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First and Second Transmissions for Sunday, May 4 2008
Begins at: =================== 1800 hours

Major Events Expected Include:

Koforidua: EC assure Ghanaians of meeting statutory obligation
Accra: President Kufuor to attend conference on MDGs in the UK

Attention Subscribers: Credit GNA with all stories used
End memo.
GNA
BDB
4 May 08


EXPO 01
Politics Assurance EC
EC assure Ghanaians of meeting statutory obligation

Koforidua, May 4, GNA - Ghanaians have been re-assured that the Electoral Commission (EC) is working around the clock to meet its statutory obligations of conducting the 2008 Election to avoid any constitutional crisis.
The postponement of the voters' registration exercise should not be misconstrued that the EC is incapable of carrying out the polls.
Mr David Kangah, a Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Finance and Administration, who gave the assurance, said despite the unfortunate deferment of the exercise, the EC was working hard to ensure free, fair and the most transparent elections.
He was speaking to representatives of political parties and media practitioners at Koforidua on Friday, as part of a special regional inter-party advisory committee forum on building stakeholders' confidence on the outcome of the 2008 polls.
It was organised by the EC in conjunction with the KAB Governance Consult and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Mr Kangah said the assertion by some people that the EC might not be able to conduct the December 7 polls on schedule was far-fetched.
He said the EC did not intend to create crisis since it was aware of the problems such a development might create for the country.
Mr Kangah asked Ghanaians to discard suspicions on the operations of the EC and said sufficient regulatory safeguards have been established to prevent manipulation of the elections.
He said the suspicion sometimes stemmed from the failure of political parties to avail their supporters of the rules governing the "game" and rather focused more on unsubstantiated rumours.
Mr Kwadwo Sarfo Kantanka, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, said Ghana's electoral system had integrity and thrived on consultations and deliberations.
He asked political parties to educate their members on election rules and the art of policing the electoral process.
Representatives of the political parties asked the EC to provide adequate logistics to electoral offices in the Regions.
They complained that during the recent card replacing exercise, some EC Districts Offices did not have functional vehicles and had to rely on the benevolence of other government agencies to carryout the exercise.
GNA
EAQ/CO
May 4 08

EXPO 02
Politics Kufuor Conference
President Kufuor attend to conference on MDGs in the UK

Accra, May 4, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor will leave Accra on Sunday for the United Kingdom to attend a conference on Public and Private Sector Cooperation for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an official statement has said.
The statement, signed by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President, said President Kufuor is expected to address the conference on the role of the Private Sector in meeting the MDGs.
It said the conference was intended to elicit the support of the private sector to achieve the MDGs in the wake of growing fears that many countries were unlikely to meet the 2015 target year.
Ghana and Rwanda, considered to be the best performers in Africa so far, are expected to share their experiences at the conference dubbed: "Business Call to Action," according to the statement.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will chair the conference, an initiative of the British Government.
GNA
KK
04 May 08

Attention Recipients: EXPO 02 ends our First and Second Casts
GNA