Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial<\/title><link \/><title>Blood-letting Enterprise<\/title><link \/><title>Resourcing The EC<\/title><link \/><title>The Rains Are Coming<\/title><link \/><title>Dog Fight Dog<\/title><link \/><title>One Explosion Too Many<\/title><link \/><title>Press Freedom: New Frontiers, New Barriers<\/title><link \/><title>Another Notch On The Scale<\/title><link \/><title>May Day: Same Hymn<\/title><link \/><title>Icing On The Cake<\/title><link \/><title>Mills At It Again!<\/title><link \/><\/head><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com GHANA’S LATEST AND LEADING NEWS NEWSPAPER, PROVIDING DAILY NEWS COVERAGE OF GHANA Wed, 11 May 2011 10:56:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http:\/\/wordpress.org\/?v=3.1.2 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 10:10:37 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/blood_spatter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11758\" title=\"blood_spatter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/blood_spatter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"254\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nBlood spatter<\/p>\nRitual murders, notoriously referred to as sakawa, appear to be replacing armed robbery as a source of public worry. Their frequency is frightening and the gory pictures which sometimes accompany such stories unsettling.<\/p>\nYesterday\u2019s issue of the Daily Guide<\/em> and other media channels gave ample coverage to the dastardly beheading of a boy in the Brong Ahafo Region, one of many featuring in the Greater Accra and Central regions of the country.<\/p>\nWere we to be privy to all the uncanny stories regarding sakawa, we would appreciate the extent of the crime.<\/p>\nYesterday\u2019s story, alongside similar ones, served as an appropriate subject for public discussion, the kind which prompts people to dissect a subject passionately at the lower rungs of society. And why not, given the degradation of our values by the menace in recent times?<\/p>\nThis latest barbaric action is coming on the heels of an earlier one which took place in Winneba in which two brothers, Ali Sabitu and his brother Saadu Sabitu, murdered 7-year-old Abubakar Sadik, dismembering his body in the most dastardly fashion.<\/p>\nThe wound inflicted upon the bereaved family is far from being healed, with more families threatened by the blood-curdling desires of many a young man.<\/p>\nThe youthfulness of those behind the crime is a statement about how much our young men are obsessed with making money by all means, the repercussions of their actions notwithstanding.<\/p>\nThe sakawa crime has reached an alarming stage, a point where a national dialogue and an unusual security response are being necessitated.<\/p>\nOur position is premised on the fact that unless something drastic is done to stem it, our country, especially the areas prone to the anomaly, would become synonymous with ritual killings.<\/p>\nWhile we expect the security agencies, the Police in particular, to fashion out an appropriate response to the growing esoteric menace, we wish to add however that the challenge posed by it calls for an \u201call hands on deck\u201d approach.<\/p>\nIt is not easy, given the almost crazy obsession for money by most people. The situation is so bad that there are parents who would not demand of their kids the source of their abrupt changed lifestyles, especially since they too become beneficiaries of the blood-soaked wealth.<\/p>\nParents, clergy, imams and opinion leaders all have a role to play in what should be a war against sakawa in the society.<\/p>\nOur diminishing values, one of whose feature is the refusal of people to be their neighbour\u2019s keepers, has impugned negatively on our Africanness to the extent that we turn blind eyes to children when they are engaged in crimes or acts which are injurious to the integrity of society.<\/p>\nFor how long shall we allow such anomalies to be with us?<\/p>\nBy our silence and therefore refusal to respond to the challenge posed by the menace, we are compromising the future of our country for which posterity shall not have a charitable impression about us.<\/p>\nLet us join hands with the security agencies, all of us, opinion leaders, et al, in stopping the anomaly before it destroys us all beyond redemption.<\/p>\nA situation where kids drop out of school and shuttle between Cotonou in Benin and Accra or Agona Swedru over blood-letting voodoo rituals should not be allowed to gain a foothold in the country, no, never.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11757 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 10:04:50 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/afari_gyan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11631\" title=\"afari_gyan\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/afari_gyan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nDr. Kwado Afari Gyan<\/p>\nPresident John Atta Mills\u2019s assurance of adequately resourcing the Electoral Commission (EC) for the 2012 polls could not have been made at a more opportune time.<\/p>\nFor elections whose stakes are unusually high, anything short of making good such a pledge on the part of the President can definitely cast an ominous cloud over the country.<\/p>\nA soothing pledge from the man who controls the country\u2019s kitty directly and indirectly must definitely sound sweet in the ears of the electorate and all who want to see trouble-free polls in 2012 and beyond.<\/p>\nThe almost haphazard district level elections and the horrible by-elections the country witnessed recently provide adequate basis for our foreboding. Against the backdrop of the approaching general elections, vis-\u00e0-vis previous ones, the apprehension of Ghanaians over how things would go in 2012 is justifiable and the assurance of the President timely and appropriate.<\/p>\nThe stakes for the forthcoming polls are too high for there to be discrepancies in the funding of the electoral agency.<\/p>\nGhanaians would de demanding so much of the EC that anything short of what President Mills promised could prompt a civil strife we certainly are not ready to contain at this time.<\/p>\nIn a multiparty democracy where parties cannot hold on to power indefinitely, we cannot ask for anything less than we are doing- transparency and credible polls.<\/p>\nPictures from polls in neighbouring countries lacking integrity are too graphic to be ignored at this time in our history, especially given the repercussions of the negative developments in such places.<\/p>\nIt is not enough to organize polls when the exercises fail to attract respect.<\/p>\nMuch as we could trust the President for his word, we shudder to say that it is easier said than done.<\/p>\nWe have received for the umpteenth time pledges of government support for the EC, yet the agency continues to struggle to undertake its mandate as evidenced in previous polls such as the by-elections and the district level polls witnessed in the recent past.<\/p>\nThese shortcomings have given us cause for genuine apprehension about the capacity of the EC as currently funded to discharge their core task to expectation.<\/p>\nWe are however encouraged by the thought that perhaps, this time around, the President could be ready to leave an enviable footprint even as many put up wry smiles.<\/p>\nElections are crucial in the sustenance of democracies and the absence of the holding of credible elections has threatened the peace and stability of many a country. We deserve a better electoral management.<\/p>\nWe pray that the President\u2019s word is not the political platitudes we are very much used to in government circles.<\/p>\nWe have no doubt that the EC too would put its act together by furnishing the executive with its requirements so that the latter would have no excuse in delaying the release of funds for the 2012 elections.<\/p>\nThe issue of the electronic register, not electronic voting, has not been removed from the table and so remains one of the innovative features of the 2012 elections arrived at to give further credibility to the polls.<\/p>\nWe recall the recent concern raised by the Danquah Institute when the think-tank expressed concern about the delay in readying the module for the next elections.<\/p>\nIt is our hope that since the concern was raised, the germane agencies have expedited action towards realizing that object.<\/p>\nWe do not want to follow the path of the National Identification Authority project about which many Ghanaians have given up hope.<\/p>\nEC needs a lot of money, especially regarding the electronic register, but such an amount cannot match what security maintenance would require, should a warped election trigger a breach of law and order.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11630 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 09:56:14 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/flood.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11527\" title=\"flood\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/flood.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"252\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nA flood area in Accra<\/p>\nThe rainy season is almost here. The previous years have been characterized by flooding of low-lying areas in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\nWhile haphazard development is responsible for some of the flooding, others are the result of the choking of our gutters through indiscriminate garbage disposal.<\/p>\nThe flooding, which sometimes leaves in its wake destruction, often prompts the authorities to promise remedying the situation to obviate future recurrence.<\/p>\nSince the last rainy season and the ones before it, we have not seen any development to obviate a recurrence.<\/p>\nThe authorities have not acted as they promised, just as residents have not changed their attitude towards the environment.<\/p>\nLast week, Accra was visited by two downpours, one of which flooded some parts of the city as if to warn us about the approaching season and what could be in it for us should we not do something to forestall possible flooding.