celebration of Emancipation 2005 was very successful if it was looked at in terms
of the large number of participants and tourists and the colourful durbar held at Assin Manso on Monday.
He rated this
year's celebration as better than that of last year and last two years despite some adverse media reports.
Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey,
who was speaking to the GNA about this year's celebration which was on the theme: "Emancipation Our Heritage, Our Strength"
with a sub theme: "Honouring Our African Heroes" commended Ministers of State and Districts Chief Executives, who attended
the durbar, saying "it was well attended"
He urged Ghanaians to get associated and be involved in the Emancipation
Day activities as a way of recalling history, and to "chart a more positive course to reconcile with our brothers and sisters
in the Diaspora
"There is the need for Ghanaians to learn more about the slave trade, find out the roles of their ancestors
in its perpetration and use it as a basis to understand those in the Diaspora," he said.
He urged the media to project
the good image of the country by supporting events such as Emancipation and PANAFEST.
Mr Kojo Yankah, Chairman of the
PANAFEST Foundation, said this year's celebration of PANAFEST was an improvement over year 2001 and 2003.
He said there
was better management of the event, programmes were followed as scheduled and the participants expressed satisfaction. "We
did not encounter anybody, who had a problem," he said and this means PANAFEST has great potentials for the country.
The
PANAFEST Foundation, he said, had already started strategizing for PANAFEST 2007 and expressed the hope that it would also
be a big success, Mr Yankah told the GNA.
He however, said there was pressure on accommodation as some people could
not find one in Cape-Coast and had to go to Yamoransa and Takoradi for accommodation.
He called on local and foreign
investors to help with the expansion of the hotel industry.
Mac Tonto, a Ghanaian musician of international repute,
expressed concern about the participation of Ghanaians in the event saying "there should have been more Ghanaians".
He
said there were more foreigners than Ghanaians but the aim of the celebration was achieved and urged Ghanaians to be involved
in the celebration "On the whole I will say I was happy," Mac Tonto said Mr Ferdinand Ayim, Chairman of the Planning Committee
for Emancipation and PANAFEST, said the Ministry had started with the planning of Emancipation 2006, as it would be a dressed
rehearsal for year 2007 celebration to ensure continuous success.
This year's Emancipation day celebration coincided
with PANAFEST, which is celebrated every other year. The two events have a common aim of seeking African unity and excellence.
The
celebration would be crowned with a sponsors dinner dance on August 7, this year.
Ghanaian Migrants Shot Dead In The Gambia The eight (8) Ghanaian migrants, who were allegedly shot dead by the Gambian Police,
are said to be victims of ‘connection men', who extort huge sums of money from prospective migrants under the pretext
of taking them to Italy.
According to Ghana's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Kwesi Osei Agyei, a lot of such
people fall victim to these unscrupulous men, who try to smuggle the migrants across the high seas on boats, to Italy for
greener pastures. The bodies of the eight men who could not be identified were found scattered around ‘Ghana-Town' located
in the North of Banjul and were believed to be between the ages of 30 and 40. A Ghanaian resident in ‘Ghana-Town', Mr.
Kwesi Obed told PeaceFM on phone this morning that victims were picked in pairs in pick-ups and were never returned during
the operations by the police. Two of the survivors fought with the police and escaped back to ‘Ghana-Town' according
to our source. There were various sums of money found in the pockets of the dead men which were in various currencies amounting
to over 600euros
Meanwhile Ghana's deputy foreign minister, who confirmed the incident on PeaceFM today said his Ministry
has instructed Ghana's Consulate in Senegal to investigate the cause of the incident and submit a full report.
Mr.
Osei Agyei used the opportunity to reiterate his call on prospective migrants not to engage the services of ‘connection
men' but expose them to the authorities for action to be taken against them.
Letter From The President: Eva must go Countrymen and women, loyalists and opponents, a few months ago
I wrote
about the state broadcaster and insisted that it should be sold off on the grounds that it was a non-performing “asset”.
That was when they announced their 70th anniversary celebrations. Well, once again I have cause to write about GBC.
