Fierce
struggle in NPP
C.J. suit
unites legal gurus
Land guards strike again
Don’t mind
the liars
Fallouts
from Allowance saga - Rawlings must be patient
Rawlings
does not deserve any ‘allowa’ (allowance)
Anti-armed
robbery operations gain momentum
Defacing of
Ghanaian passports …Stop it
I was asked
to step down
Govt will
not burn cocoa beans
Kojo Yankah
loses wife
Agra in
B.N.I cells
Police probe
lawyer's ¢426.1m lotto winnings
More AK-47
smuggled in
I'll appeal
against judgement
Raw deal
for teachers
Ghana
Telecom hit by rampant theft
Fierce
struggle in NPP
The Daily
Guide reports a fierce struggle in the NPP for national positions, due to
vacancies declared as a result of the party’s officers who are currently
holding government appointments.
New officers for the party would
therefore be elected at the up-coming National Delegates Congress to be held on
August 25, 2001 at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon.
Lord Commey, currently the Greater
Accra NPP Deputy Regional Secretary, and Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid the 2000
Campaign Manager of the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, are both fiercely
campaigning for the position of National Organiser which was previously held by
Major (rtd) Courage Quarshigah, now Minister for Agriculture.
According to Lord Commey, he stands
for a new vision in the party, a new mission and a new image. He will also send
the party through a new sense of direction and a brand new organisation to lead
it into elections 2004.
However, Mustapha is not letting
himself to be out-done. He held a press conference early this week at which he
put forth his mission and vision.
According to him, under his
organisation the party will make inroads into the Volta Region where he
believes they can grab some seats from the NDC which has had a virtual field
day in the various elections held in the 219 constituencies.
The national posts of Organiser,
Treasurer and 1st Vice-Chairperson became vacant through the
appointment of previous holders, Quarshigah and Hon Hackman Owusu-Agyemang to ministerial
positions and Mad. Ama Busia to the Council of State.
One other person, Mr Samuel
Odoi-Sykes, is also said to have declared his intention not to vie for the post
of National Chairman and has already been nominated as an Ambassador-designate by
the NPP government.
Although the General-Secretary, Mr
Dan Botwe, is widely tipped to retain his post, he is being given a good run
for his money by an old footsoldier, Haruna Esseku.
More…/
Chief
Justice’s suit unites legal gurus
If there
was one thing that could unite the NPP and the NDC, and bring together an array
of legal luminaries, it was the Apaloo suit against the Acting Chief Justice,
Mr E.K. Wiredu, says the Daily Guide.
The Apaloo writ had sought to
challenge Mr Justice Wiredu’s eligibility for the post of substantive Chief
Justice.
Mr Wiredu was nominated by President
J.A. Kufuor as the next Chief Justice, following the death of Mr Isaac Abban
this year. Justice Abban had since 1995 been the Chief Justice of Ghana after
the retirement from office of Mr Justice Philip Archer.
It would be recalled that an Accra
High Court on Tuesday July 31, 2001 threw out the case in which the
qualification of Mr Justice Wiredu was being challenged.
As if the destiny of a section of
the Ghanaian Lawyers was tied to the fate of Justice Wiredu, the cream de la
creame of Ghanaian lawyers were in court in their numbers to offer moral
support as they awaited with bated breath, Justice Yaw Apau’s verdict on the
writ filed by a Philip Apaloo of Kanshie challenging the qualification of him
taking the high office.
Wiredu in a matter of days will be summoned
before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting.
The legal luminaries, indeed the
roll call of Who is Who in the learned profession, were up-in-arms on Tuesday
July 31, 2001 in defence of the President’s nominee, for Chief Justice.
Among the judges at the court
were Mr Kwaku Baah, Vice-Chairman of the NDC, Mr Lynes Quarshie Idun, a
three-time President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Ebow Quarshie, the
current President of the GBA and Mr Ayikoi Otoo, also of the Bar Association.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Land guards
strike again
Residents
of the otherwise peaceful Boadi Village, near Kumasi now live in terror with
their very lives threatened by land guards who are said to have taken the
Ashanti Region by storm, according to the Independent.
Three houses have so far been pulled
down in the area by the guards hired by certain influential citizens of the
little town and backed by the queenmother Nana Tutuwah to protect their
interest, with damages estimated at about one hundred and fifty million cedis.
Investigations by the paper indicate
that the Huahi Royal Family of the Asona clan, which administer Boadi as a
trust territory is frustrating developers, who acquire the land from the
original royal custodians of the village.
The house is now divided into two
factions; the Asantehene’s appointed queenmother, Nana Huahi Tutuwaah II on one
side against the original custodians of the Boadi stool.
The supposed Boadi royal family has
accused the queenmother, Nana Tutuwaah II of leasing lands at Boadi without giving
them their due share of the proceeds.
This according to some residents is
causing disaffection among the two royal families who had hitherto lived
together peacefully.
Nana Kwame Konadu in an interview, told
the paper that several appeals to the queenmother to ensure a fair share of the
land proceeds had fallen on deaf ears, including an intervention by the then
Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware. The Asantehene had in, an arbitration ruled
some eight years ago that proceeds from the sale of the lands in the area
should be shared among four parties namely, the queenmother, the royal family,
stool of the town and the community.
The persistent failure of the
queenmother to respond to the peaceful moves by the other family led them, upon
advise from their legal counsel to also start selling some plot of lands but
she engaged the guards to unleash vandalism on them.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Don’t mind
the liars
The Graphic
Showbiz says ‘Iron Lady’ of Ghana politics, Hon. Hawa Yakubu, Minister of
Tourism has described as liars people spreading rumours to the effect that the
NPP does not want to continue the government’s support for PANAFEST.
“Don’t mind them”! She told the
festival’s opening durbar attended by the Vice President, chiefs, queenmothers,
festival participants, performing artistes, and the public at Cape Coast last
Saturday.
Speaking in her characteristic
fast-paced, high-pitched voice, Hawa endeared herself to her audience,
especially the participants from the USA who cheered every word of hers.
“How can anyone say that we have not
been supporting PANAFEST when we have been working towards removing bottlenecks
that make it difficult for participants to the festival to arrive early?” She
asked.
She assured the participants, most
of whom had come from America, the Carribeans and Europe that problems with visa acquisition,
immigration and transportation would soon be a thing of the past.
Hon Hawa Yakubu went further to
commend former President Rawlings and the NDC government for initiating the
celebration of PANAFEST, saying that it is a good idea to bring Africans and
their brothers and sisters in the Diaspora together.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Fallouts
from Allowance saga - Rawlings must be patient
The
flagbearer of the Nkrumaist Convention People’s Party (CPP) has urged
ex-President Rawlings not to read any political meanings into the delay in
paying him his allowance because the New Patriotic Party Government does not
habour any vendetta against him (Rawlings).
The NCC chairman also stressed that
it was not only Rawlings who had not been paid but also some Ex-Ministers of
State.
On the allegation that the private
press has tilted to the defence of the ruling NPP government, Prof Hagan
intimated that though the media is tasked with the responsibility to keep the
government on its toes it must take a rational approach to issues.
He stressed that the media is a
watchdog and not ‘fault manufacturers’ and would therefore not create faults
when they do not exist.
Prof Hagan affirmed that when the
NPP government dabbles in any criminal activity, it would not just be the media
but the entire civil society including the CPP which would rise up and fight
against it.
More…/
Rawlings
does not deserve any ‘allowa’
Reacting to the view expressed by
the Personal Aide of the ex-First Family, Mr Victor Smith that neither Rawlings
nor his staff had received any salary in The Chronicle – Sonitim Tobigah
submitted that Dr Hilla Limann did nothing wrong to deserve the treatment meted
out to him by Rawlings.
“Dr Limann did not receive any
allowance, nothing at all, he was left to suffer for close to 20 years”, he
charged. The executive member also affirmed that until Rawlings’ illegality is
purged he should not be given such benefits.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Anti-armed
robbery operations gain momentum
The
Ghanaian Democrat carries that a lot of gains has been made by the joint
military and police patrols recently launched by the government to stem the
tide of increased armed robbery operations in the country.
For instance, six suspected armed
robbers who attacked a mini bus with registration number GT 1092 Q and
inflicted cutlass wounds on a passenger have been arrested on the Doryumu road near
Shai Hills.
An ambush laid for the robbers, who
were armed with long cutlasses and other implements, led to their arrest after
a hot chase.
A release issued by the Ghana Armed
Forces signed by Lt. Col. E.W.K. Nibo, Director of Public Relations stated
this, with a request to the public to report the presence of suspicious persons
in their communities to the Ghana Armed Forces.
He pointed out that the safety and
confidentiality of all callers would be guaranteed adding that the public is
expected to call anytime of the day when they find anybody with gunshot wounds
in their localities for immediate attention.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Stop
defacing of Ghanaian passports – Foreign Ministry
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed a number of diplomatic missions in the
country to cease forthwith the practice of marking the passports of visa
applicants with codes signifying that their applications have been rejected,
The Daily Graphic reports.
The ministry also expressed serious
misgivings about the continuance of the practice, two months after discussions
to end it had been held between the Ministry and representatives of the various
missions.
The contents of a memorandum from
the Foreign Ministry addressed to the foreign missions indicated that the word
"SEEN" for example, was frequently stamped in the passports of visa
applicants whose requests were rejected by embassies.
"The ministry recalls that at a
meeting held between the ministry and selected embassies in the first week of
June, 2001 at the initiative of the Legal and Consular Bureau, this matter of
indicating the refusal of visa through the stamping of passports was raised and
discussed.
The ministry's representative
stressed at the meeting that, "there were compelling reasons for the
practice to cease and indeed had expected the practice to ceased.
"The ministry is dismayed to
realise that the embassies continue to indulge in the practice," it
stressed.
The ministry pointed out that
passports issued to Ghanaians remained the property of the Government of Ghana
and that being such a valuable document, it should neither be altered nor
defaced in any way by representatives of foreign governments in the country.
More…/
I was asked
to step down
Professor
Mike Ocquaye, Head of Department of Political Science of the University of
Ghana, Legon, and an aspirant for the position of the National Chairman of the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) at the party's congress slated for August 25 is likely to
opt out of the race.
In an interview with the Graphic in
Accra on Wednesday, Prof Ocquaye who has been appointed Ambassador by the
President, said "I have been summoned by highly placed personalities in
the party who urged me to opt out of the race for the National Chairman
position."
He however, declined to name the
personalities who he said head pressurized him to quit the race and also did
not give reasons why anyone would want him out of the race.
The political Science Lecturer
indicated that this development had not only taken him unawares but had also
put him in a tight corner.
"Given the heat this matter has
generated and is still generating, I do not want to be seen as a subject of
controversy. I clearly do not wish to create problems that have the potential
of dividing the NPP and I am almost certainly not going to file my nomination
to contest the National Chairmanship of the Party the party", he said.
Prof Ocquaye who has already
embarked upon a campaign tour of the country and met the party's regional and
constituency executives as well as foot soldiers to solicit their support in
his bid to lead the party now holding the reins of government, described the dramatic
turn of events as "a very difficult and tasking situation" for him.
More…/
Govt will
not burn cocoa beans
The
Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku has, stated that the
government has no intention of destroying the country's cocoa beans because of
the low price of the product on the world market.
He said the government is determined
to encourage the private sector to process Ghana's cocoa for local consumption
and for export.
Dr Apraku, who made this known at a
lecture in Accra said, two companies are in the country to set up cocoa
processing plants and that the government will encouraged them to set up the
processing factories in the Free Zone areas in the Ashanti and Western regions.
The lecture on the theme,
"Adding value to agricultural products - The case of cocoa in Ghana"
was organized by the Busia Foundation.
Dr Apraku said the government is
aware that there is enormous market for processed cocoa and with Ghana's quality
being the best in the world, all efforts must be geared towards processing the
product to attract high prices on the world market.
More…/
Kojo Yankah
loses wife
The death
is reported of Mrs Suzzie Esi Yankah on Monday, 30th July, 2001, at
the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, after a short illness.
Mrs Yankah was a former staff of the
Ministry of Education and wife of Mr Kojo Yankah, a Communications Consultant
and a former Ashanti Regional Minister.
Burial arrangements will be
announced later.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Agra in
B.N.I cells
The former
General-Secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Worlanyo Agra,
has been arrested by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). He was picked
up in his office on Tuesday evening by a three-man team from the BNI.
Incidentally, Tuesday was supposed
to be his last day in office, having been served a letter early last month to
vacate his post.
The reason behind his arrest is not
immediately known, but it is believed to be in connection with the latest
revelations concerning the Mallam Isa case. As at the Wednesday evening, nobody
could tell the exact whereabouts of the 49-year-old Agra.
When the 'Times' called his
residence on phone around 12.30pm on Wednesday, a seemingly frightened teenage
voice, believed to be that of his son, responded, "The last time I saw my
daddy was on Tuesday night when he came home in the company of three men,
picked something and left".
His wife, it was learnt, had
traveled outside the country.
Reliable sources at the GFA
secretariat, told the paper that it seemed that the BNI personnel had been
trailing Agra since Monday. "He had barely closed from office that day
when they emerged", one of the sources said.
The source said that when Agra was
informed of the presence of the BNI men, the previous day, he welcomed it,
saying: "I have nothing to hide from them, they are welcome".
A few hours later, the BNI team
surfaced and whisked him away together with his driver. Agra had since not
returned.
The source could not tell the
'Times' why Agra has been arrested.
However, many believe that his
arrest may have been sparked off by a report in an Accra bi-weekly early last
week alleging that the former FA secretary tried to influence his
cross-examination during Mallam Isa's trial over the missing 46,000 dollars.
Alhaji Tanko, a legal adviser to the
GFA, was quoted in the said publication as having been asked by Agra to plead
with Mr Ambrose Dery, Mallam Isa's counsel, not to question him on his foreign
account.
More…/
Police
probe lawyer's ¢426.1m lotto winnings
The Asawasi
Police in Kumasi, are making every effort to unravel a mystery surrounding a
lotto winning of ¢426.1 million said to have been made by a Kumasi-based legal
practitioner about a fortnight ago.
Mr Kwadwo Koduah the lawyer, was
said to have staked three numbers (23-32-27) of the VAG West Lotto at ¢781,000
on July 18.
The numbers "dropped"
alright in the draw the next day, but the authorities of the Asare Original Pay
All Enterprises, operators of the lotto, have refused to pay the money because
they claim to have detected something fishy with the winning.
An agent of the company, Kofi Arhin,
based in Sunyani, and his nephew, Daniel Anti, have been handed over to the
police to assist in investigations into the case.
'Times' investigations indicated
that the lawyer visited a client in Sunyani on July 18, and took advantage of
the visit to stake some numbers, including the three winning ones, at Arhin's
lotto kiosk manned by Anti.
When the numbers won in the draw the
following day, the lawyer informed the Brong-Ahafo Regional Manager of the
Asare Original Pay-All Enterprises of his winning.
Mr Koduah was accordingly asked to
contact the agent in whose kiosk he had staked the lotto. Barely three hours
later, he called at the company's offices with the duplicate and triplicate
copies of the stakes (tickets).
The Regional Manager and the other
staff of the company were shocked to see the duplicate and triplicate copies in
the lawyer's possession because under normal circumstances, the original should
go to the company's office, the duplicate to the staker and the triplicate to
the agent.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
More AK-47
smuggled in
A large
cache of arms especially AK-47 rifles have been smuggled into the country from
neigbouring countries, giving rise to the recent spate of armed robbery in the
country.