<\/p>\nMuch as we doubt if anything substantial can be done now to contain possible flooding of some parts of the city, we think that the emergency services should be on full alert to respond to distress calls.<\/p>\nThere is no way we can contain continuous three hours of rainfall in Accra, considering the poor nature of our drainage system and the current works going on at the Graphic area where a bus lane construction has caused some forms of obstruction to the normal flow of water from the Odaw river as it heads for the sea.<\/p>\nThe recent flooding suggests that the ongoing development and its attendant obstruction compel the water to recede and thus threatening residents of the Circle area, Avenor and others.<\/p>\nWe are pained by the realization that city authorities and other relevant government agencies have failed over the years to take the critical measures to forestall the annual flooding.<\/p>\nThe previous de-silting of the city\u2019s drainage is now a thing of the past, recalled only as a matter of history.<\/p>\nThe Agbogbloshie story for instance has become a matter of political derision because politicians, out of their fear of losing votes, have prevented the city authorities from relocating the squatters in that part of the city.<\/p>\nThe multi-million cedi ecological project continues to be at the mercy of the squatters who appear to have beaten the authorities.<\/p>\nThe authorities would not be forgotten when the forthcoming rainy season comes with the vengeance which claims lives and destroys property. The fact is that we are ill-prepared for the rainy season and therefore not in a position to contain flooding of some parts of the city, which is likely.<\/p>\nMuch as we pray that the rainy season, as it prepares to commence, does so with little or no flooding, we doubt whether nature would oblige our request, given our carelessness to matters concerning the environment and the insincerity of politicians at the helm.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11526 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 11:51:12 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/npp_ndc.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11456\" title=\"npp_ndc\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/npp_ndc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNPP and NDC flags<\/p>\nThe political temperature in the country has been at an all-time high in the past few weeks, with the two main parties engaged in one form of activity or the other.<\/p>\nThe largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was in action last weekend trying their expanded Electoral College on parliamentary aspirants. The exercise was a success, attracting a cross-party commendation.<\/p>\nTheir main opponents, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), inched closer to their ultimate goal of choosing a flag-bearer for the 2012 polls when the spouse of ex-President Rawlings made good her intention of contesting the President by picking nomination forms at the party headquarters.<\/p>\nThe unusualness of the challenge, coming when the incumbent is but only half way into his first term in office, has thrown the party into a state of political convulsion, with the dissenting groups breaking into a Mills and Konadu segment.<\/p>\nNow the mainstream NDC is mired in a struggle to ward off the challenge posed by the Rawlingses.<\/p>\nNo sooner had the dust generated by the Nana Konadu form-picking died down than President Mills\u2019s supporters from across the country stormed the NDC headquarters to render moral support to their man the following day.<\/p>\nIf President Mills\u2019s minders sought to deal a psychological blow to their opponents in the Konadu camp, they got it in the numbers they were able to muster to bolster the seriousness of his 2012 project.<\/p>\nPunches are being traded by the opposing camps and it would be insulting to the intelligence of Ghanaians for image managers to pretend that nothing is happening.<\/p>\nSuch pretentious reactions cannot remedy the anomalous situation as we see it.<\/p>\nFormer President Rawlings has not minced words about what he seeks to do in the coming days. Underestimating such a veiled threat is too dangerous for the NDC in particular and the political milieu in general, as Rawlings seeks the jugular of the President.<\/p>\nMuch as we consider the development in the NDC as an internal disagreement, we know that its resonance across the country and the negativity it could have on the governance is not in doubt.<\/p>\nThe unfolding development, as each camp seeks to garner more support for its side, would have been another dimension of democracy. But with the President pushed to the wall by unprecedented pressure from within his political grouping, the anomaly cannot be pushed under the carpet as some seek to do.<\/p>\nEx-President Rawlings would have to take another look at the realities of contemporary Ghanaian history, as relatively younger politicians want him confined to the backburner of local politics. Many years ago, such could not have happened as he himself noted during one of his ranting when he remarked rhetorically \u201cwho born dog?\u201d<\/p>\nLet not the development impede the work of the President as we wait for the June 4 ranting promised by Mr. Rawlings. It should pass for a \u201cdog fight dog\u201d situation with no blood oozing.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11455 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 09:29:50 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/burnt_workers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10479\" title=\"burnt_workers\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/burnt_workers.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"246\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nThe burnt steel workers at the hospital<\/p>\nThe devastating explosion that hit Western Steel and Forgings Company Limited in Tema on Tuesday, one of a string of such occurrences recently, can no longer pass for an accident.<\/p>\nIt is not only a case of poor safety measures, but also a failure on the part of the appropriate government agencies to do their work- the Factory Inspectorate and the Labour Department- of ensuring that workers\u2019 lives are not endangered at their places of work.<\/p>\nThe first occurrence was rightly described as an accident, not so however the subsequent ones, one of which claimed a life or two and kept others hospitalized because of life-threatening burns.<\/p>\nIronically, there are regulations in the statute books such as the Factories and Offices Act that seek to ensure the safety of workers at their workplace. Given the frequency of tragedies, as noted earlier in this commentary, it is a fact that the Act is anything but active.<\/p>\nFor the company in question to continue to operate using the existing template, even after the previous happenings, beats the imagination of many who demand answers to the question as to why explosions will recur in a workplace.<\/p>\nWe would not be surprised to learn that even after the latest tragedy, no factory inspector has visited the steelworks to find out what happened to probe the seeming recklessness.<\/p>\nWhen the Secretary-General of the Trades\u2019 Union Congress (TUC) spoke during the recent May Day celebrations, he bemoaned the perilous conditions under which some Ghanaians work. Perhaps, he sounded a bit abstract when he dwelt on the safety of the Ghanaian worker at the time. He was attracted to the safety of workers obviously by the previous explosions registered at the steel company, not knowing that another was in the offing.<\/p>\nWe can bet our last cedi that hearing this latest occurrence and seeing the horrific burns suffered by the victims in pictures, the TUC chief would express disgust at the development.<\/p>\nIt is worrying to think about the fact that most of these workers toiling under such life-threatening conditions do so for pittances called emoluments, hardly able to meet their needs till the next payday.<\/p>\nIt is interesting that this latest explosion we refuse to regard as an accident is occurring a few days after a May Day celebration, at which the authorities expressed gratitude to our workers, literally promising them better working conditions.<\/p>\nThe situation in the informal sector of the economy is painfully appalling and the average Ghanaian worker, especially working under some expatriate employers, speak of unimaginably harsh conditions.<\/p>\nAny attempt at raising a voice against such unacceptable conditions is met with instant dismissal.<\/p>\nWe call on the authorities, especially factory inspectors and others, to do their work diligently so that such occurrences can be obviated.<\/p>\nThe factory under reference and others in the same industry should be inspected so that those deficiencies are remedied immediately. As for the victims of the tragedies, we call on the relevant authorities to ensure that they are given their dues in terms of compensation and adequate treatment.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11277 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 10:22:46 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/press_freedom2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11147\" title=\"press_freedom2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/press_freedom2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nA journalist <\/p>\nYesterday, Ghana joined the rest of the free world in celebrating World Press Freedom Day, a celebration which could not have come at a better time.<\/p>\nWhile the picture of journalism around the world is a potpourri of impressions since the last celebration, we can conclude that the challenges the occupation faces remain the same.