General News of Wednesday, 23 March 2005

Source: GNA

Interior Minister Promises Tougher Actions

Accra, March 23, GNA - Papa Owusu Ankomah, Minister of the Interior, on Wednesday said the Security Agencies would continue to monitor Ghanaians in the exercise of their constitutional rights and those who fell foul of the law would be dealt with no matter their political status.
He said the Government respected due process, therefore, no one should think the Government was weak.
"Where action is necessary the Government will be resolute," he said at the Fourth People's Assembly held in Accra.
"We have cultural values, even a child knows we have to show respect to the elderly in society," he said.
Papa Owusu Ankomah was responding to a question on the Government's reaction to utterances and insults that were seen as holding the Presidency in contempt.
The Minister of the Interior said chiefs, opinion leaders and heads of religious institutions should condemn such acts and speak up when people, who should know better did not show respect for the Presidency. The People's Assembly, which would be replicated in all the 10 regions, was a novelty of President John Agyekum Kufuor to create an annual platform for a cross-section of the people to interact with members of the Executive to exchange views and ideas on the direction of government policies and programmes.
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Education and Sports, in answer to another question said with effect from July 1, the Inspectorate Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES) would be placed directly under the Ministry of Education for effective supervision in schools. He was reacting to an observation from a member of the audience that children in private schools appeared to be performing better academically than those in public schools.