Attorney General orders trial of ex-Sports Minister
Minister of Energy calls for change of
attitude to work
Defence Ministry gets 300 vehicles from UN
Ghanaians want the abolition of "cash
and carry"
Dan Lartey suggests alternative to HIPC
IGP warns against warning shots
VRA fails in attempt to lift new turbine from harbour
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
Nana Akufo-Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice on Friday instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to prefer charges of stealing against Mallam Yusif Isa, the dismissed Sports Minister.
"I have considered the report and have asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to put the ex-Minister before court."
Nana Akufo-Addo told the Ghana News Agency that after going through the police committee's report his office has found a prima facie case against Mallam Isa, who will have to stand trial.
Commenting on the committee's recommendations, he explained that the police could not direct that people should be put on trial. It is the A-G's office that decides.
He, however, expressed concern about how the report was leaked to the Daily Graphic, saying, "This is something we are treating as a confidential document till the A-G's office has studied and come out with its recommendation."
He said the leakage would be investigated since there were only a handful of persons, who had access to it.
Mallam Isa was sacked by the President when 46,000 dollars entrusted into his care to be paid as bonuses to the senior national team during a world cup qualifying match in Sudan got missing under mysterious circumstances.
Mr. Ernest Owusu-Poku, Acting Inspector General of Police set up a three-man committee chaired by Mr. Sam Awotwi, Head of Legal and Prosecutions Department of the Police Service to investigate the loss.
Among other things, the committee found that Mallam Isa was rather casual about the loss and did not tell Mr Kojo Bonsu and the GFA officials in Khartoum about the amount of money missing or details of the other items allegedly stolen.
It also found that the 46,000 dollars was not kept in the suitcase and the suitcase was not forcibly opened as its security combination lock was functionally perfect.
The report said it was not possible to pull any of the items allegedly stolen from the suitcase through the small hole as a result of the damage to one of the wheels under the suitcase. The items included the 46,000 dollars in a brown envelope, 2,500 dollars, two rings, two wristwatches, one complete Agbada, a Kente cloth and an auditor's report.
The lining inside the suitcase, which must necessarily be destroyed for anything to be taken out through the hole, was intact.
The committee, therefore, recommended that the ex-minister should be held personally responsible for and made to refund the missing money.
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Minister of Energy calls for change of
attitude to work
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
The Minister of Energy, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, on Thursday called on the management and staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to change their attitude to work in order to provide improved services.
The customer should not be made to pay for their waste and inefficiency, which has over the years created a lot of dissatisfaction and complaints over the services provided, Mr Kan-Dapaah said when he interacted with management and workers of the ECG in Accra.
There is the need for an increase in tariff to reflect the economic cost of providing the service, he said adding however that certain negative acts by some workers such as diversion of job materials, deals by meter readers and laxity have undermined the efficient running of the company.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said, "service should be commensurate with the expected tariffs" and called on management to take action to ensure that the wrongs of the past are discontinued.
Unless fair tariffs were paid, the ECG could not provide efficient services, the minister said and called on the workers to assist him in his efforts to make ECG self-sustaining. "We have every opportunity to do that, we should not wait for any foreign body to come over to do that for us."
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Defence Ministry gets 300 vehicles from UN
Tamale (Northern Region) 21 April 20001
The Ministry of Defence has acquired more than 300 vehicles from the United Nations Interim Force in the Lebanon (UNIFIL) for the various units of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
In addition, Italy has promised to assist the GAF with troops carrying vehicles to facilitate the movement of soldiers in any eventuality.
The Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor announced this when he visited the Ghanaian troops participating in a multinational peace keeping exercise at Yendi on Thursday.
The exercise, code-named Cohesion Kozah, has brought together soldiers from nine West African countries to enhance their capacity and harmonise their understanding and operation in peacekeeping procedures.
The Minister, accompanied by the Acting Army Commander, Brigadier Clayton Yaache and the General Officer Commanding the Northern Sector, Brigadier George Aryiku, visited troops of other participating countries stationed at Yendi and Saboba.
Dr Addo Kufuor described the exercise as very important for the sub-region especially at a time "we cannot rely on the international community to immediately come to our assistance in times of crisis".
He said the exercise was a step towards solving Africa's own problems, adding that the concept of Francophone and Anglophone no longer makes sense.
"What we must understand is that we are all Africans".
Dr Addo Kufuor called on the African leadership to close their ranks before the international community loses interest in the continent.
The Officer Commanding the Ghanaian troops Lt.-Col. George Biah enumerated a number of problems confronting the contingent.
He said they have not yet received any imprest and that the troops are being sustained by goodwill.
"Despite these constraints troops morale is high and we are ready to raise high the flag of Ghana", the Commanding Officer said.
He commended Ya Na Yakubu Andani II for donating a bull and 100 tubers of yam to the troops.
The Minister paid a courtesy call on the Ya Na at his palace to express gratitude for the hospitality extended to the troops.
Dr Addo Kufuor said the current policy of the military is to cultivate the friendship of the civilian population to build and move the country together.
Ya NA Andani said the exercise would help strengthen relationships among African countries and if held regularly, it would facilitate African unity.
The Ya-Na appealed to the Ministry of Defence to establish military barracks in the North Eastern corridor of the country.
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Ghanaians want the abolition of "cash
and carry"
Sekondi (Western Region) 21 April 2001
About 60 per cent of Ghanaians want the abolition of the "cash and carry" system being operated in health facilities throughout the country, a survey undertaken by the Structural Adjustment Programme Review Initiative (SAPRI) and released at a two-day regional workshop at Sekondi on Thursday said.
SAPRI initiated the studies to assess the impact of the government's reform policies in agriculture, mining, education and health.
The survey revealed that the cost of drug recovery fee prohibits many people, particularly the poor from patronising hospital facilities even when they are suffering from serious illness thus impacting negatively on certain vulnerable groups.
The exemptions granted to certain categories of people were found to be ineffective.
The SAPRI is a joint project of the government, World Bank and a network of civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations.
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Dan Lartey suggests alternative to HIPC
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
Mr Dan Lartey, presidential candidate of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) in the last general election said on Friday that the country needs to adopt a domestic capital approach to reactivate the economy, as an alternative to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
"What the government must do now is to establish an agricultural development consortium to boost the productivity in that sector and create the domestic capital that will take the economy out of the woods," he explained.
Mr. Lartey made this known to the Ghana News Agency at the State House after meeting with Vice-President Aliu Mahama behind closed doors.
"Supporting the agricultural sector during this year's farming season is the only way to pay the 41 trillion-cedi debt," he said.
Mr. Lartey said the previous government depleted the state coffers leaving President John Agyekum Kufuor's administration no other option but to adopt his party's domestic approach to issues, since it is the only way to relieve the country from the HIPC initiative without relying on foreign support.
He said his priority now as a politician is not how vibrant the GCPP remains in opposition but about the more serious business of reactivating the economy.
" I told the Vice-President today that he must do something urgently about the economy since that is what I am preoccupied with now", he said as he left the Presidency.
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IGP warns against warning shots
Tema (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
Mr Ernest Owusu-Poku, Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on Friday warned the police against the firing of warning shots saying there is nothing like that in police regulations.
"I have not come across any regulation, which says the police can give warning shots. There is nothing in the police books to that effect. Whom are you warning and how does warning shots come in?" he asked.
The IGP was speaking at a durbar with officers and men of the Tema Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service on his first official duty outside Accra since he was appointed to head the police service three months ago.
If it becomes absolutely necessary to use fire arms, the police must fire at the legs of suspects to demobilise them to enable the police to get suspects alive and extract information from them rather than killing them.
Mr Owusu-Poku noted that in some cases a warning shot which is supposed to be fired into the air have ended up killing innocent people, all because the policemen have resorted to indiscriminate use of arms.
The addiction to guns is so serious that some policemen are not comfortable without an Ak 47 rifle even when they are called to attend to simple cases involving a quarrel between husband and wife, he said.
Mr Owusu-Poku also expressed concern about the gross abuse of power by policemen. He particularly made reference to the practice of arresting suspects with bench warrants late on Friday evenings to keep them in custody over weekends because they know the courts would not sit on Saturdays and Sundays.
He also cautioned the police against improper dressing saying some police personnel do not wear headgear and identification numbers while others are found wearing sandals with their uniform.
He also asked policewomen, who want to go shopping in the market to change into civilian clothes because "it is odd to find you hanging all sorts of bags around yourself while in police uniform".
During an open forum the policemen expressed concern about lack of promotion, refusal of the police command to allow them to pursue courses to enhance their career and refusal to pay medical bills of those who seek medical care at private clinics under emergency situations.
Chief Superintendent Agnes Sikanartey, Tema Regional Police Commander, briefed the IGP on the general security and crime situation in the region and stressed the need to increase the number of police personnel to cater for the population growth around Tema.
She said there was the need to open new police stations and provide more vehicles, which she said, is the most serious logistic problem adding that Tema has only three vehicles.