<\/p>\nThe celebration is taking place for instance against the backdrop of journalists disappearing or, as it were, missing in action. The situation is more pronounced in conflict zones in the Arab world and others where media practitioners are subjected to mock executions because they cover the travails of persons engaged in changing the undemocratic political status quo.<\/p>\nLast year alone saw the death of sixty or so journalists in the line of duty around the world, according to UN sources, a pointer to the perilous conditions in which practitioners ply their profession.<\/p>\nIn other countries, the statute books still contain laws which impugn upon free and independent reporting of events and political developments.<\/p>\nWe find the theme for this year\u2019s celebration- \u201821st<\/sup> Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers\u2019- refreshingly ingenious as it covers all that is bad and good about media practice today around the world.<\/p>\nThe change from journalism without the criminal libel law in Ghana has been both phenomenal and challenging in the annals of media practice in our part of the world.<\/p>\nWhile it opened new challenges on the political milieu, it also erected barriers such as demanding of journalists, responsibilities for maintaining decency and decorum as cornerstones of their occupation.<\/p>\nKabral Blay-Amihere did not miss the target when he touched on the traits of irresponsibility dotting the journalism plane following the removal of the criminal libel law.<\/p>\nSince that watershed event, media practice has changed tremendously, with both bad and good practitioners\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 playing their parts.<\/p>\nSince democracy will only thrive when there is a free press, it is incumbent on journalists to be responsible and circumspect in the way they practice their occupation.<\/p>\nThe newfound freedom prompted by the removal of the fetters which stood between a free press and a restricted one is occasionally mired in avoidable challenges.<\/p>\nPoliticians from both sides of the political divide have had reasons to complain plaintively about uncharitable stories. They sometimes ask whether the removal of the restrictive statute was worth it.<\/p>\nSelf-censorship would be a wonderful attribute of responsible journalism under the prevailing circumstance if our nascent democracy should not be hampered in its development.<\/p>\nThere is a symbiotic relationship between journalists and politicians, knowledge of which would bolster the quality of each of the occupations.<\/p>\nPoliticians would be doing themselves and democracy good if they are decorous and mindful of their utterances because journalists are quick to publish such stuff since after all, the Joe Public is entitled to be informed.<\/p>\nJournalists enjoy so much freedom so that their watchdog role in a democracy is not in any way hindered. While the foregone is truism, journalism in Ghana cannot be said to be without inhibiting challenges. Practitioners, especially editors, are periodically snarled at by those who hold the authority of applying the law.<\/p>\nFor publishing public-interest stories, journalists are sometimes summoned by some members of the bench and gagged with a contempt charge threat.<\/p>\nWe will continue to do our best but others too in the broader society should appreciate the importance of our supportive role of democracy and abstain from attempts at gagging us. Don\u2019t we need democracy to thrive and therefore keep the governors on their toes?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11146 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 09:22:46 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/nana_addo_6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10719\" title=\"nana_addo_6\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/nana_addo_6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"290\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo<\/p>\nThe success which greeted the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) expanded Electoral College project is a statement about the excellent leadership exhibited by the flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Chairman and Lawyer Kwadwo Afriyie aka Sir John, party General Secretary.<\/p>\nWhen the time was due to implement the project, the challenges, as they stared the abovementioned gentlemen and their many able lieutenants in the face, seemed insurmountable.<\/p>\nThe tenacity of purpose and perseverance they brought to bear on the challenges made it all possible.<\/p>\nNana\u2019s admonitions, especially in the days preceding the elections on the airwaves and personal contacts, went down well in eliminating traces of acrimony which usually feature in such internal electoral exercises.<\/p>\nHis obsession with having the project take off and land without hitches was not in doubt as evidenced from his nationwide tour and sincere engagements with party executives.<\/p>\nThe expanded Electoral College is about opening up the political space for decisions to be taken by many more party members, another impetus for the blossoming of our nascent democracy.<\/p>\nThere is no denying the fact that the project, when it was tabled for discussion and eventual adoption, generated, expectedly, a lot of dust, with those dissenting making a lot of noise to support their positions as did those in support.<\/p>\nThat was one of the blessings of democracy and nobody could begrudge them the opportunity.<\/p>\nWhen it was put to the vote at the Trade Fair site congress of the party however, most delegates supported the extension of the franchise to many more party members.<\/p>\nEverybody, those against and those in favour, were bound by the outcome, a great lesson we have learnt as we grow in democracy. In the past, that could have been recipe for a destructive confusion between members of the two schools of opinions.<\/p>\nFor those who expressed apprehension about a possible breaking of bones as a result of disagreements over the expansion, their fears have been allayed, given the almost unblemished primaries held simultaneously across the country.<\/p>\nThe maiden political project, not only in Ghana but across the African continent, has taken our country to another notch on the democratic scale and we can sit back and smile for a job well done by the party leadership.<\/p>\nIt is a model which, it is our wish, would be adopted by other political groupings so that the usual bickering and rancor which sometimes threaten the very democracy we claim to be nurturing would be thrown overboard.<\/p>\nWe have stated it before that political parties are vehicles through which the political leadership to run the affairs of the state are chosen.<\/p>\nFor this reason therefore, decency, decorum and, above all, sincerity should be critical hallmarks of such groupings so that bad nuts with hidden criminal agenda do not come close to the helm of affairs to play hardball.<\/p>\nIt was for a good reason that some foreign observers from Germany took interest in the development and proceeded to behold it in some parts of the Greater Accra region.<\/p>\nTheir good impression is a plus not for NPP only but Ghana\u2019s democracy, about which we are elated.<\/p>\nWe pray that future endeavours would witness even better implementations as we gain more experience in managing such electoral challenges within the same political families.<\/p>\nWhen we show maturity in such exercises through the lessons learnt, our conduct, during the broader national polls, would be refined.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11027 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 08:44:13 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/may_day1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10938\" title=\"may_day\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/may_day1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nVice President John Mahama at the May Day parade<\/p>\nYesterday, Ghana went through another ritual of celebrating May Day with a yawn. As a day set aside to recognize the toils of our workers, there is but little sincerity on the part of those at the helm of affairs in really changing the uncomfortable lot of the average Ghanaian worker.<\/p>\nFor us, this is a day when, besides recognizing the indefatigable contribution of workers, we should realistically look at the non-commensurate financial reward for their toils as we stand on the fringes.<\/p>\nThey remain the unsung backbone of our economic development, ready to be mentioned in speeches as on such occasions under review, yet live from hand- to-mouth, malnourished and hopeless.<\/p>\nCharacteristic of such occasions, Ghanaian workers were promised a better tomorrow through an all-pervading implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure.<\/p>\nFor those already enjoying it, they have tales of woes to tell about how the propaganda which greeted its partial, or so, implementation resulted in skyrocketing of prices on the open market and depleted real incomes.<\/p>\nSo much politicking has gone into the Single Spine scheme that it appears to have broken its lone spine, as it is challenged with arguments and counter-arguments over which regime originated it and the like. In the event, little or no room is left for the necessary fine-tuning to make it more palatable and beneficial for the Ghanaian worker for whom it is intended to assist in getting by in a rather inclement economic system.<\/p>\nVice President John Mahama yesterday addressed Ghanaian workers, assuring them of full coverage of the scheme by September. Good talk, but the reality is that the average Ghanaian worker continues to be exploited by employers, especially in the private sector and there is no guarantee that with the Vice President making good his promise, the lot of the Ghanaian worker would alter overnight\u00a0 if at all.<\/p>\nIt is our desire that government fashions an arrangement which would make it possible for employers to adhere to worldwide acceptable best practices in its obligations to workers.<\/p>\nBesides salary increase, workers\u2019 living conditions could be bolstered through the provision of basic services such as health delivery, education for their kids and assured pension schemes.