Probe into $14m deal
I am not under pressure
Police, soldiers terrorise EGLE Organiser
Two families in tussle over man’s burial
Robbers kill bursar, ransack his home
New home for Rawlings - Vume is latest find
Police under fire as Harvard law student lashes
out
No positive change so far
Dan Markin moves quick to settle debt
Amandi’s lawyer was absent
Chiefs should be diplomats
No phones in district capitals
Land Dispute at Madina Zongo
Osafo Maafo condemns the HIPC initiative
I am the Central
Regional choice – Musah
Konadu’s 31st owes ¢336m
Probe into $14m deal
The government is investigating the circumstances under which $14
million (about ¢98 billion) was illegally transferred into
the accounts of New York Bay International at Chase
Manhattan Bank in the United States, between July and December
last year, reports The Daily Graphic.
A
Finance Ministry source in Accra said on Tuesday that the ministry, sometime
last year, went into an agreement with the New York Bay International to buy
the government’s debts, mostly owed to contractors at five per cent discount.
Under
the first arrangement, New York Bay international was to buy off ¢90 billion
from the government.
The
only debt that was supposed to have been restructured was ¢52 billion which
would have allowed the government to pay ¢8.9 billion each month over a
six-month period to New York Bay International.
Even
though New York Bay International did not completely absorb the debt, the
government continued to transfer monies into the accounts of the US-based firm
through a local commercial bank (name withheld), far in excess of the value of
debts the company initially agreed to purchase.
The
source indicated that New York Bay International was neither registered in the
country to do business with the government, nor passed through the Ghana
Investment Promotions Centre, but was able to open an account with the Ghanaian
bank, contrary to the provisions of the investment code.
The
source stated that New York Bay International in turn bought foreign
currencies, notably dollars at any rate from both banks and foreign exchange
bureaux and transferred the monies.
It
said this was a major contributory factor, which led to the free fall of the
cedi against the international currencies last year. It said cash lodgements
made in the bank were so huge to defy justification.
Asked
whether New York Bay International was a recognised institution, the source
said though the ministry has been able to extract a statement from the company,
information available to the ministry indicates that one of its directors based
in the United Kingdom, is an ex-convict.
He
said there are also local agents or front men for the company who are helping
with investigations.
Yaw
Osafo-Maafo stated at a pres conference in Accra last week that the relative
stability of the cedi against major international currencies was the ability of
the government to track and halt the illegal transfer of foreign currency,
which was being spear-headed by New York Bay International.
More…/
I am not under pressure
The General Secretary of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, has stated that his decision to
return the Mercedes Benz 300 DTI car to Customs, Excise and Preventive Service
(CEPS) for replacement was purely voluntary and based on understanding with
CEPS.
He
said contrary to recent reports by a section of the media, he was neither
yielding to pressure from CEPS nor the INTERPOL.
The
NDC General Secretary said, "the ownership of the car was not in contest,
because "I was the bona fide owner".
"As
far back as March, my counsel had indicated to CEPS that we were prepared to
return the vehicle for the replacement which they had promised," Alhaji
Hahaya said.
In
an interview with the Graphic in Accra on Monday, Alhaji Yahaya explained that
CEPS offered to sell him the car in a formal letter dated, December 1, 2000 for
¢28 million, and also gave a deadline for the offer.
"I
accepted the offer from CEPS and their terms, and then paid for the vehicle,
after which CEPS gave me the title to register the vehicle", he said.
If
the offer to sell the car was indeed a mistake, "then it was a mistake by
CEPS which I must not suffer for", he said.
He
wondered why the former CEPS Commissioner, who authorised the offer, could now
turn round to say the offer was a mistake, as is being claimed by the present
CEPS administration.
Alhaji
Yahaya said he does not recognise the authority of the INTERPOL in the mater
because there was no crime element involved in the transaction.
More…/
Police, soldiers terrorise EGLE Organiser
A group of armed men believed to be police and
military personnel last Thursday night besieged the residence of Alhaji M.B. National
Seidu, Organiser of the EGLE party, at 'Bolgatanga House' at Mallam Atta in
Accra, creating panic and fear among members of his household.
They
held the household to ransom, ransacked the rooms and also asked Alhaji Seidu
to hand over all his "fake money" to them.
This
was after they allegedly abducted the night watchman on duty at the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) national headquarters, Eric Adzraku, and forced him
to direct them to the residence of Alhaji Seidu.
The
police and military personnel who were reportedly using three vehicles first
drove to the NDC regional headquarters at Kokomlemle before proceeding to the
'Bolgatanga House'.
According
to the Graphic, Alhaji Seidu in a narration said the men arrived at his
residence after 10 p.m. in their vehicles, which included a police patrol
Toyota pick-up, with registration number, GP 1075.
The
policemen and soldiers surrounded the house while about 10 others moved in, and
started searching the rooms.
When
he demanded to know their mission and also see their search or arrest warrants,
they ignored him, and went ahead with their search before the visibly terrified
family and other residents.
He
said after their fruitless search, one of the soldiers who gave his name only
as Warrant Officer Nyameke, told him that they suspected he had a large sum of
money in fake foreign currencies, which they were investigating.
The
General Secretary of the NDC, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, has described the operation
by the policemen and soldiers at the party's headquarters and Alhaji Seidu's
residence as a "terrorist act and unlawful invasion of the party's
premises”.
GRi…/
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Two families in tussle over man’s burial
Two prominent families at Denu in the Ketu
District of the Volta region are bracing themselves for a showdown over the
burial of a 36-year-old driver.
According to The Ghanaian Times, the Ayivor and
Dotse families have each threatened to cause mayhem in the town should the
driver, Elvis Dotse, be buried at the town’s cemetery next weekend.
While
the Dotse family are contending that they come from Denu and would move heaven
and earth to ensure his burial in the town next weekend, the Ayivors have also
vowed to do everything possible to ensure that the deceased’s burial and
funeral rites were held at Amedeta-Viepe near Denu, the father’s hometown.
A
series of meetings convened by the regent of Denu, Micheal K. Dogbe, to resolve
the issue ended in deadlock as the two families failed to compromise.
An
uneasy clam is therefore hanging over the township with the two families
wearing red bands, chanting war songs and demonstrating.
Sources
close to the Ayivors alleged that the deceased never took part in communal
labour in the town in his lifetime stressing that it would be suicidal if his
funeral rites were held in the town.
They
said that they would only allow his funeral rites in the town if the Dotse
family agreed to pay a fine of 200,000 cedis, two bottles local gin and perform
certain rites as custom demands. The Dotses have rejected this.
More…/
Robbers kill bursar, ransack his home
Armed robbers last week shot and killed the
bursar of Obiri Yeboah Secondary School, at Assin Fosu, Anthony Ankimahene,
when they raided his school. He was shot in the chest and back several times.
When
the bursar’s son, a student, came out of his hiding place and sought to take
his father away to the hospital, the robbers pounced on him too.
“They
stamped on him with their boots and hit him several times with the butt of
their guns,” according to the Times.
A
relative of the deceased told the paper that none of the neighbours went to the
aid of the victims because the robbers were shooting indiscriminately into the
air.
Dressed
in military uniform with masks, the robbers forced their way into Ankomahene’s
room at about 2am on August 14.
They
grabbed his wife who was nursing a three-week-old grandchild, and threatened to
kill her but she pleaded that the baby would have no one to care for it if they
killed her.
One
of them unmasked and asked if she knew him. As the woman replied in the
negative, they demanded money from her.
The
robbers ransacked the room and took 30,000, after which they moved to another
room and demanded money from the occupant.
The
man gave them 200,000cedis but they hit him in the chest with the butt of the
gun, ordered him to lie flat on the floor, and then carried away a radio amplifier,
which Ankomahene had bought the day before.
When
everything was over the badly beaten boy managed to carry his father to the
Foso Catholic Hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The
Times recalls that a few weeks ago, the home of the National Chief Farmer of
the Cocoa Coffee Sheanut Farmers Association in the town was raided by a group
of robbers.
The
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), following the incidents, has ordered the
immediate mounting of roadblocks along the exists of the Assin Foso township,
as part of measures to combat the rising crime wave in the area.
GRi…/
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New home for Rawlings - Vume is latest find
The Ghanaian Chronicle says credible official
sources have disclosed that the state is putting finishing touches to a house
at Fafraha at the outskirts of Accra on the Dodowa road that will be the final resting
home of ex-President J.J. Rawlings.
There
had been lingering speculations about what will be the permanent resting home
of the former President who has since leaving office been putting up at the
Ridge residence of his wife, which also doubled as offices to the 31st
December Women’s Movement.
The
official sources confirm that the house is weeks away from completion.
But
Chronicle says it can also reveal that the East Legon house, about which it
reported early this year, is also nearing completion and speculation is that
Rawlings will snub the Fafraha house and eventually put up at East Legon, which
is safely located in the capital.
More…/
Police under fire as Harvard law student lashes
out
A Ghanaian studying at America’s prestigious
Harvard Law School has lashed out at the Ghana Police Service’s (GPS) record,
the police abuse of power, the absence of the separation of powers in the
prosecuting process, the “gross” inefficient use of resources and the feeble
attempt at reforming the complaints procedure suggested by Sam Awortwe,
Director, Legal and Prosecutions at the GPS.
These
comments by Raymond Atugubu, also Projects Director at the NGO, Legal Resources
Centre, came in a paper delivered on the second day of the Police and Policing
Conference in Accra.
The
young lawyer supported the view of the elderly retired senior police officer,
Anthony Deku when he said that the Ghanaian policing institutions were in a
worse state than in late colonial times, in contrast to much of the ritual
colonial condemnation rhetoric heard in the Hall on the opening day of the
conference.
He
said the police have wide powers often hidden in many pieces of legislation,
which they can use to hinder effective monitoring of their activities. This was
partly due to the lackluster development and interpretation of the law by
Ghana’s legal profession.
He
did not accept the common defence of the GPS that they were poorly funded.
He
cited cases of unnecessary arrest and irrelevant functions such as private debt
collections as wasteful of resources.
GRi…/
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No positive change so far
The Deputy General Secretary of the National
Reform Party (NRP), Ms Emelia Arthur, has stated that, despite the popular
demand for positive change and obvious failure of structural adjustment policy,
nothing positive has happened in the Ghanaian society.
Ms
Arthur, according to ‘The Evening News’ story, said this is evident in the
country's acceptance of stringent "adjustment" conditionalities
associated with the HIPC initiative of the World Bank and the African Growth
and Opportunities Act (AGOA) of the USA.
According
to her, the country is yet to see initiatives in support of local productivity
since current steps being taken have resulted in privatisation of water and
power, state-owned banks and withdrawal of state support for tertiary education
and health care.
Ms
Arthur made the remarks at a leadership, human rights and democratic training
course in Accra.
She
observed that, recent national crisis is a reflection of the failure of
"Structural adjustment" policies adopted under the guidance of World
Bank/IMF in the past 20 years.
More…/
Dan Markin moves quick to settle debt
Dan Markin, chairman of the Democratic People's
Party (DPP) saved himself from further embarrassment when moments before the
Police and Prosecutors from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust
(SSNIT) moved in to effect his arrest, he called to be allowed to settle his
debt.
The Evening News says a source at SSNIT
disclosed last Friday that as officials from the Trust began to trace the
whereabouts of Markin, a telephone rang at one of their offices in Tema and the
caller identified himself as Markin and pleaded earnestly for time to hand over
a cheque meant for the settlement of his debt owed to SSNIT.
