PRESIDENT KUFUOR VISITS ASHANTI REGION

President Kufuor has advised farmers, especially those engaged in cocoa cultivation to save their money with the banks for protection against fire, theft and possible destruction by termites.

The President gave the advice when he visited Mrs. Victoria Tordzo, a cocoa farmer at Tankoase No. 2 after addressing a durbar in his honour at Tankoase near Edubiase, in the Ashanti Region as part of his six-day tour of the region.

He commended cocoa farmers for their hard work and urged them to take full advantage of the current cocoa price to improve their living standards.

Mrs. Tordzo thanked President Kufuor and his government for his visit, ensuring a good price for cocoa and spraying their farms, which has encouraged them to expand their farms to earn more money. She said, she had been able to re-roof her house with aluminuim sheets and was now in a position to pay her son?s school fees at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi to read medicine.

President Kufuor also addressed durbars in his honour at Tepa, Mpasaso, Mankranso, Barekese, Afrancho, Boaman, Kodie, and Offinso.

PRESIDENT APPOINTS COMMITTEE TO DETERMINE EMOLUMENTS

President Kufuor, in accordance with Article 71 of the constitution, has appointed a committee to determine the emoluments of office holders falling under the said article, as well as the emoluments of all other members of the public service.

According to a press release issued and signed by Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Chief of Staff, the committee has Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse as the chairperson and Messrs Alex Ashiagbor, Fred Oware and Andani Alhassan as members.

VICE PRESIDENT INAUGURATES MULTI-PURPOSE HOSTEL

The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, on Saturday inaugurated a ?5.9 billion hostel for the Methodist University College in Accra.

The 400-capacity, four-storey hostel was the initiative of the Lay Movement of the church.

Speaking at the inauguration and dedication of the hostel, Alhaji Mahama said the government would provide each of the nine accredited private institutions, as well as the Ghana Institute of Journalism and the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) with a bus to help meet their transport needs.

The gesture is also in recognition of the invaluable role of private tertiary institutions in helping to develop the country?s manpower.

The Vice President noted that the government?s directive to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) to team up to propose amendments to the GETFUND Law to accommodate the needs of private institutions was borne out of the desire to help them out of their difficulties.

The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Conference, the Most Rev. Robert Aboagye Mensah, said the completion of the edifice, through the collective efforts of the members demonstrated that nothing was impossible for the church.

SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER TO VISIT GHANA

The South African Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nkosazoma Dlamini Zuma, will arrive in Ghana tomorrow for a four-day visit as part of a five-nation West African tour.

She will be met on arrival by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nana Akufo-Addo, and later call on President Kufuor.

A release from the Foreign Ministry said, ?The two foreign ministers are expected to discuss economic and political developments of natural concern, including events in the ECOWAS community, with special reference to Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d? Ivoire, and in the wider West African context, events in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo?.

It said, Dr. Zuma will also sign agreements on the creation of a joint commission for co-operation, avoidance of double taxation, and cultural co-operation.

400 GHANAIAN COMPANIES LIST WITH ETLS

The General Manager of the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), Mr. K. Adu-Mensah, has announced that 400 Ghanaian companies have been certified into the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

Speaking at a one-day seminar on the application and utilisation of the ETLS, organised by the GEPC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, Mr. Adu-Mensah said that with the certification, the companies could sell, duty free and quota free to all the ECOWAS countries.

The ETLS, according to a statement issued to the press, helps to reduce to zero import duties and taxes of businesses which trade in goods that originate from ECOWAS members.

He said that the GEPC had undertaken market survey on six ghanaian products to help companies have market access in four countries namely Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali and Nigeria, adding that the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) had held successful exhibitions to market ?Made in Ghana Goods? in those countries.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION FIXES DEADLINE FOR TRANSFER OF VOTES

The Electoral Commission (EC) has fixed Monday, November 15, 2004, as the deadline for the application of transfer of votes, proxy voting, special voting and replacement of lost voter?s identity card.

Such applications must be delivered to the appropriate returning officer or the district officer of the commission.

A statement issued by the EC and signed by the Director of Elections, Mr. Albert K. Arhin, said applicants who wanted to transfer their votes should have lived in the new constituency for at least two months to qualify for the transfer of their votes.

It said the commission had also made December 4, 2004 a special voting day.

?Any voter who, because of his or her duties on polling day will not be able to be present at the polling station where he or she is registered, may apply to the returning officer of his or her constituency to be considered as a special voter.

Such applications must be accompanied by a certificate from the applicant?s superior officer certifying the eligibility of the applicant as special voter? it said.

SPORTS KOTOKO LOSE 2 ? 1 IN ENUGU

Kumasi Asante Kotoko last Saturday lost 2 ? 1 to Enugu Rangers of Nigeria in a Group A encounter in the Confederation Cup.

HEARTS BEAT SANTOS

In another development, Accra Hearts of Oak beat Santos of South Africa 1 ? 0 in a Group B match played in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday.