UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN News Briefs from Ghana, Togo, Benin [19991110]

IRIN News Briefs from Ghana, Togo, Benin [19991110]


WEST AFRICA: IRIN News Briefs from Ghana, Togo, Benin (Tuesday 9 November)

CONTENTS:

GHANA: Queen Elizabeth addresses parliament TOGO: Students march in Lome after ban lifted BENIN: Labour group relaunches strike

GHANA: Queen Elizabeth addresses parliament

Queen Elizabeth of Britain addressed parliament in Accra on Monday saying that the bonds between Ghana and the UK were stronger than ever, state radio reported.

She said Britain had invested more in Ghana than any other industrialised country and was also a partner in Ghana's development with bilateral assistance of some 40 million pounds sterling a year (US $65 million), state radio reported.

The Queen, who left Accra for South Africa on Tuesday, said Ghana had "embraced the concept of pluralism in its politics and the people of this country have been in the forefront of the renaissance in Africa of democratic values" state radio reported.

Presidential elections are due late next year and current head Jerry Rawlings - having reached the end of his second term - will not be standing for re-election.

TOGO: Students march in Lome after ban lifted

Teachers and students marched peacefully through the capital, Lome, on Monday to demand unpaid grants and wages, news organisations reported.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 protesters participated in the protest, initially banned by the government but later authorised by President Gnassingbe Eyadema, according to news reports. Riot police and other members of the security forces were deployed along the route.

The demonstrators also demanded repairs to university residences, the holding of delayed examinations and the resignation of the country's education minister, news organisations said.

BENIN: Labour group relaunches strike

A trade union umbrella relaunched on Tuesday a strike it had suspended on Thursday to press demands for the government to implement an agreement the two sides reached last week, AFP reported.

The Centrale des Organisations syndicales independantes (COSI) - whose members are mainly in the education, health and public works sectors - said the strike would last 72 hours but that it would extend it if civil servants' demands were not fully met.

On 4 November, COSI and another labour umbrella, the CSTB, had called on their members to end a nine-day strike saying their demands had been met, AFP said.

The government agreed in principle to pay salary arrears over six years and set up a joint commission to oversee salary, promotions and career advancement.

[ENDS]

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Item: irin-english-1942

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999

Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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