FIDA-Ghana holds workshop on human rights

NEW. Watch live television from Ghana plus the latest Ghanaian movies plus OBE TV.

at Asesewa

Asesewa (ER), Aug. 21, GNA - FIDA- Ghana, a non-governmental organization (NGO), on Thursday held a workshop at Asesewa to create awareness of the existence of the human rights law in the country, its contents and implications.

It was also aimed at empowering disadvantaged women with the necessary knowledge and information on their rights as well as the legal tools to enable them defend those rights. The participants mostly women were educated on topics such as the Intestate Succession Law, Domestic Violence Law and the three different types of marriages in the country. Mrs Chris Dadzie, Past President of FIDA, expressed concern about situations where defilement cases are settled at home and the perpetrators asked to pay paltry sum of money and allowed to go free of charge.

She said that in most cases those victims were not allowed to go to hospital for examination, a situation which could result in their inability to have children in the future.

Mrs Dadzie was not happy about reported cases of men assaulting their wives on the least provocation, saying, "A house where there should be peace is rather turning into a boxing ring". She advised women to report such assault cases to the appropriate quarters for redress, adding that, it was about time men did away with the erroneous impression that it was their right to beat their wives. Mrs Dadzie appealed to the police to treat those assault cases as an offence anytime it was reported to them and not to turn the victims away.

She also educated the participants on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and urged all to guard against leading promiscuous lives. Mrs Afua Addotey, Vice-President, FIDA-Ghana, mentioned the types of marriages in the country as the Ordinance, Customary and Moslem. She advised marriage couples to register their marriages to avoid any confusion on the death of a partner. Mrs Addotey also advised parents to ensure that their daughters were properly married before allowing them to go and stay with a man.

Source: GNA

Mac Manu Calls For Unity in NPP

The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Peter Mac Manu has called for all members of the party to rally behind the party no matter the outcome of the National Delegates’ Conference. This is the first gathering of delegates of the party since the party lost power eight months ago to the NDC. He said this at the National Delegates’ Conference of the NPP being held at the Ghana International Trade fair Centre. The conference had to be postponed by a week as a result of the re-run of polls for the six polling stations at Akwatia and also the burial of Doris Seidu, MP of Chereponi. Mr. Peter Mac Manu stressed out the fact that the current NPP constitution had seen many amendments in previous years, the latest being in 2006. The first amendment to the constitution of the party was done in 1998 and this led to the strengthening of the grassroot institutions across all 230 constituencies in the country. Peter Mac-Manu called for all members of the party, whether they supported or were against certain aspects of the proposed amendments to unite behind the party once a decision concerning the proposals has been taken. He cautioned against factionalism in the party and urged the perceived “Akufo-Addo and Alan factions” to desist from acts which will be injurious to the party in the near future. Commenting on the recently held re-run of elections at Akwatia, he commended the actions of the Chairman, constituency and polling station executives in aiding retain the seat for the NPP. Mr. Peter Mac-Manu condemned the violence that ensued in the constituency during the re-run and called on all leaders of the political parties in the country to ensure such acts are not repeated in subsequent elections. Source: peacefmonline

Kufuor opposes 'too many' changes in NPP constitution

National Organiser, Lord Commey; Ex-President J.A. Kufuor; Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman and Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor is not in favour of many of the proposals to amend the constitution of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), spokesperson Frank Agyekum has hinted. Mr Agyekum said the former president is against some of the key proposals because the NPP constitution needs enforcement and not amendment. The main opposition party goes to congress Saturday, August 22 with the amendment of several provisions of its constitution on top of the menu for consideration. Key among proposals circulated are a change of name to the National Patriotic Party (NPP), swelling the electoral college and limiting the number of its flagbearer aspirants to three. The constitutional amendments are the offshoot of a postmortem exercise by the party after its defeat in the cliffhanger 2008 elections and other preceding events. Some 17 big guns of the Dankwa-Busia fraternity filed to context the flagbearership of the party ahead of the December 2008 elections, a situation that was widely criticized by its members. Mr Agyekum, who was speaking to Joy News’ Evans Mensah, said the former president has serious reservations with the decision to expand the party’s electoral collage. “One of his (ex-president Kufuor’s) concerns is the expansion of the electoral college to elect party leaders, especially the presidential candidate,” Mr Agyekum said. “He believes that in opposition and the situation in which we are, we should tread cautiously and whatever amendments we bring should not be too drastic as to affect the current system.” He said the former president is also of the opinion that the cause of the party's defeat "is not because the system is not workable but it's because people abuse the system.” Healthy proposals A crowd of NPP supporters Mr Agyekum stressed it is the view of the ex-President that such proposed changes could expose the party to some “unforeseen dangers.” “We are beginning to tread some territory that we have not gone before and we don’t know how that is going to end. Meanwhile we are in the opposition, we want to come back to power in four years. Time is of the essence,” he stressed. Mr Agyekum also dismissed suggestions that the former president is influencing delegates with money to push through his position on the changes. “President Kufuor has not done any such thing,” he stated. Meanwhile, National Organiser of the NPP, Mr Lord Commey has described proposals for the amendment as healthy. The 1,490 accredited delegates of the NPP will be expected to vote for or against the over-40 proposed amendments. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana