Radio presenter on remand
Bishop Duncan-Williams finds love again.
Herbal breakthrough for AIDS in sight
Tsatsu before tribunal
˘160b to be spent on HIV patients
50kg ‘Gold dust’ seized – At KIA
Radio presenter on remand
A 25-year-old radio presenter at Wa in the Upper West Region has been remanded in prison custody for two weeks by a community tribunal for allegedly raping a 16-year-old Junior Secondary School (J.S.S) student on a studio floor, The Mirror reports.
The plea of Kennedy Mornah of ‘Radio Progress’ was not taken by the chairman of the tribunal, Mr. P.E Gaylong, who remanded him to re-appear on December 4.
The prosecutor, Inspector Joseph Mantey, told the community tribunal that Mornah is a presenter at a private radio station at Wa while the victim is a JSS student living with her parents at Wapaane, a suburb of Wa.
The prosecution said during the month of April, Mornah who was on duty at about 8:00 pm saw the victim within the vicinity of the station and beckoned her into the studio.
Inspector Mantey told the tribunal that Monarh gave money to the victim to go and buy him some cooked rice from a nearby spot and when she returned with the food, he lured her into the studio.
The prosecutor said the girl innocently entered the studio with the meal and Monarh who followed grabbed her and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her on the studio floor.
He said after accomplishing his desire Monarh warned the victim never to mention it to her parents else she would die, and for fear of death, she failed to disclose the ordeal to her parents.
The prosecutor said in August, the victim's mother detected that her daughter was pregnant and when she confronted her she narrated the ordeal she underwent in the hands of Mornah on the studio floor.
The mother of the victim, the prosecutor said, reported the matter to the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the police who issued a medical form to her to attend hospital.
When the victim was medically examined at the Wa Regional Hospital it was detected that she was carrying a 20-week-old pregnancy.
Inspector Mantey said when Mornah had a hint that the case has been reported to the police, he deserted his post and went into hiding until October 5, when he resurfaced in the company of his counsel.
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Bishop Duncan-Williams finds love again.
Whoever doubts the potency of prayer, especially in the resolution of problems and overcoming difficulties, should fine out from Bishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, the Presiding Bishop of the Action Faith Christian Ministry International, in Accra says the Mirror.
Bishop Duncan-Williams, whose marriage was wrecked early this year, did not give up hope and went down on his knees, fasted and prayed to get his estranged wife back.
His persistence in prayer, which was complemented by those from his church pastors and congregation, both local and international, have finally yielded positive results.
As a result of these intercessory prayers the Bishop has been finally reconciled to his wife, Francisca, whose divorce from the Bishop was made public early this year.
Briefing The Mirror, a source close the Bishop said the divorce of the man of God and his wife had been of great concern to some international figures who are good friends to the Bishop, prominent among them being T.B. Jakes and Morris Cerrullo, both renowned American evangelist.
The source disclosed that, "as a result, the pastors started praying and making moves to get the two together again. Their moves were also complemented by that of local pastor like Bishop Agyin-Asare, Dr Mensah Otabil among others."
According to the source, "In April when the divorce came up, the Bishop did not give up and urged the congregation of his Ministry not to take sides and that they should go on their knees and pray.
He said "things started turning around in September according to a prophecy made by a prophetess earlier that things would work in favour of the Bishop within nine months, just like the way Jonah survived in the belly of the whale".
"And true to the prediction, the reconciliatory moves were brokered and the couple renewed their vows and had their marriage blessed by T. B. Jakes. They later exchanged rings."
The Bishop, according to the source, returned to Ghana with his wife of 22 years and told the congregation last Sunday about the reunion.
GRi…/
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Herbal breakthrough for AIDS in sight
Ninety-six HIV/AIDS patients selected from Ashanti, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions to undergo a test treatment with herbal medicine have responded perfectly and are all doing very well. After one year of consistent treatment, the immune systems of the patients have improved tremendously.
Out of the number, five discontinued with the treatment and two died in the cause of treatment because their cases were terminal.
He said the programme was initiated by UNAIDS after visiting a herbal centre in one of the regions in 1999 and was satisfied with the health status of HIV/AID patients who were on herbal treatment.
In the same year, therefore, UNAIDS approached the centre to find out if it could assist People Living with AIDS, (PLWA) with herbal treatment.
Between June and July 1999, the patients were selected for the test treatment, which ended between August and September 2000.
