Fitting rest at last for eight top military
officers
Fitting rest at last for eight top military
officers
Hundreds
of mourners thronged the Garrison Methodist/Presbyterian Church at the 37
Military Hospital in Accra on Thursday to pay their last respects to the seven
Generals and one Colonel, who were executed by firing squad in the wake of the
June 4, 1979 coup d’etat.
The occasion was the handing-over of the mortal
remains of the late senior military officers, including three former Heads of
State, who were originally buried in unmarked graves at a public cemetery at
Adoagyiri, near Nsawam, to their families for fitting re-burials.
They were Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa
Afrifa, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, General Frederick William Kwasi
Akuffo, all former Heads of State, and Major General Robert Ebenezer Abossey
Kotei. The rest were Major General Edward Kwaku Utuka, Rear Admiral Joy Kobla
Amedume, Air Vice Marshal George Yaw Boakye and Colonel Roger Joseph Atoge Tipelli
Felli.
The ceremony was climaxed with a
non-denominational memorial service, which was attended by people from all
walks of life.
The mourners included the Chairman of the
Council of State, Professor Alexander Kwapong, the new Executive Secretary of
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr Mohammed Ibn
Chambas; Ministers of State and Members of Parliament, Service Commanders and
other senior military officers.
Also present were the spouses of six of the
deceased and their surviving children. Draped in the national colours, the
coffins were ushered into the church room by pall-bearers as early as 8.30 am
amidst wailing by some family members, who, for obvious reasons, could not
control their tears.
The service was preceded by the handing-over of
the mortal remains of the late military officers to their widows and heads of
families. It was indeed quite a moving scene as people broke down
uncontrollably when Mrs Christine Afrifa, Mrs Faustina Acheampong, Mrs Emelia
Akuffo, Mrs Ataa Boakye, Mrs Justina Utuka and Mrs Rama Felli were called one
after the other to officially receive the remains of their late husbands from
Air Marshal M.A. Otu, Chairman of the Government Committee on Exhumation and
Re-burial.
The biographies of the departed military
officers were then read by representatives of their families after which
Lieutenant General E.A. Erskine, vice-chairman of the government committee,
read an emotionally touching tribute to the eight officers on behalf of Retired
Commissioned Military Officers and the Veterans Association of Ghana.
In a sermon, the Reverend Venerable Colonel
John K. Otoo, who led the 12-member of officiating clergy, called on Ghanaians
to eschew negative attitudes to make the government’s effort at reconciling the
nation forward. In attendance was the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band.
Lt. Gen. Afrifa was born at Asante Mampong on
April 11, 1936 with General Acheampong being born on September on September 23,
1931 at Hwidiem Atwima in the Ashanti Region.
Gen Akuffo was born on March 21, 1937 at
Akropong Akuapem whiles Major Gen. Kotei, a Ga, was born on July 17, 1937 in
Cameroon. Major Gen. Utuka was born on January 27, 1937 at Likpe-mate in the
Volta Region.
Rear Admiral Amedume, Air Vice Marshal Boakye
and Col. Felli were born at Tamale, Ejisu and Navrongo on October, 1941,
December 25, 1938 and May 2, 1941 respectively.
More…/
The remains of two of the eight senior military
officers who were executed following the June 4, 1979 Military Uprising were on
Thursday laid to rest at the Military Cemetery at Osu in Accra. They are Major
General Robert Ebenezer Abossey Kotei and Air Vice Marshal George Yaw Boakye.
The remains of the generals which were exhumed
at a public cemetery at Adoagyiri in the Eastern Region on August 8, 2001, were
handed over to the families of the deceased at the Garrison
Methodist/Presbyterian Church at the 37 Military Hospital, after a
non-denominational church service on Thursday.
At exactly 1.20 pm, the remains of the two
officers arrived at the cemetery in two separate military hearses led by police
and military escorts.
