By Isaac Aidoo Government has directed that with effect from September 2 this year all textile imports  into the country should be done through only three approved routes: the Kotoka  International Airport (KIA), and the Takoradi and Tema ports.  All importers of African prints were also directed to declare and make known to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) ports of entry of any consignments prior to importation. These directives were issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu,  when he inaugurated a task force on seizure and disposal of pirated Ghanaian textile  designs and a vetting committee on the importation of African textile prints in Accra  yesterday. The task force is a re-constituted one with new representation from the Ghana Union of  Traders (GUTA), the National Security Council and the Ghana National Chamber of  Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) The objective of the task force is to curb the menace of illegal importation of printed  Ghanaian textile prints and to ensure that importers who engage in the nefarious activities are brought to book. “The mandate of the vetting committee as inaugurated today is to ensure that there is  zero tolerance for illegal importation of printed pirated Ghanaian textiles,” the minister  said. The minister further directed all importers of African prints to register with the RegistrarGeneral’s Department, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) and submit monthly  returns on their imports of African prints. “All importers of African prints shall register with the Ghana Standards Authority and shall present samples of the African prints to be imported to the authority for pattern  approval,” the minister directed. “Imported African prints shall with immediate effect be regarded as high-risk goods and  shall be subjected to 100% physical examination to be jointly conducted by officers from  the Customs Excise and Preventive service (CEPS) and the Ghana Standards Authority  (GSA),” Mr Iddrisu stated. Mr Iddrisu reminded members of the committee of provisions under the World Trade  Organisation Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), where  governments had the obligation to take special border measures to prevent the piracy of  goods. “The TRIPS agreement mandates governments not to allow infringed goods to enter the  channel of commerce and also not to allow the re-exportation of such goods,” he added. The sector minister disclosed that the training programmes had been organised in  Takoradi, Ho, Accra and Tamale to equip staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA),  customs division, to differentiate between pirated and genuine textiles.“In addition the task force has embarked on sensitisation of traders and the general public on the effects of the nefarious activities of traders who smuggle African textile prints into  Ghana,” he added.

By Gloria Kyeremeh The respondents in the ongoing election petition have filed their affidavits in 

  From David Owusu-Antwi, Kumasi Frequent invasion of the Metropolitan Assembly (MA) Basic School premises in  Kaase by madmen and cattle is making academic life in the school very difficult.

By George Koomson The ghost of the wild overshooting of the 2012 budget by the National Democratic  Congress (NDC) government has wasted no time in coming back to haunt President John Dramani Mahama’s government, yet to complete its first six months in office. Monday’s violent demonstration at Ashaiman over repeated promises to fix the  municipality’s roads was the latest and the most dramatic of paybacks for the NDC  government for proverbially eating the goose that laid the golden egg. Or to paraphrase the President, for consuming the meat till only the bone is left.  Right from the moment it took office, the government has been confronted with  demands by teachers, doctors and contractors, which have been carried over from  the previous year or years. But fresh demands have also come from party foot soldiers who say promises of  jobs and small contracts have not been forthcoming. This picture of scarcity contrasts sharply with the electioneering era of plenty,  characterised by free laptops, supply of mini saloon cars, huge billboards, and  multiple advertisements. The connection between the few months of plenty and the current difficulty of  government in meeting pressing social and economic demands has been hinted at  by some; but what has been accepted officially is that there was huge overexpenditure by some government ministries and agencies in the few months to the  elections. Accounts of pro-government groups taking cash from state agencies under the  guise of fund raising come close to offering some explanation, but the full story is  yet to be told. What is not in doubt is the fact that the level of deficit carried over from last year  has substantially reduced the government’s financial space as it managed to  overspend the 2012 budget, whose threshold had already been raised by a  supplementary budget approved only in July 2012, by a record GH₵8.7 billion. As a demonstration of the government’s difficulties in meeting its expenditure, the  case of the Ashaiman roads presents an interesting case study. This is a road that has witnessed a lot of rhetoric but little action.  The people of Ashaiman have regularly been promised that the road would be done. The then Minister of Roads and Highways, Joseph Kingsford Gidisu and the MP for  Ashaiman, Alfred Kwame Agbesia had jointly mounted the platform more than once  to assure the people that the road would be fixed before last December. Indeed, last July, Mr Gidisu terminated the contract of Lomex Construction, the  contractor who was working on the road.Mr Gidisu based his termination of the Lomex contract on what he described as  “ineffectiveness and non-performance” on the part of Lomex. A new company, Legna Construction Limited, was then contracted to construct the  5.7-kilometre Ashaiman Timber Market Roundabout-Adjei-Kojo underpass dual  carriage road. However, by October last year Legna Engineering was already demanding arrears  for work it had earlier done in Tema.