The director said UNAIDS gave the centre an amount of 8 million cedis for the exercise but since the centre itself had not developed any herbal treatment for the disease, four herbalists who have been dispensing herbal preparations to AIDs patients were contacted.
On how the selection was made, he said, PLWA who heard about the exercise visited the centre and a number of 96 patients were registered and were grouped into four and shared among the herbalists.
Twenty four of the patients went to a herbalist at Akwatia, anther 24 were given to a herbalist in Kumasi and the remaining 48 sent to the Mampong Centre where two other herbalists took care of them on weekly basis.
“After one year of consistent use of the herbal preparation, the health status of 85 of the patients out of the 96 improved. We monitored their health development almost everyday and were happy with improvement.”
“We are happy to note also that all the known symptoms associated with the disease reduced in most of the patients and had their poor health status improved considerably.
The World Health Organization on hearing of the encouraging report has released an additional amount of 94 million cedis to Nouguchi Memorial Institute in Accra to have the CD4/CD8 viral load test performed on all the patients.
At the moment all the selected HIV/AIDS patients who participated in the exercise have had their blood samples taken to the Nouguchi Memorial Institute for testing and according to the director of the Centre, the results would be out early next year to determine whether or not the victims have completely been cured.
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Individuals and property owners are now bent on taking the fight against armed robbery to another dimension. A good number of them have taken steps to electrify their homes, offices and properties, because that is the only way they can deter robbers.
However, those who use electricity to ensure security, stand the risk of being charged with manslaughter if anybody gets electrocuted and there are facts to show that there was reckless disregard for human life.
This fact was made known by police sources at the Police Headquarters in Accra, when “The Spectator” called to find out about laws regarding electrification of property as a means of protection.
The sources said, “There is no specific law or laws
regarding the electrification of property. However, if somebody dies and facts
show that there was reckless disregard for human life, the property owner runs
the risk of being charged with manslaughter.”
Electrification of property has its own dangers as innocent people, especially, visitors who cannot read warning signs can be electrocuted.
For their part, officials of the Public Relations Department of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) who spoke to “The Spectator,” said the company does not give approval for anybody to electrify his or her property, be it an office or a commercial house.
GRi…/
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Tsatsu before tribunal
The Ghanaian Times carries that the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, was on Friday arraigned before an Accra Circuit Tribunal charged with one count of causing financial loss of ˘2.1 million to the State.
The former GNPC boss is said to have by-passed the GNPC’s Board of Directors and on his own, committed the GNPC to guarantee a loan to a private cocoa company between 1987 and 1991. He pleaded not guilty to causing loss by carelessness to public property.
The tribunal, chaired by Mr Imoro Ziblim, granted him a 500 million cedis self -cognisance bail until December 17.
Presenting the facts, Police Superintendent Prosper Agblor, said that the government as the complainant in the case caused a forensic audit to be carried out during which time it was discovered that Tsikata circumvented the laid down corporate objectives of the GNPC.
He bye-passed the Board of Directors and on his own, committed the GNPC to guarantee a loan of 5.5 million cedis and 1,419,123.23 French francs granted by Caise Francaise de Development, a French financial institution.
The loan was given to Valley Farm, a private Cocoa growing company to which GNPC held initial 17.39 percent equity shares.
Supt. Agblor said that Valley Farm, after collecting the said loan, used it in rehabilitating three cocoa farms at Assin Manso in the Central Region, Dadieso and Nyankoman in the Western Region.
Valley Farm, he said, defaulted repaying the loan because it was in distress, so the accused without prior approval of the Board, paid the principal loan plus interest totalling 6,919, 123.23 French Francs (˘2,153,369,531.64) out of GNPC’s Operational Funds.
The act adversely affected the financial position of the GNPC, hence a loss to the State.
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˘160b to be spent on HIV patients
The country may have to spend about 160 billion cedis to cater for over 817,000 AIDS patients in the year 2014. Within the period, a total of 1.2 million people may die of the AIDS disease if the country hits the prevalence rate of nine percent.
These were announced by Mr Kofi Abinah, Eastern Regional Population Advisory Committee (RPAC) at Koforidua on Friday.
Currently, ‘he said Eastern Region has a prevalent rate of 5.3 per cent as against 4.6 per cent by Volta Region and Ashanti Region 2.7 percent. He said a total of 43,587 people have since 1986 contracted the AIDS disease in Ghana.
Currently, Mr Abinah announced a total of 350,000 people are moving about in the country with the HIV virus, declaring that, these are the most dangerous people.