Draped in the national colours, the caskets
bearing the remains of the two generals were lowered into their graves close to
each other after the sounding of the last post amidst wailing by some of the
family members and sympathizers who thronged the cemetery to witness the solemn
re-burial ceremony.
After a brief burial service at the graveside
led by Major David Bangsibu of the St. Catherine Catholic Church in Accra, a
two-minute silence was observed as a sign of the mourners’ last respect for the
two departed officers.
Eight official wreaths were laid, the first of
which was laid by the Chairman of the Committee on Exhumation and Reburial, Air
Marshal M.A. Otu, on behalf of the members of the committee and Veterans
Association of Ghana (VAG).
The second was laid by the vice-chairman of the
committee, General A.S.K. Erskine, and the rest were laid by the wives of the
senior officers, a representative each of their children and a representative
each of their families.
Among the large crowd of mourners who thronged
the cemetery to witness the solemn ceremony were the members of the committee,
Hon Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural
Development and Mr Kwame Pianim, a renowned economist.
More…/
Health Service administrators have warned that
some health institutions may be compelled to close down if immediate steps are
not taken to check the mass exodus of health professionals. The administrators
said the brain drain threatens the strategic objectives of the Ministry of
Health and the Ghana Health Service.
Consequently, they have called on the
government to implement the recommendations of the Ghana Universal Salary
Structure, otherwise known as the Pricewaterhouse Report, without any further
delay to help address the problem.
In a communiqué issued at the end of their
annual national conference at Sunyani, the administrators also called on the
Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to negotiate special conditions
of service for health staff to attract and retain them.
It also called for the institution of special
packages, such as non-payment of rent and utilities, to those working in
deprived areas. The communiqué expressed concern about the delay in the
implementation of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, and
called for its speedy implementation.
It noted that the separation of the Ghana
Health Service and the Teaching Hospitals from the Ministry of Health would
lead to greater efficiency and direction in health service delivery.
The communiqué appreciated the initiatives of
the ministry to introduce ambulance services in Accra, Kumasi and
Sekondi-Takoradi and recommended that the service be replicated in all other
regional capitals. It called for the development of the regional district
transport workshops within the ministry.
The communiqué urged the ministry to replace
over-aged vehicles and also increase the existing fleet of vehicles to improve
coverage and overall service delivery. The health administrators discussed the
rampant stealing of motorbikes meant to enhance health delivery, and called for
a concerted action to combat the problem.
The administrators reminded the people that
HIV/AIDS is real, and since it has no cure, all should be wary of their sexual
habits.
More…/
The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) has endorsed measures of the National Executive Committee
(NEC) of the party to streamline the activities of the Young Elephants
Movement.
A statement signed by the Regional Secretary,
Mr Sam Cudjoe, said the party will not hesitate to sanction anybody who flouts
its constitution with impunity. It, therefore, called on all party members to
be law abiding and abide by the constitution of the NPP to foster unity and
cohesion within its ranks.
The statement recalled an ugly development that
emerged among some members of the movement, which resulted in a media war and
said the regional secretariat moved swiftly to resolve the issue.
It said it was in that direction that the
national executive committee also decided that the movement’s activities should
be in line with the party’s constitution, a decision, which was also endorsed
by the national council, the highest decision-making body of the NPP.
The statement said the regional branch of the
party finds it absurd that some people are claiming ownership of the movement
that belongs to members of the party.
It made it clear that “Alhaji Kwasi Yeboah, the
supposed National Chairman of the movement and District Chief Executive for
Kwabre, was given the nod to organize the movement due to his then position as
the Regional NPP Organiser, and as such the party had never inaugurated any
national or regional executive of the Young Elephant Movement”.
The statement said the NPP has its own
constitutionally accepted structures, which regulate the election of officers
and as such, the party will not be intimated to accept what is contradictory to
its constitution.
“The party’s constitution stipulates that there
should be national, regional, constituency and polling station youth organizers
to manage the activities of the youth in the party,” it said.