<\/p>\nThe foregone for now are non-existent in many cases, leaving most workers totally drained by the time the next payday is due. It is not an exaggeration to state that many workers are denied access to three square meals a day, a situation which, besides being injurious to their health, compels them sometimes to borrow money to see them through the month.<\/p>\nWith the burden of debt hanging around their necks like albatrosses on a near permanent basis, they continue to be inundated with promises of politicians that things would be alright, to which we ask \u201cwhen?\u201d<\/p>\nIn the past year, since the last May Day celebrations, workers have witnessed further dwindling of their real incomes as they look on helplessly. They risk dismissals when they show any sign of discontent with their conditions.<\/p>\nWe do hope that government would take another look at how to improve the living conditions of the Ghanaian worker through innovative interventions, outside the monthly emoluments available to them so that on the next May Day, the story would be different.<\/p>\nAnyway, we would nonetheless congratulate our hardworking workers for going through the hell that is the prevalent situation.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10936 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 10:24:18 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/npp_logo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10877\" title=\"npp_logo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/npp_logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNPP Flag<\/p>\nThe largest opposition party in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), goes to the polls today to select parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2012 general elections.<\/p>\nThere is no doubt about the importance of these internal polls, the icing on the cake as it were, if things go well for the recently-expanded Electoral College in the NPP.<\/p>\nIt is a crucial electoral exercise, albeit limited to one political party. As we mentioned in a previous editorial comment, anything relating to a political grouping in the country should be treated with utmost seriousness.<\/p>\nOur position is borne out of the fact that political parties as public bodies, whose operations are regulated by law, serve as platforms from which leaders are selected to run the affairs of the country.<\/p>\nNo wonder state funding of these platforms was mooted sometime ago, although something concrete is yet to come out of the proposal.<\/p>\nThe successful operation of political parties is crucial in the provision of qualified and appropriate leadership required to pilot the ship of state for our development agenda to be achieved.<\/p>\nThey provide an instant insight into the extent of our political culture and its quality. When there is noise from a political grouping over one thing or the other, and above all, how such challenges are addressed, the message is too clear to be ignored.<\/p>\nThere have been instances in the NPP where candidates were disqualified during the screening procedures, prior to today\u2019s event, to ensure that appropriate persons are presented for the delegates to choose from.<\/p>\nIt appeared simple but that process was a segment in a string of activities which would eventually lead to the choice of an appropriate leadership for the country.<\/p>\nToday is therefore a landmark point in the political history of Ghana as the NPP puts to test, as mentioned earlier, the last segment in the strings of novelty election processes. The processes are the results of the desire by the party to deepen the democratic culture in the party. They are therefore worth supporting, especially since they could serve as a prototype for other political groupings to adopt.<\/p>\nOur democracy is still in a nascent stage and so any innovation, as in the NPP, will attract attention from observers and political science academics.<\/p>\nWe are aware of the pressing demands from different interest groups in the party and how these have influenced the adoption of the expanded Electoral College concept.<\/p>\nWe implore party supporters, members, delegates and all stakeholders, in the light of the foregone, to ensure that today\u2019s activities end without the rancor, acrimonies and other negative tendencies which characterize such exercises.<\/p>\nAs part of the overall national democratic process, a successful NPP primary will impact positively in a way on the 2012 polls.<\/p>\nWe have learnt about how the international community has taken a keen interest in today\u2019s activities, as some of them head for Adenta to observe the process.<\/p>\nWe wish the NPP a successful process.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10876 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:35:06 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/president_mills.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3080\" title=\"president_mills\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/president_mills.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nPresident Evans Atta Mills<\/p>\nSo just what is President Mills up to, regarding the murder of the Ya Na, a subject he loves to refer to, especially as he is under incessant pressure to make good an election promise by the Andanis?<\/p>\nAlthough he claims to have no regrets if his continuous reference to the subject is regarded as politicization, as he put it recently, we, like many others in this country, are sick and tired of the inherent contradictions.<\/p>\nAfter creating the impression that the killers were known and, as it were, walking about free men and he, when voted into power, was going to apprehend and bring them to justice, the hymn appears to have changed somewhat in the aftermath of the court ruling.<\/p>\nHe has told the people of Dagbon, especially the Andanis that he is going to employ foreign experts to fish out the perpetrators even if that is the only option available.<\/p>\nIn another vein, we are told about the reactivation of the Eminent Persons appointed earlier to manage the challenge, even after casting aspersions on the spirit of the approach for the usual political reasons, characteristic of the status quo.<\/p>\nWe are alarmed at the virtual lies the professor of law is dishing out to the expectant people of this part of the country, when he knows in his heart of hearts that it is nothing but a potpourri of unattainable promises, given the proceedings of the adjudication process and the eventual ruling.<\/p>\nIt is a case of telling a distressed people what they want to hear, that is all, regardless of its logical unsoundness. President Mills is a disappointment to the law profession to which he belongs, considering his passion for the politicisation of issues, even when doing so has all the potential of endangering the rule of law in the country.<\/p>\nWe would have expected that having served notice of an appeal against the ruling, he would spare us the cacophony of \u201chunting the killers\u201d and waiting for the courts in which he has a diminished confidence, anyway, to deal with it.<\/p>\nIn the euphoria of his driving through Tamale in the middle of non-helmeted motorcyclists, as policemen looked on unconcerned, he dished out another of the mendacious promises regarding the subject under review.<\/p>\nHis promise of looking outside Ghana in pursuit of the Ya Na killers smacks of insincerity and lack of respect for the people of Dagbon, and especially the bereaved family.<\/p>\nThere is no doubt that anytime he makes any of his numerous and untenable promises, he pinches the sore left by the death of the late Overlord on those related to the subject in one way or the other, yet it is a subject he loves to consider anytime he meets Dagombas in their own turf. Rather than discuss how to move the Northern Region, especially Dagbon, forward, and leave the painful murder of the Ya Na to the courts to deal with, President Mills has found in the aberration a convenient means of concealing his developmental deficiencies.<\/p>\nWe are saddened by the continuous politicisation of the murder of the Ya Na, which President Mills is intent on pursuing until he exhausts his tenure, especially since his Communications Director regards it an albatross around the neck of his boss. Why not, since he made it a campaign promise?<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10758 1\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"5\"><title>Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial<\/title><link \/><title>Blood-letting Enterprise<\/title><link \/><title>Resourcing The EC<\/title><link \/><title>The Rains Are Coming<\/title><link \/><title>Dog Fight Dog<\/title><link \/><title>One Explosion Too Many<\/title><link \/><title>Press Freedom: New Frontiers, New Barriers<\/title><link \/><title>Another Notch On The Scale<\/title><link \/><title>May Day: Same Hymn<\/title><link \/><title>Icing On The Cake<\/title><link \/><title>Mills At It Again!<\/title><link \/>\nhttp:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com GHANA’S LATEST AND LEADING NEWS NEWSPAPER, PROVIDING DAILY NEWS COVERAGE OF GHANA Wed, 11 May 2011 10:56:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http:\/\/wordpress.org\/?v=3.1.2 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 10:10:37 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/blood_spatter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11758\" title=\"blood_spatter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/blood_spatter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"254\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nBlood spatter<\/p>\nRitual murders, notoriously referred to as sakawa, appear to be replacing armed robbery as a source of public worry. Their frequency is frightening and the gory pictures which sometimes accompany such stories unsettling.