He said, the pattern of acquisition has not changed and Ghana stands the risk of producing about 390,000 orphans in the year 2014. He said Ghana’s population, which is expected to hit 25 million by 2014 may halt at 23 million by the HIV/AIDS disease.
The Regional Population Officer announced that even though a total of 13 million condoms were sold last year, the prevalent rate continues to rise at an alarming rate, saying that everybody is vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS disease.
GRi…/
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50kg ‘Gold dust’ seized – At KIA
Security personnel have intercepted 50 kilogrammes of dust suspected to be gold at the AFGO Cargo Village at the Kotoka International Airport, according to the Daily Graphic.
No one has claimed ownership of the gold dust, which was concealed in two fertiliser bags and hidden in a steel trunk destined for Amsterdam. Swissair, the airline whose tag was on the trunk, has denied knowledge of the cargo and described the tag as fake.
Mr Alex K. Yeboah, Security/Monitoring Co-ordinator at the AFGO Village, said in an interview that security personnel identified the cargo about three weeks ago and suspected it to be narcotic drugs. He said the monitoring took that long because they wanted to make sure who was trying to send the cargo to Amsterdam.
Mr Yeboah said the security team comprising personnel from the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Narcotics Control Board, AFGO Security and Aviation Security among others, opened the box on Wednesday only to find that it contained gold dust.
According to Mr Yeboah, AFGO has decided to conduct check on the contents of cargo being exported or imported so that illicit goods are neither sent out nor brought into the Country.
In recent times, there have been several interceptions of illicit drugs in particular at the AFGO village.
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Four persons, including a fetish priest, have been arrested by the police at Odortia, a village near Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, for allegedly subjecting a woman to trial by ordeal for about a month. The victim, Ruth Attoh, 40, was accused of being a witch and subjected to severe physical torture.
Those arrested are Norvi Agama, the fetish priest, Emmanuel Attoh, father of the victim, Naomi Attoh and Allotey Acquah, sister and brother respectively of the victim.
Ruth was reportedly asked to squat beside a deep hole for days with thick rope tied around her neck, while the other end of the rope was pegged down to a stick in the hole.
Whenever she attempts to stand up, the rope squeezes her neck, forcing her back into the squatting position. She was said to have remained in that position from 6:30 am to 9:00 am daily.
According to sources, after the third day, the woman finally bowed to pressure from the priest and “admitted” being a witch before she was freed to begin another ordeal.
This time, the woman, whose head was shaved with crude objects, was subjected to servitude on the farm and in the house of the fetish priest, who asked the other suspects to buy certain items to exorcise the evil spirit in her. She was said to have worked on the fetish priest’s cassava farm until her husband traced her to Odortia and rescued her.
Inspector Owusu Anaman of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Ghana Police Service, who confirmed this, said soon after the woman arrived in Accra with her husband, her brother Allotey spotted her at the Chorkor Lorry Station, and immediately pounced on her, in an attempt to force her back to the shrine at Odortia.
The ensuring struggle between them attracted the police to the scene, leading to the arrest of Allotey and later the other suspects.
Inspector Anaman said about three months ago, the woman’s niece, who is the daughter of Naomi, got missing from their home in Accra.
She returned after sometime and told the family that while she was away, she attended a church at Mamprobi in Accra, where she was told that her aunt Ruth was a witch, and that Ruth had transferred witchcraft to her. The family immediately summoned Ruth to a meeting, but she denied being a witch.
Later they dragged her to a shrine at Pokuase where the oracle declared her innocent. Not satisfied, they forced her to the shrine of Agama. Inspector Anaman said the suspects will be arraigned before court next week.
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The Association of Private Lotto Operators has appealed to the government to clarify what appears to be a contradiction in the appointment of a Game Commissioner and the stance of the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs Grace Coleman, to abolish private lotto in the country.
In a letter of appreciation to the President for appointing Mr Alex Bafour-Gyimah as Game Commissioner, the association’s spokesman, Mr Seth Amoani, said if the Game Commissioner has been appointed to resolve all conflicts in the lotto industry and to license lottery operators, then what the deputy minister has set out to do is in conflict with the law.
The letter pointed out that such a move would lead to loss of jobs, which no government should conspicuously do. The association pointed out that already there are a lot of people on the streets and it would not be prudent to push more people there.
Mr Amoani, therefore, called on the government to clarify its position on the operators of private lottery in view of the appointment of the Games Commissioner.
GRi…/
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