The Independent
The Independent writes on its front what it describes as the inside story about the demolition by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly of a 65-room Ultra-modern hotel at the Airport Residential Area in Accra on Monday, April 22. The story headlined: Demolition of $3 million ultra-modern hotel…AMA’s madness…The inside story, says a shocked nation rose in the early hours of the ‘Black Monday’ to find a three million-dollar ultra-modern hotel, which adds to the beauty of Accra’s skyline in this unofficial hotel district of the capital, being demolished by the army and other para-military units. The Independent says for obvious reasons, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), put up a defence, which suggested that it was solely responsible for the ‘callous’ act. The paper quotes the AMA Chief Executive, Mr Samuel Addokwei-Addo as saying his outfit had no option but to pulled down the hotel whose owner, one Alhaji Yusif, had defied persistent warnings not to construct the building in the flood-prone area. However, the Independent says the AMA Chief’s stance had since been derided by the Ghanaian media which uncovered that the order for the demolition came from the seat of government – the Castle. According to the paper, Mr Addokwei-Addo was further betrayed by President Jerry Rawlings himself when he tried rather vaguely, to justify the ‘ominous crime’ during a tour of the Brong Ahafo Region.
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"Building without permit…AMA is guilty", says the Guide in a front page lead headline story. The paper says the beleaguered Accra Metropolitan Assembly, which is on a mad spree of demolition in the city of Accra, is itself guilty of the laws it wants to enforce. The Guide quotes Mr Kwamena Bartels, NPP Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central as disclosing on a "Joy FM" programme, the ‘Front Page’, that the AMA is rehabilitating and expanding its offices at the headquarters without permit. Mr Bartels is also reported as saying that the City Engineer’s office at the open spaces near the Novotel Hotel in Accra, is also without permit and is therefore an unauthorised structure. The Independent says these disclosures make the AMA itself guilty of the very ‘sins’ it is trying to purge the society of. Mr Bartels is reported as saying that the AMA is not doing itself any good by running away from public queries and denying the people answers to some questions that are being raised regarding the demolition exercise. He is said to have expressed fears that the Assembly may be made to pay punitive penalties in future if the right things are not done.
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"The quest for forgiveness and national reconciliation…NPP chairman slams NCCE…’Their proposed forum is a sham from a discredited body’!", is the screamer on the front page of the Crusading Guide. According to the paper, unless the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) moves very fast to inspire confidence in some political stakeholders in Ghana, the Commission’s proposed forum on forgiveness and national reconciliation, will surely prove to be a mirage. The Crusading Guide says a sampling of the opinions of certain major political stakeholders on the proposed forum shows a high degree of skepticism about and near rejection of the idea. The paper says while some panelists and resources persons on a "Groove FM" news analysis programme, ‘Hotline’, last Thursday, expressed surprise that the NCCE could have publicly announced its intention to organise a forum of that ‘crucial nature’ without first consulting other stakeholdrers, others questioned the very credibility and constitutional authority of the Commission to convene such a forum.
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In another front page story captioned: "Nkrumaists in NDC under fire!", the Crusading Guide reports Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr., Deputy General Secretary of the Convention Party (CP) as describing Nkrumaists who have defected to the NDC, as ‘’rudderless opportunists who are only concerned with their personal prosperity". "Their Nkrumaist pretensions are nothing more than coupons to the soup kitchen. They are neither principled nor sincere. They are engaged in an exercise in self-deception and the earlier they realised that the whole world sees through their fraudulent antics, the better it will be for all of us", he isquoted as saying. Mr Pratt was speaking to the Crusading Guide on the significance of the 27th anniversary of the death of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. He told the paper that "the 27th of April is one of the most important days on the nation’s political calendar because it provides an opportunity for the re-dedicating ourselves to the vision and ideals of the Osagyefo".
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"Ashanti NPP crisis meeting boycotted", says the Palaver in a front page banner headline story. The paper says an Ashanti NPP crisis meeting organised at the instance of Mr Kwame Osei Mensah, Chairman of the NPP Manhyia constituency, could not come on because top ‘gurus’ of the party in the region boycotted the meeting. The Palaver says the meeting, initially slated to take place at Nurom Hotel at Suame, a suburb of Kumasi, was shifted to Mr Mensah’s office at the African Bungalows, when word reached him that almost all the targeted factions, who create confusion in the regional party, have refused to participate in the meeting. According to Palaver, sources close to Mr Mensah, the said crisis meeting was a to patch up all differences among the splinter groups in the party, discuss strategies to embark on effective fund-raising rallies and adopt measures to ensure the steady organisation of the party in Ashanti. The Paper says Mr Mensah has written to the NPP headquarters in Accra to rush down some delegates to settle all impasse in the Ashanti NPP before tension escalates to create problems for the party in the next general elections.
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In a lead story headlined: "AMA boss builds on wrong site", the Statesman says a private residence of Mr Samuel Addokwei-Addo, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, at Ashongman Estates in Accra, has been found to be on an unapproved site. The paper says the house is so dangerously situated that it has been the venue for more than 12 motor accidents in 12 months, some of them fatal. It quotes Town and Country Planning sources, the road should normally have passed through the site where Mr Addokwei-Addo has his building. According to the Statesman, to prevent his building from being run into by more vehicles, the AMA boss has erected fortified concrete barricades in front of the wall, thus making more encroachment on the already bad situation. The paper recalls that one such accident which occurred on January 18, this year, resulted in the death of a five-year-old girl, Marian Kpodo, a class one pupil of Atomic Hill Demonstration School. Her mother, Lucy Kpodo, is said to have suffered a compound fracture
on her hand and thigh and was released from the Orthopaedic Ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital on Good Friday, April 2, this year. The Statesman says the woman’s sister, Juliana Grant, who was driving the vehicle on which they were travelling, is still on admission at Korle-Bu, while two other passengers on the vehicle were treated and discharged.
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Both papers carry stories on the enstoolment yesterday of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as Asantehene and 16th occupant of the Golden Stool. While the Graphic has a picture of Otumfuo Osei Tutu resplendent in the "Batakari Kese" and riding majestically in a palanquin through the principal streets of Kumasi during his installation ceremony, the Times also has the Asantehene riding in a palanquin but wearing an "Adinkra" cloth, with clasped hands acknowledging cheers from the teeming crowd, on his arrival at "Pampaso" in Kumasi for the rites of ascension. In its account headlined: "The King rides home …In pomp and majesty, the Graphic says Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital was thrown into a state of ecstasy yesterday, as public ceremonies and traditional rites for the enstoolment of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as Asantehene, reached their climax. The Times reports that yesterday was the day and the event, the grand coronation of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the new Asantehene, the 19th King of Asante and the 16th on the Golden Stool. The paper says Otumfuo Osei Tutu succeeds the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, who passed away last February 25, at the age of 80 and recorded a 29-year rule. The Graphic says Otumfuo Osei Tutu, dressed in his Batakari Kese, a symbol of his ability to command and lead the Asante nation, riding in a palanquin, entered the Kumasi Sports Stadium at exactly 4 p.m., led by a long retinue of chiefs. It says the euphoria which greeted the new king when he entered the stadium to perform the final rites leading to his installation, was very spectacular. The Times on its part, says a minute of ecstasy and tension seemed to have gripped every person. Expectations were great and anxiety sky-rocketed as the day finally dawned. The paper says this was quite understandable because, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, known in private life as Barima Kwaku Dua, 48, a busisness executive and son of the Asantehemaa, Nana Afus Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, had since March 29, been going through preliminary enstoolment rites. It says yesterday had been carefully chosen and planned to mark the performance of the final and concluding rites signifying his installation.
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