SIAKON MEDIA

Sunyani, Feb. 23, GNA - Mrs. Judith Fanny Kumah, National Project Coordinator, Project Citizen Ghana, said the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) was advocating for the re-introduction of civic education into the entire educational system.

She said the project was one of the NCCE's strategies to inculcate in students a sense of patriotism.

Mrs. Kumah was speaking at the opening of a four-day non-residential Project Citizen regional showcase for 14 schools made up of seven Junior High Schools(JHS) and seven Senior High Schools selected from within and around Sunyani.

The forum was under the theme: "Consolidating Democracy Through Youth Participation".

She said there was the need to empower the youth to take active part in the country's democratic processes because effective citizenship in democracy does not come by chance.

She appealed to Ghanaians to know the vision of the 1992 Constitution, structures of government as well as how government works.

Mr. Issah Abdulai, the Brong—Ahafo Regional Director, National Commission for Civic Education, appealed to the students to exercise their rights in a responsible manner.

He asked the students to obey rules and regulations in their schools and as adults pay their taxes.

Mr Abdulai said the accountability standards be raised high and young people must be involved in issues affecting them.

Mr. Michael Amponsah, Brong-Ahafo Deputy Director, NCCE, said the objective of the project was to empower students to participate in decision—making for the development of their communities by formulating their own policies and seeing to its implementation.

He said by so doing it would help them to become good citizens to consolidate its democracy, adding there's the need for effective youth participation in the democratic process.

GNA

Accra, April 12, GNA - The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) in conjunction with other stakeholders, has organised a headcount of all staff in the Public Education Sector to weed out "ghost names".

The other stakeholders in the exercise are the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD), the Audit Service and the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS).

A statement in Accra from the Ministry copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the census covered some 282,889 staff, out of which 265,643 (94 per cent) were at post.

A total of 13,724 (five per cent) were classified as "not at post", and 3,522 (one per cent) as "not stated".

The statement said of the 13,724 staff classified as "not at post", 2,383 (17 per cent) were classified as "potential ghosts" and the remaining 11,341 (83 per cent) classified as "verifiable potential ghosts".

The "potential ghosts" are those considered to be "ghost" workers before verification tests are conducted, whilst "verifiable potential ghost" are those who will be declared "ghosts" on the outcome of a verification test.

The statement said of the 2,383 potential ghosts, 1,716 (72 per cent) drew their salaries from the Mechanised Payroll (IPPD/Subvention) with the remaining 667 (28 per cent) drawing salaries from other sources of payment such as the Internally Generated Fund (IGF), National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), and the District Assemblies (DAs).

"The government has decided to suspend salary payments to all "not at post" staff classified as "potential ghosts", with immediate effect, until there is enough evidence for their reinstatement", the statement declared.

Staff whose salaries are temporarily suspended are requested to prove their existence for a possible reinstatement, the it said, adding it should be noted that facility managers of the institutions enumerated provided the list of staff who were not at post during the headcount and the reasons for not being at post.

It asked affected staff who had genuine reasons to warrant reinstatement of their names on the payroll to provide documentation on or before the end of June, 2010 to the "Verification Committee" through the Office of the Director, Economic Planning Division, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for verification.

The documents are a copy of first appointment letter to the service (a conversion letter should be provided, where applicable); latest promotion letter, if applicable; a copy of the latest pay slip; a note certified by the respective facility manager about the existence of the staff; a proof of the reasons assigned for not being at post during the census; valid ID card (e.g. Voter's ID, Passport, Driving License); and any other relevant document.

The statement said the affected persons will be considered "ghosts" and their names deleted from the payroll permanently if no response was received by the deadline date, adding the Auditor General had been requested to initiate investigations into how the 2,383 "potential ghost" staff got onto the payroll and recommend appropriate sanctions to be meted out to any culprits.

It said facility managers who connive with illegitimate staff to provide false documentation will face the full rigours of the law.

GNA

Koforidua, March 15, GNA - The Eastern Regional Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Bismark Tawiah Boateng, has appealed to functionaries of the party to project the activities of the government and not to criticize.

He has therefore appealed to Regional Ministers, District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives to establish effective communication channels with the party to enable members to know what programmes the government is implementing.

Mr Boateng was speaking at a one-day workshop for branch organizers of the party in the New Juaben North and New Juaben South constituency branches of the NDC in Koforidua on Friday.

He called on members of the party with problems to use the structures of the party to resolve them and urged them to send their grievances to the regional secretariat if they could not resolve them at their branches and constituencies.

Mr Boateng briefed the participants about projects that had been initiated by the government since assumption of office and advised members of the party to take advantage of programmes initiated by the government to create employment.

Mr Owusu Boahen Koduro, the New Juaben Municipal Coordinator of the party, who chaired the function called for unity among members of the party at the branches to enable them to implement all their programmes.

GNA