Govt to rebuild Ya-Na's Palace
Women protest to police over killings
Man pours hot soup on ex-lover
Govt to rebuild Ya-Na's Palace
Accra
(Greater Accra) 06 April 2002 - Government is to help the Dagbon Traditional
Council to immediately rebuild the Gbewaa Palace of Yendi, which was damaged
during the factional violence in the town last week.
Consequently,
a team from the Public Works Department at Tamale has been dispatched to Yendi
to assess the cost of damage while the Ministry of Works and Housing has been
tasked to appraise the materials needed for the restoration of the portions,
which were destroyed during the conflict.
The
government's decision forms part of the progress report of the three-member
mediation team, which met in Accra on Thursday. The team is made up of the
Nayiri, Na Gamni Mohammadu Abdulai, the Paramount Chief of the Mamprugu
Traditional Area; the Yagbon-Wura, Bawa Doshie II, the Paramount Chief of the
Gonja Traditional Area; and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
According
to the report, the eminent chiefs had two rounds of talks with each of the
feuding factions, the Andani and the Abudu gates, during which they advised the
two sides to desist from any further public utterances that could jeopardise
the negotiations inflaming tempers and hardening positions.
Although
the factions spoke to the mediation team through accredited spokespersons,
members of both delegations were allowed to take part in the wider-ranging
exchanges.
The three
chiefs sought and obtained the firmest assurance from President J.A. Kufuor
personally that the ongoing criminal investigations by the security agencies
into the law and order aspects of the incident at Yendi is comprehensive and
would be pursued vigorously to the end.
The report
also appealed to citizens or interested groups with any relevant information on
the matter to pass it on to the security agencies or the Ministerial Task force
set up by the government to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile,
the two factions were expected to return to Dagbon on Friday and have promised
to make themselves available for the programme of work that has been set fully
with the three eminent traditional rulers.
Just before
the three prominent chiefs left Accra for their traditional areas, President
Kufuor thanked them for the good work they have initiated to bring peace to the
Dagbon area. The three leaders, on their part, reaffirmed their commitment to
help the government and the people of Dagbon to find lasting solutions to the
problem that led to the unfortunate events of the past week.
In a
related development, the government has called on all parties involved in the
Yendi conflict to have faith in the security agencies that they will carry out
thorough investigations into the matter to ensure lasting peace in the area.
Speaking at
a press briefing in Accra on Friday, the Special Assistant to the Minister of
Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr Ferdinand Ayim, said there is the need
for all to trust in the professionalism and integrity of the security agencies
to carry out their duties efficiently.
On the
current situation in the area, Mr Ayim said the people are cooperating with the
security services to restore peace to the area, adding that "they are also
abiding by the curfew." According to him, the Army Commander, Major
General Clayton B. Yaache, is expected to return to Accra, on Saturday while
the Officer Commanding the Northern Command, Brigadier George Ayiku, is to take
over the military operations in the Dagbon area. - The Daily Graphic.
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Help restructure Ghana Airways
Accra
(Greater Accra) 06 April 2002 - The Ghana Airways Senior Staff Association
(SSA) and its local union have called on the government to restructure the
management of the airline to enable it to perform more effectively. The two
groups further called on the government to bail the distressed airline out of
its debts, guarantee loans and provide the necessary support to enable the
national carrier to continue to be a going concern.
The call
was made at a press conference organised by the association and the union to
inform the public about the problems of the airline and what can be done to
keep it going.
Speaking at
the conference, the Chairman of the association, Mr Roland Wobil Mosore, said
the board of directors has failed to take any action on the problems facing the
airline. He said Ghana Airways, which used to enjoy a monopoly on the West
Coast, with good facilities and management staff, is now saddled with a huge
debt of $150 million.
He said
most of its ground operations have been taken away and alleged that contracts
that the airline has entered into are questionable and detrimental to the
company. He said the company has sold all its spare parts to Alitalia and AJ
Walters who in turn have been contracted to service Ghana Airways.
He said the
huge debt accumulated was due to several leases by the airline from Britain and
South Africa, which Mr Mosore said were done at a very high cost. He said low
patronage as a result of customer disappointments has also affected the
operations of Ghana Airways.
Mr Mosore
contented that the company is viable and, therefore, appealed to government to
involve the leadership of the workers in decision-making to avoid past
mistakes. "The government should grant audience to the leadership of the
workers for vital discussions. We are ready for dialogue to bring Ghana Airways
out of its present predicament," he stressed.
It will be
recalled that Ghana Airways, early this year, was reported to have been
engulfed in a debt of $150 million. The government, at various times,
intervened to save the airline from some embarrassing situations. Recently, the
government intervened to secure the release of a New York-bound Ghana Airways
aircraft impounded at the Dakar International Airport by Ascetna, a Dakar-based
private aviation company. - The Daily Graphic.
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Women
protest to police over killings
Accra
(Greater Accra) 06 April 2002 - Various women's groups on Friday met with
senior officials of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ghana Police to
express their dismay at the upsurge of spousal murders, defilement and rape of
women in the country.
The
meeting, which was at the instance of the Ministry of Women and Children
Affairs, was attended by the Deputy Interior Minister, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu,
the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ernest Owusu Poku, some female
Parliamentarians and representatives of various women's groups, among others.
The perception
of the groups was that the police were not doing enough to assist the women and
children of Ghana and as such called on the Judicial Service to deal
expeditiously with cases involving women and children who are abused sexually
or physically.
In a brief
speech before the meeting, the Women Affairs Minister, Mrs Gladys Asmah, said
that the media was replete with stories of women killed by their husbands who,
in some cases, also commit suicide after the heinous crimes. She called on the
police to ensure that in cases of
domestic violence such as murder, rape, defilement and wife battering were
dealt with severely according to law.
The
Minister pleaded that the police should “desist from accepting bribes from
culprits" as alleged by some victims who reported domestic violence cases
to them. She suggested that photographs and profiles of rapists and those who
defiled babies and girls should be published in the media to serve as a
deterrent, while requesting that the prosecution of cases of rape and defilement
be speeded up to bring culprits to book.
Mrs Asmah
spoke against the settlement of such cases out of court, stating that they were
all criminal offences. She complained of the inhuman treatment victims of such
crimes suffer at the police stations under the guise of inadequate police cells
for women. "In many cases, women, sometimes girls, are put in male cells
and are sometimes abused by male prisoners and those who are to protect
them."
She
emphasized the need to provide female suspects with separate cells while in
custody and pleaded that police officers who abused female suspects be dealt
with according to law.
Mrs Asmah
urged the police to act quickly and to respond to the demands of women, stating
that the Ministry had had to dissuade the women from embarking on a
demonstration, and rather arranged for the meeting. The IGP, Mr Adu Poku,
assured the women that the Police Service was concerned about their safety and
security. "We are not going to sit down unconcerned," he stated.
He pointed
out that the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service was established as a
result of the concern of the police for the safety of women and said that most
cases which in the past would not have been reported, were now being brought to
the fore. He gave the assurance that the police would endeavour to provide
separate cells for female suspects at police stations, which lacked such
structures.
Mr P.K.
Acheampong, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), noted that
60 per cent of police prosecutors in the country were women, and urged the
women's groups to use their influence to get the judiciary to create separate
courts to try gender cases, especially defilement, rape and spousal abuse,
among others.
He said
there were lots of cases pending before the normal courts and that the volumes
of the cases had made it impossible to speed up cases that had to do with women
and children.
Mr
Acheampong suggested also that the women should lobby Parliament to make
legislatures to ensure that funds were made available for free treatment of
victims for rape, defilement and spousal abuse at the hospitals noting that at
the moment, victims were made to pay such bills themselves. He asked that the
health system be improved in relation to offences against women, so that
medical reports could give enough evidence to compel courts to give stiffer
punishment to offenders.
In their
contributions, the various women groups called for more education to change
cultural and traditional factors that perpetrated such gender violence. -
Ghanaian Times.
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Man pours hot soup on ex-lover
Agona
Nyarkrom (Central Region) 06 April 2002 - A "Loading boy', who allegedly
poured a potful of boiling soup on his ex-lover out of jealousy at Agona
Nyakrom, is in the firm grips of the law. Kofi Anum, also known as Kofi Kwakye,
has pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing harm to Elizabeth Efua Amissah,
his former girlfriend.
After
remanding Anum in prison custody for some time, the presiding judge at the
Swedru Circuit Court, Mr P.K. Richardson, granted him a ¢50 million bail with a
surety to be justified. The facts of the case as related by the prosecution,
indicated that the relationship between Anum and Elizabeth broke down over a
year ago and the woman has since married.
However,
since their separation, Elizabeth has never known peace as Anum tormented and
assaulted her anywhere they met.
According
to the prosecution, at about 8:30 am on January 19, Elizabeth, while on her way
to visit a friend met Anum. There and then, Anum attempted to assault her
without any provocation but she ran to take refuge in the house of a witness in
the case.
The
prosecutor said Anum pursued her into the kitchen of the witness where a potful
of soup was boiling on fire. Anum got hold of the pot with the boiling soup and
allegedly poured it Elizabeth. Elizabeth sustained serious burns on her head,
back and waist and a report was lodged with the Nyakrom Police, who arrested
Anum and charged him with the offence, the court was told. - The Mirror
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Otabilkrom
(Central Region) 06 April 2002 - An 18-year-old first year senior secondary
student, Eric Sam, has been put before the Swedru Circuit Court, for allegedly
slashing his father's ribs with a cutlass, killing him instantly at Otabilkrom,
a suburb of Agona Swedru.
His plea
was not taken, and Mr P.K. Richardson, the presiding judge, remanded him in
prison custody to enable the police complete their investigations.
The case as
presented by Inspector H.N. Cofie of the Swedru Divisional Police Headquarters
are that the late Robert Sam was a retired miner and father of Eric, who is a
first year student of the Odoben Senior Secondary School. The prosecutor said
some time ago Eric allegedly stole his father's ¢400,000 at Agona Odoben
prompting the old man's refusal to pay his school fees.
He said on
13 March this year, the decease went to his house at Odoben and detected that
Eric had broken into his wardrobe and stolen four of his cover cloths. When he
returned to Otabilkrom and saw Eric there, the late Sam ordered his son not to
enter his room. But Eric retorted that he would enter the room.
This
degenerated into a quarrel and a fight between father and son and in the
process the boy rushed into their kitchen, brought out a sharp cutlass and
allegedly slashed his father in the ribs.
Inspector
Cofie said Eric's mum returned home from the market in the evening only to see
her husband in a pool of blood in the room. She quickly made a report to the
police and Eric was arrested. The corpse has since been deposited at the
Winneba Government Hospital mortuary pending autopsy. - The Mirror
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 06 April 2002 - A prayerful tongue-speaking evangelist who
stole $1,400 from his benefactor, literally threw a tonne of dust into the
victim's eyes when he organized an all-night prayer session to help him recover
the money.
The
crowd-pulling, charismatic and flamboyant miracle working Nigerian evangelist,
Pastor Augustine Johnson Monday, has been jailed for two years by an Accra
Circuit Court for the theft.
The money
belonged to Mr Owusu Marfo, a business executive and an ardent admirer of
Pastor Monday. He gave his room at Awoshie to the pastor in June 2001, where he
conducted an all-night service and prayer session. Pastor Monday, 36, stayed
with his victim for eight days, offering prayers and fasting. However, in the
night, he sneaked in an adjoining room when everybody was asleep and stole the
money.
When the
complainant detected the theft and confronted Pastor Monday, the ‘man of God’
suggested organising an all-night prayer session for him to recover the lost money.
Later, Pastor Monday converted the money into cedis and bought an engine and a
second-hand Nissan bus, which he parked in a fitting shop at Abeka in Accra.
Pastor
Monday continued to look like a very holy and pious person before Mr Owusu
Marfo until 19 October 2001, when he succeeded in using similar tricks to steal
Mercedes Benz car spare parts worth ¢100 million from the store of his
father-in-law, one Mr Amoah, at Avenor in Accra. It was after Pastor Monday was
arrested for stealing the spare parts, that he admitted stealing the $1,400
from Mr Marfo's house during the eight-day prayer session.
Pastor
Monday first appeared before the circuit court on 1 November 2001 charged with
stealing. He earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge but changed it later to
guilty and was accordingly sentenced on his own plea by Mr K.O. Beechem, the
presiding judge, to two years imprisonment in hard labour on 28 February 2002.
After the
sentence, Pastor Monday was immediately whisked to the Nsawam Security Prisons to
begin his two-year term. The judge ordered the deportation of Pastor Monday to
his country after serving his sentence.
It will be
recalled that "The Spectator" in its Saturday 27 October 2001 issue
carried the story of the arrest of Pastor Monday by the Tesano Police for
stealing Mercedes Benz Car Spare Parts worth ¢100 million belonging to Mr
Amoah. Mr Amoah had sponsored Pastor Monday to do a degree programme at the
Central University College where he paid over ¢2 million a semester as tuition
fee for the Pastor.
Pastor
Monday had endeared himself to Mr Amoah in 1998 when he performed the
miraculous healing of his daughter through prayers. The daughter truly
recovered from her ailment. Mr Amoah took an instant liking for Pastor Monday
and gave him free accommodation in his house at Amasaman and later sponsored
his education to the Central University College to read a degree in Theology
and gave him ¢15,000 daily as his transport fare to school.
Pastor
Monday often helped Mr Amoah in his spare parts store at Avenor when he was not
preaching and took advantage of this opportunity to serve his benefactor to
steal the Mercedes Benz car spares parts. Pastor Monday was arrested when he
gave the stolen spare parts to Okyere, his close friend, to sell but unknown to
him, Okyere sent the parts back to Mr Amoah and quoted ridiculously low prices
that made Mr Amoah suspicious.
Mr Amoah
alerted the Tesano Police who arrested Okyere. He mentioned Pastor Monday as
his source of supply and he too was arrested. Mr Amoah had so much confidence
in Pastor Monday that, he said he initially couldn't believe that it was the
man of God who stole the spare parts. Pastor Monday was arraigned before the
Amasaman Community Tribunal and was remanded in police custody for further investigations
into his activities. - The Spectator
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