GRi Press Review 23-08-99
Spate of armed robberies…7 More suspects rounded up
Rail-men charge Kumasi Police…For releasing armed robbers
Emergency Parliament to intervene?
Sam Jonah takes on Rawlings
NDC under threat…Huudu calls for order
Workers reject privatisation of GBC
Private Security firms under fire
First nationally networked Merchant Bank in Ghana
Spate of armed robberies…7 More suspects rounded up
Seven more suspected armed robbers, including one of their most dreaded members, Seidu Salifu, alias ‘Sardor’ have been arrested by the security agencies in Kumasi, the Daily Graphic reports in its front page lead story.
The paper says the suspects, who are reported to be part of armed groups that have terrorised residents of the Kumasi metropolis and other areas in the Ashanti Region, were transferred to Accra last Thursday, to help speed up investigations.
The Graphic quotes security sources as indicating that the latest arrests have brought to 25, the number of persons arrested so far in connection with the recent armed robberies.
According to the sources, five of those arrested have been confirmed as having participated in the recent robberies while 15 others are still under investigations. Five have already been granted bail, concludes the Graphic.
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Rail-men charge Kumasi Police…For releasing armed robbers
In its front page banner headline story, the Ghanaian Times reports that the management of the Ghana Railways Corporation has warned that it would hold the Ghana Police Service responsible if anything happens to the corporation’s workers in Kumasi as a result of the release of three suspected armed robbers in their custody.
The robbers, who were arrested ad dawn last Wednesday, by some workers of the Corporation and handed over to the police, are believed to be members of a gang which attempted to break into a shop at the popular "18" of the Kumasi Central Market.
The paper says the police. however, released the suspects on enquiry bail soon after, and later in the day, they stormed the Engineering workshop of the corporation, promising the workers hell. The management, the Times says, expressed its astonishment at the action of the police in quickly releasing the suspects without getting them remanded for further investigations.
According to the Ghana Railways Corporation, the armed robbers should have been arraigned before court.
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Emergency Parliament to intervene?
According to the Ghanaian Voice, a Member of Parliament has expressed his preparedness to initiate moves to have Parliament recalled for an emergency session if that would help to resolve the current educational crisis.
The crisis has been attributed to the increases in fees payable by freshmen and continuing students of Ghana’s universities and other tertiary institutions.
The paper quotes Mr Stephen Kwaku Balado Manu, MP for Ahafo-Ano South and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, who made the offer, as saying "we are in national crisis. People don’t have to die before Parliament takes action".
Mr Balado Manu is reported as commenting that the fee increases were not brought before Parliament for discussion and could therefore not stand any rigorous legal scrutiny "The nation is on the brink of collapse and Parliament can be recalled for urgent discussions on the issue", The MP is reported as saying on a "Radio Universe" programme.
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Sam Jonah takes on Rawlings
In a front page banner headline story, the Dispatch says on-going investigations have revealed that there is mounting tension between President Jerry Rawlings and the Chief Executive of the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) Limited, Mr Sam Jonah.
The paper says amidst media reports that the President had allegedly called Mr Sam Jonah ‘a criminal’, the AGC boss has publicly taken on the President. The Dispatch reports that a full-page press statement y the AGC in last Thursday’s issue of the "The Daily Graphic", expressed concerns about statements attributed to the President.
The paper says the statement indicated that concerns had been expressed by international stock exchanges, institutional investors and the general public about the remarks by the President.
The Dispatch recalls that two biweeklies, the "Crusading Guide" and the "Independent", two weeks ago, carried stories to the effect that President Rawlings, in a meeting with members of the Council of State, described Mr Sam Jonah as ‘a criminal’, who had turned the AGC into his private goldmine.
The newspapers which are reported to have quoted credible sources, said the proceedings of the ‘Anyidoho Committee’ into the AGC strike had unmasked Jonah as "a criminal, who had sold AGC house to himself for peanuts".
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NDC under threat…Huudu calls for order
According to the Ghanaian Democrat, says there are many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Ghana which are operating under the guise of NGOs but are surreptitiously working against the DC government.
The paper quoting what it describes as ‘intelligent sources’ says one of such treacherous Ns planning against the NDC government, is a German NGO, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The Democrat says for over the years, the Foundation has entered into an alliance with the main opposition political party in Ghana, the NPP in their desire to see the NDC government lose the next general elections.
The paper says these treacherous machinations, according to the General Secretary of the ruling NDC, Alhai Huudu Yahaya, is not only politically dangerous for "our young democracy but an obvious infraction of the constitution of Ghana by some of your Foundation activities, especially your sponsorship of an NPP workshop with the objective of wrestling political power from the NDC in the year 2000".
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Workers reject privatisation of GBC
The Public Agenda reports in a centre spread story that workers of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have rejected the government’s intended privatisation of the corporation, saying that the corporation should continue to receive government funding.
Under the privatisation scheme, the corporation is to be run on sound business lines with the withdrawal of government subvention and the participation of the public sector.
The paper says at a meeting with the Minister of Communications, Mr John Mahama, on Friday, July 9, the workers told the Minister that "the GBC is a public relations outfit for all governments in power and if we allow the government to sell it what would the next government use as its mouthpiece, supposing it is not the same NDC in office next time round.
We do not want a situation where people who have money will come and buy shares in GBC and initiate their own policies thereby creating chaos and anarchy".
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Private Security firms under fire
The Accra Mail says the recent spate of armed robberies in Accra has reinforced the need for personal, communal and corporate security, and puts spotlight on private security agencies in the metropolis.
The paper, in a front page story, says with the increasing security consciousness in Ghana and concerns for safety of life and property, demand for security services has been on the increase, much of it in Accra and the regional capitals.
But the paper says the proliferation of security agencies has seen a corresponding rise in armed robbery and other crimes. According to the Accra Mail, over the past three months, armed robbers have attacked filling stations and stores in Accra, Kumasi and Koforidua and made away with cash and assorted items running into several millions of cedi.
The paper quotes reports as indicating that in almost all the operations, the private security personnel, wielding only truncheons, looked on helplessly as the robbers, carrying offensive weapons, cowed them into submission. It says following this development, callers on various FM stations have reacted angrily to the poor performance of the security firms, with some people calling for their outright ban.
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First nationally networked Merchant Bank in Ghana
The High Street Journal reports that Merchant Bank Ghana Limited has become the first merchant bank to nationally network its operation, through the ‘Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT system).
The paper says the network was completed in March, this year, when the six sites located in Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Bibiani and Takoradi, were granted online real time facilities.
The High Street Journal says Merchant Bank Ghana Limited is a leading provider of banking and financial services in Ghana, offering a full range of private, corporate and merchant bank services.
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