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President Kufuor cautions Accountants
Accra (Greater Accra) 20 April 2001
President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday asked the leadership of accounting institutions to live up to expectation and contribute to the national development effort.
"We need you most. Therefore ask your members to manage the country's finances efficiently and effectively to make profit for progress."
President Kufuor made the call when a four-man delegation of the Association of Accounting Bodies in West Africa (AABWA) paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.
It was also to officially invite President Kufuor to deliver the keynote address at the three-day Sixth AABWA Congress scheduled for Accra from Wednesday April 25-27.
President Kufuor said accountants are very vital in efficient management, adding, "your work is an honoured and relevant one. You are indeed indispensable since good management depends on proper accounting and auditing."
He noted that cliques have been formed in government institutions and ministries, where so much deals have been swept under the carpet and government finances not properly accounted for.
"All of them are your members. We are leaning heavily on you and in the end expect you to deliver the goods and we would co-operate with you."
President Kufuor asked accountants in government institutions and ministries to work efficiently to cut out waste and make savings.
"In appreciation of your vital role, the government has appointed five qualified accountants to ministerial positions".
Madam Auriel Lokko, President of the Institution of Chartered Accountants in Ghana, who led the delegation, pledged their support in the efficient management of the country's finances.
She appealed for government's assistance to review the Accountants Act and the Companies Code and to train middle-level accountants to manage the finances of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
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Cape Coast (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
The Central Regional police are making efforts to trace the parents of the 13 children who were allegedly being abducted to the Gambia by one Madam Ekua Seguah, a fishmonger from Gomoa Immuna in the Mfantsiman district, the acting regional crime officer, ASP Michael Tattah, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Cape Coast on Friday.
The children, eight boys and five girls, aged between seven and 14 years, and who do not attend school, and Madam Seguah were brought to Cape Coast from Accra on Thursday night, by officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and handed over to the police.
The arrival of the children, who are being kept at the central police station, has attracted a throng of people to the station. Meanwhile, Madam Seguah is helping the police in their investigations.
Immigration officials arrested Madam Seguah at the border at Paga on Sunday April 8, with the children and four other adults who were also travelling to the Gambia.
Speaking to the (GNA) at the regional police headquarters, Madam Seguah, however, denied that the children were being abducted.
She claimed that, they are her wards and the other adult travellers, who are from Gomoa Immuna, and that they were being taken to the Gambia, to assist in the preparation of 'kako', a popular salted fish.
According to her, three of them, aged 7, 10 and 14 years, are her children. Madam Seguah, who is resident in the Gambia, said when the immigration officials confronted her and her colleagues, they only told them that the children were too many, and she therefore volunteered to send them back.
She said the officials therefore took money from her and assisted her in procuring bus tickets for their journey back home, while the others continued the journey to the Gambia.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 21 April 2001
The Volta River Authority (VRA) could not pick a new turbine imported from Austria for the Akosombo Generating Station Retrofit Project from the Tema Port on Wednesday because of its weight.
The 13 blade runner valued at 14.35 million Austrian shillings or 6.8 billion cedis had to be left at the port since the two cranes brought to lift the 90-tonne turbine onto a flat low loader truck could not lift it.
The exercise had to be abandoned after three hours.
SKARM, a company hired to lift the turbine, brought a crane while the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) also supported it with another but the GPHA crane could not perform.
An official of the GPHA said the authority's only 100 tonne crane has broken down for some time now and is under repairs.
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Ho (Volta Region) 21 April 2001
Mr Frederick Okyere-Henaku, 73, a retired educationist and one of the eight candidates slated to contest elections for the Volta Region seat on the Council of State has been disqualified for not hailing from the region.
Mr Mohamed Adoquaye, Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency, said the disqualification is in accordance with Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) (Election), Regional Representation on Council of State 1993.
Mr Adoquaye cited Article 2, Section C of the Instrument according to which a person is qualified to be elected as Regional Representative of the Council of State, who is resident in and hails from the region for which he or she is seeking representation.
He said Mr Okyere-Henaku though resident at Ho comes from the Eastern Region.
Ghana News Agency investigations revealed that Mr Okyere-Henaku has been living in Ho for more than 20 years.
He was not available at home when contacted by telephone for his comments.
Of the remaining seven candidates are a clergyman and six chiefs.
Mr Adoquaye said nine out of the 12 districts in the region have so far submitted the names of their representatives to the Regional Electoral College.
The Electoral College is expected to have 24 members made up of two representatives each from the District Assemblies.
The Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development would determine the date of the election.
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