Mr Sam Awortwi, the Director Legal
Department of the Police Service, disclosed this at a round table discussion on
"Maintaining Internal Security in a constitutional Democracy"
organized by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in Accra, on
Wednesday.
He said the smuggling of these arms
were done through unapproved border routes including some fishermen who use
their canoes for a fee.
Weak border controls, he said
account for many armed robbers from the sub-region entering the country adding
that, "the foreign armed robbers also find the liberal methods of dealing
with criminals in this country conducive".
He, therefore, stressed the need for
the Police to intensify their collaboration with the Immigration Services to
identify such criminals.
GRi../
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
I'll appeal
against judgement
Mr Philip
Apaloo, resident of Kaneshie, who challenged the nomination and vetting of the Acting
chief Justice, Justice J.A. Wiredu at the High Court has told the
"Ghanaian Voice" that he will appeal against the ‘Gyina ho dze’
judgement given by Justice Yaw Apau.
He said he was surprised that
Justice Yaw Apau said in his judgement that the case is a constitutional matter
and that he as a small fish could not take decisions reserved for sharks.
Justice Apau further indicated that
"who am I to judge my boss?"
Mr Apaloo contended that he is not
satisfied with the judgement and that he is now consulting his counsel to move
to the appeal court.
He said he does not see any basis
for the rejection of his application and that if the High Court has no
jurisdiction then the best thing for it to do is to push the case to the
doorstep of the Supreme Court.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Raw deal
for teachers
The
Chronicle says the dream of hundreds of teachers in the Greater Accra Region of
owning their own houses was shattered when those in charge of the project and
the contractor ran the whole project aground, depriving them of places of the
opportunity.
Currently at the centre of the
financial debacle involving several hundreds of millions of cedis, being
contributions made by the teachers towards the project, is the then regional
secretary, Mr Wilson Kusi-Atansa, who was put in charge of the project.
The project, which was started in
1992 with an initial membership of 350 members, now has a dormant membership of
some 120 people with most of them bowing out as a result of the alleged
financial malpractice against the regional administration.
Paul Osei-Mensah, General Secretary
of GNAT, in an interview last week, confirmed that, indeed, the multi-billion
cedi housing project, which was initiated with hopes of solving housing problem
facing some of its members, has turned a fiasco.
He said the 20 acre land on which
the project was supposed to have been established was purchased by the National
Secretariat form the state Housing Corporation (SHC) through Tropical
Architects, a private architectural firm, but added that the National
Secretariat played no role in the management of the project.
According to Osei-Mensah, GNAT has a
decentralized system, so the regional executives were responsible for the whole
scam.
It was established during
Chronicle's investigations that Kusi-Atansah, single handedly hijacked the
project against advice that Tropical Architects should be in charge and, even
without consulting with others, went ahead and contracted a Messrs. Hydraform Estate Company Limited to begin
construction work without any formal contract.
More…/
Ghana
Telecom hit by rampant theft
The nation's
communications giant, Ghana Telecom (GT), has been hit by persistent cases of
theft, causing the company to lose several millions of cedis.
Sources say six security personnel
of the corporation are currently on interdiction following their involvement in
a case of theft at the Adenta Substation in Accra.
According to the sources on the June
19, last year, the six raided the Adenta Telecom Stores and stole four drums of
cables, estimated at over ¢90 million. The incident was reported to the Odorkor
police but was later withdrawn by the GT’s Security.
A "Ghanaian Times"
journalist who took pictures of the suspected thieves was also asked not to
print them out to the public, Chronicle learnt.
Colonel Christopher Kwabla Agbotiate
(Rtd), Security Coordinator of Ghana Telecom, confirmed that the company is
faced with rampant theft, which is affecting its operations in certain parts of
the country.
He also confirmed that six personnel
of his outfit have been arrested for stealing some cables.
The Security Coordinator, however,
denied that the suspects had been left off the hook, saying that the case was
still under police investigations.
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com