Arrest of Selormey at KIA – BNI to clear the air
‘State enterprises can succeed if…’
Dramatic fallout from the Selormey saga – ‘We will arrest Amidu’
Kufuor’s 100 days of trials and tribulations
Omanhene punishes farmers
New Student’s Loan Scheme in the offing
Ghana army in fresh change?
Kweku Baah Threatens Legal Action Against Craig Murrey
Ecobank Ghana Increases Pre-tax Profit by 163% in 2000
Arrest of Selormey at KIA – BNI to clear the air
State paper, the Daily Graphic says it has now been established that the arrest of Mr Victor Selormey, former Deputy Finance Minister, at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on Sunday night, which caused a furore, had nothing to do with his alleged involvement in the much-publicised Exim Bank case.
A source to the security services told the paper on Monday that Mr Selormey’s arrest was in connection with a $1 million dollar case under investigation as well as a series of others.
According to the state daily, Mr Selormey has since been granted bail by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) after interrogation and a written statement had been taken from him. He was detained overnight.
According to the source, the nearly $1 million is said to have been paid to one Dr Boadu in the United States for consultancy services under the court Computerisation Project.
The source said there are no documents on record detailing the sort of consultancy services provided by Dr Boadu, who has also been invited for questioning but nothing has been heard from him.
The source said the BNI, which is investigating the case, is expected to issue a comprehensive statement today to outline details of the cases for which Mr Selormey is being investigated.
It therefore emphasised that the interrogation did not necessarily centre on the much-publicised Exim Bank case for which the police sought Mr Selormey’s assistance and which some sections of the media and public would want the nation to believe.
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‘State enterprises can succeed if…’
Wing Commander Andy Mensah (rtd), former Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation (GCAA), has stated that state enterprises have a lot of capacity to become viable business entities given the right support, good management techniques and a change of attitude to work.
He said the experiences that GCAA has acquired over the last 12 years, in its effort to transform itself into a profitable entity, is a pointer to the determination of a state enterprise to contribute meaningfully towards the development of the country.
In an interview with the Graphic, Wing Cdr Mensah said part of what is required to make state enterprises work is a change in attitude and the approach of workers and management to work.
He said during his leadership, the aviation authority achieved positive results because of good teamwork, cooperation between management and workers, good work ethics and high level of discipline.
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Dramatic fallout from the Selormey saga – ‘We will arrest Amidu’
Dr Amoako Tuffuor, an advisor to President J.A. Kufuor, has disclosed that Mr Alamise Martin Amidu, former Deputy Attorney-General, will soon be arrested for him to justify what has been described as his subversive declarations, reports ‘The Chronicle’.
“Amidu has a bad motive and at the appropriate time he will be called upon to explain his statements”, the independent said.
Mr Amidu, who was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the last December elections had said in an interview with some Accra FM stations on the arrest of Mr Victor Selormey that the NDC has 43 per cent of Ghanaians supporting them and that they can organise their numbers to move against the NPP government.
“If we wanted, we could have moved the population there: if we tell the population to move they will move to stop this government.” Amidu had said in a belligerent mood on Joy FM, an Accra private radio.
There was a fracas between security officers and NDC functionaries at the VIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport over the arrest of Selormey by agents of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). Selormey, who had then arrived from London was finally whisked away to spend the whole night at the BNI headquarters. He was later released on bail.
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Kufuor’s 100 days of trials and tribulations
The Statesman, says President John Agyekum Kufuor’s first 100 days in office can be described as a mosaic of hard, pragmatic choices, bitter relationships, some blunders and some amount of arrogance and boldness.
The private paper says the messy and frightening scenario prevailing at the time that President Kufuor took over from the NDCs Rawlings and his ability to contain all the contradictions and confusions within the period of 100 days is worth an appraisal.
Delivering his first Sessional Address to Parliament on February 15, President Kufuor attempted, at great pains, to draw a précis of what had been bequeathed to him and his government.
The President was initially overwhelmed by everything that confronted him, as was every other member of his government. The directions and alternatives were not immediately clear. A debt of 41 trillion cedis stood menacingly like a monolith over the government. The previous administration had turned business into a roast fillet for its members to gorge on. Within the space of 100 days tons of evidence of corruption, embezzled and malfeasance by the previous government has been uncovered.
The paper recalls the joining of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), the all-inclusive intentions for appointing Dr Kwesi Nduom and Malam Yusif Isa and the consequent sacking of the Malam over the $46,000 scandal.
Statesman says although the President has admitted to the daunting nature of the problems facing his administration, he has vowed to tackle them aggressively.
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Omanhene punishes farmers
Some settler farmers in five communities in the Wenchi District of Brong Ahafo are said to be facing ejection and other forms of harassment by the Omanhene of Wenchi Osagyefo Ampem Abrefa Mbore Bediatuo, for political reasons.