The
source said some few hours after, Markin sent a cheque for ¢26 million to the
Tema district office of SSNIT to settle his indebtedness.
Markin
who was once considered a powerful figure in the NDC government had earlier
issued a similar cheque, which was dishonoured.
According
to the source the current cheque issued on August 17, was however honoured when
presented to the bank.
A
legal expert at SSNIT told the paper that even though, Markin will no longer be
arrested, he would still be given a date to appear in court.
"When
he appears in court, prosecutors are likely to plead with the judge to revoke
the arrest warrant. Until that is done the warrant can still be enforced,"
he said adding that the entire charges against Markin could as well be
discontinued.
Markin's
arrest was ordered by a Tema Circuit Court (Civil Division) following his
failure to appear before it to answer charges on two counts of failing to pay
social security contributions of his employees, contrary to section 22(1) (2)
and 26(1) (a) (1) of PNDC Law 247 of 1991.
GRi…/
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Amandi’s lawyer was absent
The Dispatch reports that John Frimpong Armah,
Counsel for Aluminium
Enterprises Limited (AEL) Managing Director, Boniface K. Amandi, could not
appear before the Osu Community Tribunal over the case in which the accused is
facing criminal charges of tax evasion to the tune of 736.4 million cedis.
A
letter signed by Frimpong-Armah to the court stated that his absence was due to
“a very serious problem at home where my senior sister is in a semi-comma and I
have to find, a hospital for her to be cared for.”
He
therefore pleaded with the court, presided over by Nana George Donkoh, to
adjourn the case to August 27.
However,
Assistant Commissioner Dubik Mahama Yakubu, counsel for the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS), the initiators of the action, indicated to the court that he
could not be in court on that date, because he will be participating in the
Commonwealth Tax Administrators Conference, being hosted in Ghana.
He
accordingly submitted that the case be adjourned to September 5, which was
upheld by the court.
Amandi
is facing charges of failure to furnish returns to the IRS for assessment of
his Personal Income Tax (PAYE), as well as failure to pay Corporate Taxes
respectively and their penalties contrary to the Internal Revenue Act, 2000 and
Income Tax Decree, SMCD 5 of 1975.
GRi…/
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Chiefs should be diplomats
The Commissioner for Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Francis Emile Short on Tuesday said traditional
rulers can be veritable instruments for resolving ethnic and racial conflicts,
writes The Accra Mail.
He
therefore called on chiefs to institute mechanisms that could overcome tribal
intolerance, inferiority and superiority complexes that plague the country.
Short
was speaking on the topic "Prevention of Ethnic and Racial Conflicts
Through the Creation of Mediation Conciliation and Social Dialogue
Bodies," at a two-day national seminar on racism, tribalism, xenophobia
and related subjects that can lead to intolerance.
The
Commissioner urged chiefs to consider instituting internal diplomatic cultural
exchanges to bridge the gap between their cultural differences, suggesting that
it could help curtail inter-tribal prejudices.
"Let
our traditional leaders take up the staff of new cultural leadership and forge
genuine multiculturalism in Ghana and Africa, and the people will emulate the
good example of their traditional leadership. This, in my view, will be a
practical and effective way of preventing, managing and resolving some of the
conflicts that plague our continent."
GRi…/
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Osafo Maafo condemns the HIPC initiative
The
Weekly Insight says for the first time in seven months, Hon Yaw Osafo Maafo,
the Minister of Finance has admitted that the adoption of the HIPC initiative
could have a negative impact on the national economy. He did not elaborate.
Contents of a Memorandum of
Understanding with Samsung Corporation signed by the Minister admitted,
according to Insight that "the application of Paris Club debt rescheduling
and HIPC debt relief to Samsung Loans will have serious negative impact both on
Samsung Corporation… and the economy of Ghana"
The paper submits that in the past Mr
Maafo had insisted that HIPC has no negative sides persistently claiming that
the initiative is only about debt relief and poverty alleviation.