<\/p>\nYesterday\u2019s issue of the Daily Guide<\/em> and other media channels gave ample coverage to the dastardly beheading of a boy in the Brong Ahafo Region, one of many featuring in the Greater Accra and Central regions of the country.<\/p>\nWere we to be privy to all the uncanny stories regarding sakawa, we would appreciate the extent of the crime.<\/p>\nYesterday\u2019s story, alongside similar ones, served as an appropriate subject for public discussion, the kind which prompts people to dissect a subject passionately at the lower rungs of society. And why not, given the degradation of our values by the menace in recent times?<\/p>\nThis latest barbaric action is coming on the heels of an earlier one which took place in Winneba in which two brothers, Ali Sabitu and his brother Saadu Sabitu, murdered 7-year-old Abubakar Sadik, dismembering his body in the most dastardly fashion.<\/p>\nThe wound inflicted upon the bereaved family is far from being healed, with more families threatened by the blood-curdling desires of many a young man.<\/p>\nThe youthfulness of those behind the crime is a statement about how much our young men are obsessed with making money by all means, the repercussions of their actions notwithstanding.<\/p>\nThe sakawa crime has reached an alarming stage, a point where a national dialogue and an unusual security response are being necessitated.<\/p>\nOur position is premised on the fact that unless something drastic is done to stem it, our country, especially the areas prone to the anomaly, would become synonymous with ritual killings.<\/p>\nWhile we expect the security agencies, the Police in particular, to fashion out an appropriate response to the growing esoteric menace, we wish to add however that the challenge posed by it calls for an \u201call hands on deck\u201d approach.<\/p>\nIt is not easy, given the almost crazy obsession for money by most people. The situation is so bad that there are parents who would not demand of their kids the source of their abrupt changed lifestyles, especially since they too become beneficiaries of the blood-soaked wealth.<\/p>\nParents, clergy, imams and opinion leaders all have a role to play in what should be a war against sakawa in the society.<\/p>\nOur diminishing values, one of whose feature is the refusal of people to be their neighbour\u2019s keepers, has impugned negatively on our Africanness to the extent that we turn blind eyes to children when they are engaged in crimes or acts which are injurious to the integrity of society.<\/p>\nFor how long shall we allow such anomalies to be with us?<\/p>\nBy our silence and therefore refusal to respond to the challenge posed by the menace, we are compromising the future of our country for which posterity shall not have a charitable impression about us.<\/p>\nLet us join hands with the security agencies, all of us, opinion leaders, et al, in stopping the anomaly before it destroys us all beyond redemption.<\/p>\nA situation where kids drop out of school and shuttle between Cotonou in Benin and Accra or Agona Swedru over blood-letting voodoo rituals should not be allowed to gain a foothold in the country, no, never.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11757 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 10:04:50 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11630 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/afari_gyan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11631\" title=\"afari_gyan\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/afari_gyan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nDr. Kwado Afari Gyan<\/p>\nPresident John Atta Mills\u2019s assurance of adequately resourcing the Electoral Commission (EC) for the 2012 polls could not have been made at a more opportune time.<\/p>\nFor elections whose stakes are unusually high, anything short of making good such a pledge on the part of the President can definitely cast an ominous cloud over the country.<\/p>\nA soothing pledge from the man who controls the country\u2019s kitty directly and indirectly must definitely sound sweet in the ears of the electorate and all who want to see trouble-free polls in 2012 and beyond.<\/p>\nThe almost haphazard district level elections and the horrible by-elections the country witnessed recently provide adequate basis for our foreboding. Against the backdrop of the approaching general elections, vis-\u00e0-vis previous ones, the apprehension of Ghanaians over how things would go in 2012 is justifiable and the assurance of the President timely and appropriate.<\/p>\nThe stakes for the forthcoming polls are too high for there to be discrepancies in the funding of the electoral agency.<\/p>\nGhanaians would de demanding so much of the EC that anything short of what President Mills promised could prompt a civil strife we certainly are not ready to contain at this time.<\/p>\nIn a multiparty democracy where parties cannot hold on to power indefinitely, we cannot ask for anything less than we are doing- transparency and credible polls.<\/p>\nPictures from polls in neighbouring countries lacking integrity are too graphic to be ignored at this time in our history, especially given the repercussions of the negative developments in such places.<\/p>\nIt is not enough to organize polls when the exercises fail to attract respect.<\/p>\nMuch as we could trust the President for his word, we shudder to say that it is easier said than done.<\/p>\nWe have received for the umpteenth time pledges of government support for the EC, yet the agency continues to struggle to undertake its mandate as evidenced in previous polls such as the by-elections and the district level polls witnessed in the recent past.<\/p>\nThese shortcomings have given us cause for genuine apprehension about the capacity of the EC as currently funded to discharge their core task to expectation.<\/p>\nWe are however encouraged by the thought that perhaps, this time around, the President could be ready to leave an enviable footprint even as many put up wry smiles.<\/p>\nElections are crucial in the sustenance of democracies and the absence of the holding of credible elections has threatened the peace and stability of many a country. We deserve a better electoral management.<\/p>\nWe pray that the President\u2019s word is not the political platitudes we are very much used to in government circles.<\/p>\nWe have no doubt that the EC too would put its act together by furnishing the executive with its requirements so that the latter would have no excuse in delaying the release of funds for the 2012 elections.<\/p>\nThe issue of the electronic register, not electronic voting, has not been removed from the table and so remains one of the innovative features of the 2012 elections arrived at to give further credibility to the polls.<\/p>\nWe recall the recent concern raised by the Danquah Institute when the think-tank expressed concern about the delay in readying the module for the next elections.<\/p>\nIt is our hope that since the concern was raised, the germane agencies have expedited action towards realizing that object.<\/p>\nWe do not want to follow the path of the National Identification Authority project about which many Ghanaians have given up hope.<\/p>\nEC needs a lot of money, especially regarding the electronic register, but such an amount cannot match what security maintenance would require, should a warped election trigger a breach of law and order.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11630 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 09:56:14 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11526 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/flood.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11527\" title=\"flood\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/flood.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"252\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nA flood area in Accra<\/p>\nThe rainy season is almost here. The previous years have been characterized by flooding of low-lying areas in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\nWhile haphazard development is responsible for some of the flooding, others are the result of the choking of our gutters through indiscriminate garbage disposal.<\/p>\nThe flooding, which sometimes leaves in its wake destruction, often prompts the authorities to promise remedying the situation to obviate future recurrence.<\/p>\nSince the last rainy season and the ones before it, we have not seen any development to obviate a recurrence.<\/p>\nThe authorities have not acted as they promised, just as residents have not changed their attitude towards the environment.<\/p>\nLast week, Accra was visited by two downpours, one of which flooded some parts of the city as if to warn us about the approaching season and what could be in it for us should we not do something to forestall possible flooding.<\/p>\nMuch as we doubt if anything substantial can be done now to contain possible flooding of some parts of the city, we think that the emergency services should be on full alert to respond to distress calls.<\/p>\nThere is no way we can contain continuous three hours of rainfall in Accra, considering the poor nature of our drainage system and the current works going on at the Graphic area where a bus lane construction has caused some forms of obstruction to the normal flow of water from the Odaw river as it heads for the sea.<\/p>\nThe recent flooding suggests that the ongoing development and its attendant obstruction compel the water to recede and thus threatening residents of the Circle area, Avenor and others.<\/p>\nWe are pained by the realization that city authorities and other relevant government agencies have failed over the years to take the critical measures to forestall the annual flooding.<\/p>\nThe previous de-silting of the city\u2019s drainage is now a thing of the past, recalled only as a matter of history.<\/p>\nThe Agbogbloshie story for instance has become a matter of political derision because politicians, out of their fear of losing votes, have prevented the city authorities from relocating the squatters in that part of the city.