6 ACP Summit--Day Two: Raw Deal for the Press

I got into town to the Accra Conference Centre on a day after the public holiday to heavy traffic, coupled with the cacophonous noises of siren ushering commuters and motorists alike to move way for the oh-so-important delegates (comprising mostly ambassadors) to head to the AICC on a day that will see the joint meeting of ACP Council of Ministers along with the ACP Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Yet again, the meeting is late.

If we forget the fact that the Press were politely asked to wait for delegates to get a bag before they could come for one, or the fact that local press is not factored into the free lunch, or even coffee break, we could simply sigh a huge one and get on with our business.

But there is more: the press is not getting the documents from the ACP press person Robert Irago (somehow, since yesterday, he has not been able to coordinate the distribution of material for them!) as expected. The ushers are unable to give us the documents we need to be able to read between the lines for the necessary reporting we need to do. Is it any wonder the Ghanaian press sometimes behave so mediocre?

Here is yours truly who is profoundly interested in what he is here for, but starved off information to do my job! Who can blame me when a neglectful minister or ambassador not here on time comes to his seat to find no documents:-) At least, some of us will put it to good use!

Speaking of which, I have the following documents here as I type this in the plenary hall, which regrettably has no wireless!! They are: [<i>le reunion va demarrer dans cinq minutes</i>] * DRAFT ELEMENTS OF THE ACCRA DECLARATION; *CONTRIBUTION OF THE ACP CIVIL SOCIETY TO THE 6TH SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT IN ACCRA (GHANA); *Draft agenda of the joint meeting of the acp council of ministers of foreign affairs to be held on Wednesday 1 October 2008 from 9.30 to 13.00 in Accra, Ghana.; *report from the council of ministers to the 6th acp summit of heads of state and government on the implementation of decisions of previous summits and important developments relevant to the acp group.

It is now some 29 minutes after 10. All sorts of people are standing up smiling to people both fake and genuine smiles. You know here that the laptops that are open are for serious business as the wireless is not set up in the building (unlike at UNCTAD XII in April).
Be-spectacled delegates of the slim,thin, fat, and pot-bellied type move around at all sorts of paces. The head table where the ACP SG and Assistant SG are seated are empty, with no signs of where they could be. The five minutes asked for is long-past, and it remains unclear when we are starting. Just overheard a member of the Ghanaian press sitting behind me that "they will hand over the chairmanship of the ACP to Ghana..." Unsure what that is about.

We live in hope--and plenty of it!

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As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra:Load-Shedding Resumes in Style; When Residents Run to the Media

Get video codes at Bolt. This video was taken on 16 March, reminding us of the cherished rain that the nation had so waited for for aeons. It was finally here--as was the resumption of load-shedding.

Now, since last Wednesday 28 March, the load management programme has resumed ingrand style, with the lights going off 12 hours every other day--either during the day or night. This morning, parts of Accra woke up to lifeless houses, prompting many to reach for their battery-operated radios...till 6pm, when electricity resumes. Come Sunday, the same parts of Accra will be lifeless--except this time from the evening towards the night!

This morning, there was now contemplation that for businesses, there ought to be a review. Given that the incumbent NPP likes to talk about private sector being the motor for development and all that, small wonder.
Truth be told, the Daily Graphic carried the story that the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) were the ones that called for this new review as a way of stimulating productivity. They argued for the lights to go off during the evening, and not during the day, as it kills productivity and has the serious potential of laying off jobs.

Fair point, in my view, as during the evening is when more electricity is consumed.

Community Advocacy
Meanwhile, last week Saturday, residents of Manetville, off the Spintex Road, called a Press conference to convey their grievances, as it were, to the court of public opinion that has had no clue of the execrable service delivery that has been delivered by Manetville.

Now the reason why this press conference is particularly significant is because it is coming a good SIX years after the first one that yielded little results, coupled with the more important point that all efforts by residents are now in place to launch what is, in effect, a media war against the estate developer that is Manet.

The residents have developed a blog (http://manetvillespintexroadwatch.blogspot.com/), which paints a very stark contrast of what the developer has delivered on its numerous Estates (Manet Palms, Manet Gardens;etc). You might be surprised to know that one of Ghana's most-visited websites GhanaWeb attracted some 54-odd comments from the article written by Ghana News Agency.

Suffice-to-say, as long as there is life, the fight for a better life continues in earnest!