Following the issuing of the orders, which have led to tension among the people, Alhaji Muchtar Bamba, Member of Parliament for Wenchi East last Tuesday led some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Executives to some of the affected communities.
The areas visited included Ayigbe, Buoku, Ahwene, Wenchi Tainso and Nyinamponase, where tensions are said to be high.
Alhaji Bamba, who is the Deputy Minister designate for Presidential Affairs, told the Ghana News Agency at Wenchi that some of the farmers, who had settled in the area for more than 70 years, were being unjustifiably asked to leave their farmlands to be re-allocated.
He said that the farmers had earlier told him that during the 2000 electioneering campaigns, Nana Bediatuo visited the areas and warned the people that they would be ejected from their farmlands if they voted for the NPP.
The MP said that farmers, who are being harassed by the Omanhene, using the name of the Wenchi Traditional Council, are known NPP supporters and sympathizers.
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New Student’s Loan Scheme in the offing
A new Student’s Loan Scheme, to replace the current one operated by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), will become operational this year.
To that end a five-member committee comprising officials of SSNIT and the Ministry of Education, would soon be established to work out modalities for the operation of the new scheme, the Minister of Education, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, disclosed at a meeting with the acting Director-General of SSNIT, Mr E.N. Adjei, and other officials of the Ministry and SSNIT, in Accra.
He said the new scheme would be independently operated by an organisation with the requisite experience and expertise.
According to the Minister, government would provide the seed money through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) for the take-off of the new scheme.
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Ghana army in fresh change?
“All this because of one election,” someone remarked about the many changes taking place in the country since the New Patriotic Party sent the National Democratic Congress to the canvas on December 28. But of all the changes, (positive or otherwise), it is the new positive image Ghana Army is putting forward that has got a number of people to look at the institution all over.
According to the Public Agenda, the life of this country since birth has been so influenced by the Army that the institution has at times been taken as the other important half of the population. It is either army rule or civilian rule.
In time, the army assumed a lot of characteristics in peoples’ eyes. “These people don’t talk law”, “don’t go near them if you don’t want trouble,” “army sweet”, “they don’t do anything,” “don’t toy with them if you don’t want to be beaten for free (or worse if you don’t want a coup”, these are among the numerous associations, the army acquired in popular talk in addition to occasionally being praised for turning out smartly for martial parades.
The independent weekly says with all these assumptions, many people could not believe their eyes and ears when they saw and heard the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) openly apologise to the Police Service and the public for the assault on policemen and women of the Osu Police Station.
As far as recent memory goes, this was a first in twenty years.
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Kweku Baah Threatens Legal Action Against Craig Murrey
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has threatened to file a suit against the Deputy British High Commissioner, Mr Craig Murray for an alleged libel and malicious falsehood against the party, reports the Ghana Palaver.
Mr Kwaku Baah, a National Vice Chairman of the party, issued the threat at Nkawkaw on Thursday, in a reaction to a publication in an Accra daily on the same day, captioned “Envoy explains why donors abandoned Volta Region”.
According to the story, the envoy said “donors shied away from the Volta Region under the previous government to avoid being labelled as favouring the region because of its affiliation to the government”.
Mr Murray was reported to have made the alleged statement during a courtesy call on the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Owusu Yeboah, last Tuesday at Ho.
Mr Baah, who is also the Chairman of the Legal Committee of the party, said that in spite of the diplomatic immunity of the envoy, the party would issue a writ for libel and malicious falsehood against him “at the appropriate time”.
Describing the statement as unfortunate, Mr Baah said it was not the first time Mr Murray had made uncomplimentary remarks about the NDC, saying; “it is unbecoming of a diplomat”, quotes the NDC mouth piece.
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Ecobank Ghana Increases Pre-tax Profit by 163% in 2000
The High Street Journal says Ecobank Ghana retained its position as clearly the biggest bank in the country, on the book of a pre-tax profit of 69.578 billion cedis for the 2000 financial year.
According to the business paper, this represents a huge 163.6% increase over the 26.391 billion cedis in pre-tax profits that the bank made in 1999. Profit after tax for 2000 was 42.581 billion cedis, up from the previous year’s 19.272 billion cedis.
Ecobank Ghana’s strong performance was achieved on heavy growth across all of its income sources. Net interest income remained the biggest contributor to total net income, providing 60.038 billion cedis up 119% on the 27.413 billion cedis derived from fund based activities in 1999.
Fee, commission and forex related income grew even faster to reach 53.441 billion, up 173.6% on the 19.53 billion cedis earned through this in 1999. Altogether, total net income hit 113.626 billion cedis in 2000, up 141.5% over the 47.042 billion cedis made in the previous year.
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