Mr Maafo's mantra had also been repeated
on many occasions by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister with responsibility for Regional Integration and Economic Planning
and he has even claimed that the adoption of the HIPC initiative will
contribute significantly to poverty reduction and that Ghana would get reliefs
in a matter of months.
Well placed sources however say that
Ghana is not likely to get any HIPC relief before January 2002.
A number of organisations including the
Peoples National Convention (PNC), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the
Great Consolidate Popular Party (GCPP), the Socialist Forum of Ghana, the
Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
GRi…/
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No
phones in district capitals
Land Dispute at Madina Zongo
The Daily Guide reports that seven out of the eleven
district capitals in the Western Region are without telephone exchange facilities.
The
situation, according to the Western Regional Minister, Joseph Boahen Aidoo,
hampers communication, which is vital for the development of the government's
decentralisation programme.
Aidoo
revealed these when he addressed the opening session of a two-day workshop
organised by Ghana Telecom in Takoradi on Monday.
The
Regional Minister appealed to Ghana Telecom to extend its services to the
districts not yet connected to ensure that potential investors and other
economic activities are attracted to the affected areas.
More…/
Land Dispute at Madina Zongo
The stretch of land between the Redco Flats and
the Faith Community for some time now, has finally ended up in court.
Whereas
the Zongo Community wants the land to serve as an open place for social
gatherings, the Baptist Church wants it for a clinic and workshop to train the
youth.
According
to Rev. Dr. John Mensah Oduro, Supervising Pastor of the Baptist Church and
Headmaster of the Complex Schools there, he had acquired the land for 50 years
on lease from the Lands Commission in 1983 and had established a school there
in 1989.
He
alleged that the school, which started as a nursery with two children, now has
a senior secondary school with a population of 1,500 students. Rev. Dr Mensah
said he intends to start a university in October, this year.
He
said the land has become a bone - of contention between the School and the
Zongo Community, leading to clashes between the two factions in which property
worth millions of cedis were destroyed.
Rev.
Dr Mensah said several reports have been made to the Madina police but no
action has so far been taken.
GRi…/
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I am the Central Regional choice – Musah
The Central Regional Youth Organiser of the
NPP, Mohammed Musah, alias ‘94’, who is contesting the chairmanship of the party
at the impending National Delegates Congress on August 25, says he is the best
choice among the field of contestants, reports The Independent.
Speaking
to the paper on his chances on Saturday, Musah said he hopes to sweep all the
votes of delegates from the Central Region, which is his base, even though
another contestant also hails from the region.
“For
the Central Region I can assure you that I am very well on the ground and that
no candidate can contest me there. The other candidates should forget about the
votes from the region,” he maintained.
He
was also sure of winning majority of the votes from the three northern regions,
as he is a northerner.
“My
analysis of the situation on the ground in the three northern regions shows
that I am clearly ahead of all the other contestants there, and in view of this
I am hoping to sweep the polls by not less than 57 per cent of the total votes
cast on Saturday,” he said with confidence.
More…/
Konadu’s 31st owes ¢336m
Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings’
31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) is facing an ejection threat
for its inability to pay rent on its headquarters in the plush Ridge
Residential Area in Accra for the last four years.
The
DWM, which dominated the political landscape of this country for a greater part
of the Rawlings era, with its Gari factories and pre-school projects is said to
be in dire straits.
The
Independents says information available to it point to the fact that DWM owes a
huge amount of money in rent for the period stated.
Conservative
estimates put the rent around 336,000,000 million cedis, the figure, based on
the fact that rent on houses in the Ridge area go for about 1,000 U.S. dollars
a month, according to some key players in the real estate sector.
The
landlord, the paper gathered is no more in a compromising mood to re-schedule
the payment of the rent.
Attempts
by the landlord to get the DWM to pay the accumulated rent had always met some
executive bluff from the hierarchy of the Movement, according to the
Independent.
GRi…/
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