<\/p>\nThe multi-million cedi ecological project continues to be at the mercy of the squatters who appear to have beaten the authorities.<\/p>\nThe authorities would not be forgotten when the forthcoming rainy season comes with the vengeance which claims lives and destroys property. The fact is that we are ill-prepared for the rainy season and therefore not in a position to contain flooding of some parts of the city, which is likely.<\/p>\nMuch as we pray that the rainy season, as it prepares to commence, does so with little or no flooding, we doubt whether nature would oblige our request, given our carelessness to matters concerning the environment and the insincerity of politicians at the helm.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11526 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 11:51:12 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11455 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/npp_ndc.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11456\" title=\"npp_ndc\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/npp_ndc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNPP and NDC flags<\/p>\nThe political temperature in the country has been at an all-time high in the past few weeks, with the two main parties engaged in one form of activity or the other.<\/p>\nThe largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was in action last weekend trying their expanded Electoral College on parliamentary aspirants. The exercise was a success, attracting a cross-party commendation.<\/p>\nTheir main opponents, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), inched closer to their ultimate goal of choosing a flag-bearer for the 2012 polls when the spouse of ex-President Rawlings made good her intention of contesting the President by picking nomination forms at the party headquarters.<\/p>\nThe unusualness of the challenge, coming when the incumbent is but only half way into his first term in office, has thrown the party into a state of political convulsion, with the dissenting groups breaking into a Mills and Konadu segment.<\/p>\nNow the mainstream NDC is mired in a struggle to ward off the challenge posed by the Rawlingses.<\/p>\nNo sooner had the dust generated by the Nana Konadu form-picking died down than President Mills\u2019s supporters from across the country stormed the NDC headquarters to render moral support to their man the following day.<\/p>\nIf President Mills\u2019s minders sought to deal a psychological blow to their opponents in the Konadu camp, they got it in the numbers they were able to muster to bolster the seriousness of his 2012 project.<\/p>\nPunches are being traded by the opposing camps and it would be insulting to the intelligence of Ghanaians for image managers to pretend that nothing is happening.<\/p>\nSuch pretentious reactions cannot remedy the anomalous situation as we see it.<\/p>\nFormer President Rawlings has not minced words about what he seeks to do in the coming days. Underestimating such a veiled threat is too dangerous for the NDC in particular and the political milieu in general, as Rawlings seeks the jugular of the President.<\/p>\nMuch as we consider the development in the NDC as an internal disagreement, we know that its resonance across the country and the negativity it could have on the governance is not in doubt.<\/p>\nThe unfolding development, as each camp seeks to garner more support for its side, would have been another dimension of democracy. But with the President pushed to the wall by unprecedented pressure from within his political grouping, the anomaly cannot be pushed under the carpet as some seek to do.<\/p>\nEx-President Rawlings would have to take another look at the realities of contemporary Ghanaian history, as relatively younger politicians want him confined to the backburner of local politics. Many years ago, such could not have happened as he himself noted during one of his ranting when he remarked rhetorically \u201cwho born dog?\u201d<\/p>\nLet not the development impede the work of the President as we wait for the June 4 ranting promised by Mr. Rawlings. It should pass for a \u201cdog fight dog\u201d situation with no blood oozing.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11455 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 09:29:50 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11277 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/burnt_workers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10479\" title=\"burnt_workers\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/burnt_workers.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"246\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nThe burnt steel workers at the hospital<\/p>\nThe devastating explosion that hit Western Steel and Forgings Company Limited in Tema on Tuesday, one of a string of such occurrences recently, can no longer pass for an accident.<\/p>\nIt is not only a case of poor safety measures, but also a failure on the part of the appropriate government agencies to do their work- the Factory Inspectorate and the Labour Department- of ensuring that workers\u2019 lives are not endangered at their places of work.<\/p>\nThe first occurrence was rightly described as an accident, not so however the subsequent ones, one of which claimed a life or two and kept others hospitalized because of life-threatening burns.<\/p>\nIronically, there are regulations in the statute books such as the Factories and Offices Act that seek to ensure the safety of workers at their workplace. Given the frequency of tragedies, as noted earlier in this commentary, it is a fact that the Act is anything but active.<\/p>\nFor the company in question to continue to operate using the existing template, even after the previous happenings, beats the imagination of many who demand answers to the question as to why explosions will recur in a workplace.<\/p>\nWe would not be surprised to learn that even after the latest tragedy, no factory inspector has visited the steelworks to find out what happened to probe the seeming recklessness.<\/p>\nWhen the Secretary-General of the Trades\u2019 Union Congress (TUC) spoke during the recent May Day celebrations, he bemoaned the perilous conditions under which some Ghanaians work. Perhaps, he sounded a bit abstract when he dwelt on the safety of the Ghanaian worker at the time. He was attracted to the safety of workers obviously by the previous explosions registered at the steel company, not knowing that another was in the offing.<\/p>\nWe can bet our last cedi that hearing this latest occurrence and seeing the horrific burns suffered by the victims in pictures, the TUC chief would express disgust at the development.<\/p>\nIt is worrying to think about the fact that most of these workers toiling under such life-threatening conditions do so for pittances called emoluments, hardly able to meet their needs till the next payday.<\/p>\nIt is interesting that this latest explosion we refuse to regard as an accident is occurring a few days after a May Day celebration, at which the authorities expressed gratitude to our workers, literally promising them better working conditions.<\/p>\nThe situation in the informal sector of the economy is painfully appalling and the average Ghanaian worker, especially working under some expatriate employers, speak of unimaginably harsh conditions.<\/p>\nAny attempt at raising a voice against such unacceptable conditions is met with instant dismissal.<\/p>\nWe call on the authorities, especially factory inspectors and others, to do their work diligently so that such occurrences can be obviated.<\/p>\nThe factory under reference and others in the same industry should be inspected so that those deficiencies are remedied immediately. As for the victims of the tragedies, we call on the relevant authorities to ensure that they are given their dues in terms of compensation and adequate treatment.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11277 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 10:22:46 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11146 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/press_freedom2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11147\" title=\"press_freedom2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/press_freedom2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nA journalist <\/p>\nYesterday, Ghana joined the rest of the free world in celebrating World Press Freedom Day, a celebration which could not have come at a better time.<\/p>\nWhile the picture of journalism around the world is a potpourri of impressions since the last celebration, we can conclude that the challenges the occupation faces remain the same.<\/p>\nThe celebration is taking place for instance against the backdrop of journalists disappearing or, as it were, missing in action. The situation is more pronounced in conflict zones in the Arab world and others where media practitioners are subjected to mock executions because they cover the travails of persons engaged in changing the undemocratic political status quo.<\/p>\nLast year alone saw the death of sixty or so journalists in the line of duty around the world, according to UN sources, a pointer to the perilous conditions in which practitioners ply their profession.<\/p>\nIn other countries, the statute books still contain laws which impugn upon free and independent reporting of events and political developments.<\/p>\nWe find the theme for this year\u2019s celebration- \u201821st<\/sup> Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers\u2019- refreshingly ingenious as it covers all that is bad and good about media practice today around the world.<\/p>\nThe change from journalism without the criminal libel law in Ghana has been both phenomenal and challenging in the annals of media practice in our part of the world.<\/p>\nWhile it opened new challenges on the political milieu, it also erected barriers such as demanding of journalists, responsibilities for maintaining decency and decorum as cornerstones of their occupation.