Am
annoyed because they’ve gone ahead with their “celebrations” – organizing various commemorative programmes
– even though they know very well that they have absolutely nothing to celebrate about. They are simply celebrating
because GBC is 70. It’s like throwing a party for a 70-year-old nitwit who has achieved nothing in life. They are hanging
on to a very flimsy claim that GBC’s 70th anniversary ought to be celebrated with pomp and ceremony because the corporation
has contributed to “national cohesion”. Really? As far as I can remember GBC was a major weapon for all the coup
makers who divided our people and destroyed everything we had. GBC allowed itself to be used as a propaganda tool by successive
governments – both legitimate and illegitimate. So the claim that GBC has contributed to “national cohesion”
does not wash with me at all and the earlier they drop it, the less angry I will be. Please for the sake of my achy heart
I want the GBC celebrations to stop. Recently a much younger radio station in Accra boldly proclaimed that it was celebrating
“10 years of broadcasting excellence”. No one complained because it was a justifiable claim. This young radio
station has informed people, offered quality entertainment and constantly kept government officials on their toes. So its
claim to “broadcasting excellence” is well deserved. What is GBC’s claim? They are celebrating “70
years of broadcasting”. That’s all! This clearly indicates to me that the people at the helm at GBC know very
well that they have no cause for celebration. So why bother with the celebrations?
When I came to power, I vowed to
ensure that the GBC is reformed to play its role as a dependable, independent, pace-setting national broadcaster. I appointed
a woman to implement my plans for GBC. I appointed Eva Kollo not just for the sake of women empowerment. Her credentials were
good. On paper, she was well versed in information technology and other technologies. I thought that with her background as
a woman of technology, she would offer fresh ideas for turning GBC into a technological powerhouse, where every conceivable
broadcast magic was possible. But I was wrong. Eva Kollo is very good at collecting degrees and certificates. She’s
so lousy at implementing what she has learnt. Under her tenure, I have seen the fastest retrogression at GBC in decades. For
example, just a few Sunday’s ago I was relaxing in my hall removing meat from my teeth after eating a very big bowl
of fufu and ‘aponkye nkraakra’. I thought I could add to the relaxation by turning on my TV to see what was on.
The first channel I got was GTV and what I saw was incomprehensible. I’ve never seen anything like it before. GTV News
was on live, with Mathew Abutiate as the anchor. But (can you believe this) the whole live news broadcast was in slow motion.
Where else on this planet is news (even the anchor’s presentation) in slow motion? Does it happen even in Mali or Chad?
I don’t think so? This can only happen in Sikaman and only under an incompetent like Eva Kollo! Well, I continued to
watch the unfolding aberration – which was a vivid testimony to GBC’s mediocrity and retrogression under Eva Kollo
– and for the whole period of the bulletin everything was kept in slow motion. After the bulletin, they showed an old
variety programme – probably recorded in the mid-1980s when Pozo Hayes was Pozo Hayes. I wanted to enjoy the show because
Pozo was singing. The only problem was that everything was in slow motion. And where was Eva Kollo and her henchmen? If they
had been watching, the slow motion broadcasts might not have lasted as long as they did. I have been reliably informed that
she and most of the directors at GBC watch cable TV and listen to the more hip and forward-looking radio stations. They only
decide to tune in when there is trouble and they are questioned. If you manage a broadcast network and you don’t watch
or listen, how would you improve your output? No wonder GBC is retrogressing so fast under Eva Kollo.
One other thing
that has annoyed me most about Eva Kollo is the recent revelation that GBC’s website has not been updated since I came
to power and that, until it was shut down about a week ago, Jerry Boom was named on the site as the president of Sikaman.
Can you believe that? Don’t bother to check the website out – it is now “under construction”. What
does it tell you? The managers at GBC are not in control, they’ve lost focus and they are mere “position occupiers”.
So
what is a president to do? I have no choice than to demand the immediate resignation of Eva Kollo. She’s let me down
very badly with her abysmal failures and she must go.
GBC needs someone to rebuild it into the strong broadcast powerhouse
it ought to be. Someone who will build a strong management team made up of people who want to make things happen – not
merely occupy positions, driving around in big cars and watching DSTV. GBC needs a director-general who will build its staff
– make them more professional and creative by giving them all the professional and technological tools they need. The
corporation needs someone who will unite its staff – not engage in divide and rule tactics as Eva Kollo has done. The
next director general of GBC should be business savvy, ready to exploit the commercial potential of the only broadcast network
which truly spans the whole of the country. By so doing, GBC will be able to pay its bills and pay its staff. I am tired of
hearing every now and then that electric supply to one GBC transmission station or the other has been cut for non-payment
of bills. When Eva Kollo goes, she should be replaced by a ‘fighter’ who will boldly assert GBC’s independence
and ensure that the corporation enters a new era of neutrality and professionalism. Only then can GBC lay a claim to helping
build national cohesion for it would be providing consistent high quality information and entertainment upon which all the
citizens of Sikaman may rely. This is not a pipe dream. It can be achieved. The road to achieving this begins with the resignation
of Eva Kollo. Someone should tell her to go. Otherwise, I will be forced to push her. I still insist, though, that GBC should
be put on the divestiture list.
Excellently yours,
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