<\/p>\nKabral Blay-Amihere did not miss the target when he touched on the traits of irresponsibility dotting the journalism plane following the removal of the criminal libel law.<\/p>\nSince that watershed event, media practice has changed tremendously, with both bad and good practitioners\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 playing their parts.<\/p>\nSince democracy will only thrive when there is a free press, it is incumbent on journalists to be responsible and circumspect in the way they practice their occupation.<\/p>\nThe newfound freedom prompted by the removal of the fetters which stood between a free press and a restricted one is occasionally mired in avoidable challenges.<\/p>\nPoliticians from both sides of the political divide have had reasons to complain plaintively about uncharitable stories. They sometimes ask whether the removal of the restrictive statute was worth it.<\/p>\nSelf-censorship would be a wonderful attribute of responsible journalism under the prevailing circumstance if our nascent democracy should not be hampered in its development.<\/p>\nThere is a symbiotic relationship between journalists and politicians, knowledge of which would bolster the quality of each of the occupations.<\/p>\nPoliticians would be doing themselves and democracy good if they are decorous and mindful of their utterances because journalists are quick to publish such stuff since after all, the Joe Public is entitled to be informed.<\/p>\nJournalists enjoy so much freedom so that their watchdog role in a democracy is not in any way hindered. While the foregone is truism, journalism in Ghana cannot be said to be without inhibiting challenges. Practitioners, especially editors, are periodically snarled at by those who hold the authority of applying the law.<\/p>\nFor publishing public-interest stories, journalists are sometimes summoned by some members of the bench and gagged with a contempt charge threat.<\/p>\nWe will continue to do our best but others too in the broader society should appreciate the importance of our supportive role of democracy and abstain from attempts at gagging us. Don\u2019t we need democracy to thrive and therefore keep the governors on their toes?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11146 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 09:22:46 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11027 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/nana_addo_6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10719\" title=\"nana_addo_6\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/nana_addo_6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"290\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo<\/p>\nThe success which greeted the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) expanded Electoral College project is a statement about the excellent leadership exhibited by the flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Chairman and Lawyer Kwadwo Afriyie aka Sir John, party General Secretary.<\/p>\nWhen the time was due to implement the project, the challenges, as they stared the abovementioned gentlemen and their many able lieutenants in the face, seemed insurmountable.<\/p>\nThe tenacity of purpose and perseverance they brought to bear on the challenges made it all possible.<\/p>\nNana\u2019s admonitions, especially in the days preceding the elections on the airwaves and personal contacts, went down well in eliminating traces of acrimony which usually feature in such internal electoral exercises.<\/p>\nHis obsession with having the project take off and land without hitches was not in doubt as evidenced from his nationwide tour and sincere engagements with party executives.<\/p>\nThe expanded Electoral College is about opening up the political space for decisions to be taken by many more party members, another impetus for the blossoming of our nascent democracy.<\/p>\nThere is no denying the fact that the project, when it was tabled for discussion and eventual adoption, generated, expectedly, a lot of dust, with those dissenting making a lot of noise to support their positions as did those in support.<\/p>\nThat was one of the blessings of democracy and nobody could begrudge them the opportunity.<\/p>\nWhen it was put to the vote at the Trade Fair site congress of the party however, most delegates supported the extension of the franchise to many more party members.<\/p>\nEverybody, those against and those in favour, were bound by the outcome, a great lesson we have learnt as we grow in democracy. In the past, that could have been recipe for a destructive confusion between members of the two schools of opinions.<\/p>\nFor those who expressed apprehension about a possible breaking of bones as a result of disagreements over the expansion, their fears have been allayed, given the almost unblemished primaries held simultaneously across the country.<\/p>\nThe maiden political project, not only in Ghana but across the African continent, has taken our country to another notch on the democratic scale and we can sit back and smile for a job well done by the party leadership.<\/p>\nIt is a model which, it is our wish, would be adopted by other political groupings so that the usual bickering and rancor which sometimes threaten the very democracy we claim to be nurturing would be thrown overboard.<\/p>\nWe have stated it before that political parties are vehicles through which the political leadership to run the affairs of the state are chosen.<\/p>\nFor this reason therefore, decency, decorum and, above all, sincerity should be critical hallmarks of such groupings so that bad nuts with hidden criminal agenda do not come close to the helm of affairs to play hardball.<\/p>\nIt was for a good reason that some foreign observers from Germany took interest in the development and proceeded to behold it in some parts of the Greater Accra region.<\/p>\nTheir good impression is a plus not for NPP only but Ghana\u2019s democracy, about which we are elated.<\/p>\nWe pray that future endeavours would witness even better implementations as we gain more experience in managing such electoral challenges within the same political families.<\/p>\nWhen we show maturity in such exercises through the lessons learnt, our conduct, during the broader national polls, would be refined.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=11027 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 08:44:13 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10936 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/may_day1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10938\" title=\"may_day\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/may_day1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nVice President John Mahama at the May Day parade<\/p>\nYesterday, Ghana went through another ritual of celebrating May Day with a yawn. As a day set aside to recognize the toils of our workers, there is but little sincerity on the part of those at the helm of affairs in really changing the uncomfortable lot of the average Ghanaian worker.<\/p>\nFor us, this is a day when, besides recognizing the indefatigable contribution of workers, we should realistically look at the non-commensurate financial reward for their toils as we stand on the fringes.<\/p>\nThey remain the unsung backbone of our economic development, ready to be mentioned in speeches as on such occasions under review, yet live from hand- to-mouth, malnourished and hopeless.<\/p>\nCharacteristic of such occasions, Ghanaian workers were promised a better tomorrow through an all-pervading implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure.<\/p>\nFor those already enjoying it, they have tales of woes to tell about how the propaganda which greeted its partial, or so, implementation resulted in skyrocketing of prices on the open market and depleted real incomes.<\/p>\nSo much politicking has gone into the Single Spine scheme that it appears to have broken its lone spine, as it is challenged with arguments and counter-arguments over which regime originated it and the like. In the event, little or no room is left for the necessary fine-tuning to make it more palatable and beneficial for the Ghanaian worker for whom it is intended to assist in getting by in a rather inclement economic system.<\/p>\nVice President John Mahama yesterday addressed Ghanaian workers, assuring them of full coverage of the scheme by September. Good talk, but the reality is that the average Ghanaian worker continues to be exploited by employers, especially in the private sector and there is no guarantee that with the Vice President making good his promise, the lot of the Ghanaian worker would alter overnight\u00a0 if at all.<\/p>\nIt is our desire that government fashions an arrangement which would make it possible for employers to adhere to worldwide acceptable best practices in its obligations to workers.<\/p>\nBesides salary increase, workers\u2019 living conditions could be bolstered through the provision of basic services such as health delivery, education for their kids and assured pension schemes.<\/p>\nThe foregone for now are non-existent in many cases, leaving most workers totally drained by the time the next payday is due. It is not an exaggeration to state that many workers are denied access to three square meals a day, a situation which, besides being injurious to their health, compels them sometimes to borrow money to see them through the month.<\/p>\nWith the burden of debt hanging around their necks like albatrosses on a near permanent basis, they continue to be inundated with promises of politicians that things would be alright, to which we ask \u201cwhen?\u201d<\/p>\nIn the past year, since the last May Day celebrations, workers have witnessed further dwindling of their real incomes as they look on helplessly. They risk dismissals when they show any sign of discontent with their conditions.<\/p>\nWe do hope that government would take another look at how to improve the living conditions of the Ghanaian worker through innovative interventions, outside the monthly emoluments available to them so that on the next May Day, the story would be different.<\/p>\nAnyway, we would nonetheless congratulate our hardworking workers for going through the hell that is the prevalent situation.<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10936 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 10:24:18 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10876 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/npp_logo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10877\" title=\"npp_logo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/npp_logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nNPP Flag<\/p>\nThe largest opposition party in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), goes to the polls today to select parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2012 general elections.<\/p>\nThere is no doubt about the importance of these internal polls, the icing on the cake as it were, if things go well for the recently-expanded Electoral College in the NPP.<\/p>\nIt is a crucial electoral exercise, albeit limited to one political party. As we mentioned in a previous editorial comment, anything relating to a political grouping in the country should be treated with utmost seriousness.<\/p>\nOur position is borne out of the fact that political parties as public bodies, whose operations are regulated by law, serve as platforms from which leaders are selected to run the affairs of the country.<\/p>\nNo wonder state funding of these platforms was mooted sometime ago, although something concrete is yet to come out of the proposal.<\/p>\nThe successful operation of political parties is crucial in the provision of qualified and appropriate leadership required to pilot the ship of state for our development agenda to be achieved.<\/p>\nThey provide an instant insight into the extent of our political culture and its quality. When there is noise from a political grouping over one thing or the other, and above all, how such challenges are addressed, the message is too clear to be ignored.<\/p>\nThere have been instances in the NPP where candidates were disqualified during the screening procedures, prior to today\u2019s event, to ensure that appropriate persons are presented for the delegates to choose from.<\/p>\nIt appeared simple but that process was a segment in a string of activities which would eventually lead to the choice of an appropriate leadership for the country.<\/p>\nToday is therefore a landmark point in the political history of Ghana as the NPP puts to test, as mentioned earlier, the last segment in the strings of novelty election processes. The processes are the results of the desire by the party to deepen the democratic culture in the party. They are therefore worth supporting, especially since they could serve as a prototype for other political groupings to adopt.<\/p>\nOur democracy is still in a nascent stage and so any innovation, as in the NPP, will attract attention from observers and political science academics.<\/p>\nWe are aware of the pressing demands from different interest groups in the party and how these have influenced the adoption of the expanded Electoral College concept.<\/p>\nWe implore party supporters, members, delegates and all stakeholders, in the light of the foregone, to ensure that today\u2019s activities end without the rancor, acrimonies and other negative tendencies which characterize such exercises.<\/p>\nAs part of the overall national democratic process, a successful NPP primary will impact positively in a way on the 2012 polls.<\/p>\nWe have learnt about how the international community has taken a keen interest in today\u2019s activities, as some of them head for Adenta to observe the process.<\/p>\nWe wish the NPP a successful process.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10876 0 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:35:06 +0000 Nicholas <\/p>\n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=10758 \nContinue reading \u2192<\/span>]]><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/president_mills.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3080\" title=\"president_mills\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/president_mills.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nPresident Evans Atta Mills<\/p>\nSo just what is President Mills up to, regarding the murder of the Ya Na, a subject he loves to refer to, especially as he is under incessant pressure to make good an election promise by the Andanis?<\/p>\nAlthough he claims to have no regrets if his continuous reference to the subject is regarded as politicization, as he put it recently, we, like many others in this country, are sick and tired of the inherent contradictions.<\/p>\nAfter creating the impression that the killers were known and, as it were, walking about free men and he, when voted into power, was going to apprehend and bring them to justice, the hymn appears to have changed somewhat in the aftermath of the court ruling.<\/p>\nHe has told the people of Dagbon, especially the Andanis that he is going to employ foreign experts to fish out the perpetrators even if that is the only option available.<\/p>\nIn another vein, we are told about the reactivation of the Eminent Persons appointed earlier to manage the challenge, even after casting aspersions on the spirit of the approach for the usual political reasons, characteristic of the status quo.<\/p>\nWe are alarmed at the virtual lies the professor of law is dishing out to the expectant people of this part of the country, when he knows in his heart of hearts that it is nothing but a potpourri of unattainable promises, given the proceedings of the adjudication process and the eventual ruling.<\/p>\nIt is a case of telling a distressed people what they want to hear, that is all, regardless of its logical unsoundness. President Mills is a disappointment to the law profession to which he belongs, considering his passion for the politicisation of issues, even when doing so has all the potential of endangering the rule of law in the country.<\/p>\nWe would have expected that having served notice of an appeal against the ruling, he would spare us the cacophony of \u201chunting the killers\u201d and waiting for the courts in which he has a diminished confidence, anyway, to deal with it.<\/p>\nIn the euphoria of his driving through Tamale in the middle of non-helmeted motorcyclists, as policemen looked on unconcerned, he dished out another of the mendacious promises regarding the subject under review.<\/p>\nHis promise of looking outside Ghana in pursuit of the Ya Na killers smacks of insincerity and lack of respect for the people of Dagbon, and especially the bereaved family.<\/p>\nThere is no doubt that anytime he makes any of his numerous and untenable promises, he pinches the sore left by the death of the late Overlord on those related to the subject in one way or the other, yet it is a subject he loves to consider anytime he meets Dagombas in their own turf. Rather than discuss how to move the Northern Region, especially Dagbon, forward, and leave the painful murder of the Ya Na to the courts to deal with, President Mills has found in the aberration a convenient means of concealing his developmental deficiencies.<\/p>\nWe are saddened by the continuous politicisation of the murder of the Ya Na, which President Mills is intent on pursuing until he exhausts his tenure, especially since his Communications Director regards it an albatross around the neck of his boss. Why not, since he made it a campaign promise?<\/p>\n]]> \n http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&p=10758 1\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\nOriginally posted here: \n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?feed=rss2&cat=36\" title=\"Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial Blood-letting Enterprise Resourcing The EC The Rains Are Coming Dog Fight Dog One Explosion Too Many Press Freedom: New Frontiers, New Barriers Another Notch On The Scale May Day: Same Hymn Icing On The Cake Mills At It Again! http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com GHANA’S LATEST AND LEADING NEWS NEWSPAPER, PROVIDING DAILY NEWS COVERAGE OF GHANA Wed, 11 May 2011 10:56:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http:\/\/wordpress.org\/?v=3.1.2 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 10:10:37 +0000 Nicholas http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 Continue reading \u2192 ]]> Blood spatter Ritual murders, notoriously referred to as sakawa, appear to be replacing armed robbery as a source of public worry. Their frequency is frightening and the gory pictures which sometimes accompany such stories unsettling. Yesterday\u2019s issue of the Daily Guide and other media channels gave ample coverage to the dastardly beheading of a boy in the Brong Ahafo Region, one of many featuring in the Greater Accra and Central regions of the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-421733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\n<title>Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/11\/daily-guide-newspaper-editorial-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Daily Guide Newspaper \u00bb Editorial Blood-letting Enterprise Resourcing The EC The Rains Are Coming Dog Fight Dog One Explosion Too Many Press Freedom: New Frontiers, New Barriers Another Notch On The Scale May Day: Same Hymn Icing On The Cake Mills At It Again! http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com GHANA'S LATEST AND LEADING NEWS NEWSPAPER, PROVIDING DAILY NEWS COVERAGE OF GHANA Wed, 11 May 2011 10:56:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http:\/\/wordpress.org\/?v=3.1.2 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 10:10:37 +0000 Nicholas http:\/\/www.dailyguideghana.com\/?p=11757 Continue reading \u2192 ]]> Blood spatter Ritual murders, notoriously referred to as sakawa, appear to be replacing armed robbery as a source of public worry. Their frequency is frightening and the gory pictures which sometimes accompany such stories unsettling. 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