The statement reminded members of the Youth
Wing that the national youth delegates’ congress will be held early next year
and that those desirous of contesting national youth executive positions will
be informed to contact the various regional secretaries for nomination forms.
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The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has asked
chiefs to take stock of their activities in order to determine whether they
were able to fulfil the aspirations of their people.
He asked the chiefs to find out whether, as
leaders, they were able to initiate any programmes to solve the education,
health and other social problems of their people. The Asantehene made the call
when he addressed separate end-of-year review meetings of the Ashanti Regional
House of Chiefs and the Asanteman Council in Kumasi.
He expressed concern about the fact that most
of the chiefs failed to mobilize their people to contribute to the Otumfuo
Education Fund. Otumfuo Osei Tutu also asked chiefs in the Ashanti and Brong
Ahafo regions and in Worawora in the Volta Region to select at least six
children who would be sponsored under the Otumfuo Education Fund up to the
university to provide a cream of human resource base for Ashanti in particular
and the country as a whole.
He said under the new Health Fund to be
established next year, it would be obligatory for each chief to contribute a
specific levy towards it. He said the Health Fund would be the basis for the
establishment of a viable health insurance scheme to cater adequately for the
health needs of the people.
“The health needs of every citizen, whether
rich or poor, educated or not, and working or unemployed, need to be catered
for and none should be discriminated against because of his social status or
religion,” the Ashantehene said.
He also expressed concern about the failure of
some chiefs to account for stool lands on behalf of the Golden Stool.
He, therefore, charged all chiefs who are
taking care of lands for the Golden Stool to properly account for their
stewardship.
More…/
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has
commissioned a team of Ghanaian engineers and technicians to manufacture 50
rice threshers locally to help improve the quality of rice production in the
country.
In addition, the ministry has successfully
reactivated the boiler at the Nasia Rice Project at Tamale, which was declared
unserviceable for a long period, to boost rice production in the Northern
Region.
The sector Minister, Major Courage Quashigah
(rtd), who disclosed this in an interview, said these are some of the measures
instituted to improve the quality and volume of rice production locally to help
reduce the country’s over dependence on imported rice.
Ghana’s rice imports for 2000 stood at $100
million, which the ministry plans to reverse. He said the ministry is
determined to encourage the cultivation and consumption of locally produced
rice through the application of appropriate technology.
Accordingly, he said, the ministry has
commissioned local technicians and engineers to manufacture rice threshers to
ensure the production of quality rice to meet the taste and expectations of
Ghanaians who are so attracted to imported rice as a result of its attractive
packaging.
Major Quashigah said the engineers and
technicians have already produced two of such threshers, which are in use, and
explained that the additional 50 threshers are meant to facilitate rice
production and make locally-produced rice not only attractive in packaging
terms but acceptable in taste to the consumer.
He said one of the threshers has been sent to
the Asutuare and Kpong Irrigation projects while the other has been allocated
to the Northern Region.
The minister said both exhibitors and visitors
to the just-ended AGRIFEX 2001 held at the Ghana International Trade Fair
Centre were amazed at the samples of the new rice milling machines, which were
on display and said those clearly demonstrated the efficiency and ingenuity of
Ghanaian engineers and technicians.
Major Quashigah said what was quite revealing
about the boiler at the Nasia Rice Project was the fact that it took only five
days for an engineer sent there by the ministry to assess at first hand the
problem with the facility, to reactivate the machine that had broken down for a
long period of time.
Again, he said, a team of experts dispatched to
Kumasi has successfully put to use some silos, which have not been operational
for the past 20 years. The minister said other interventions have been planned
to facilitate and improve rice production in the country on sustainable basis
to boost agricultural productions.
GRi…/
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Secondary trading and listing of the Government
of Ghana Index-Linked Bonds (GGILB) will commence on Friday on the Ghana Stock
Exchange (GSE).
This follows the approval by the Governing
Council of the Exchange for the listing of GGILBs of ¢949.43 billion and
subsequent issues of the GGILBs after the initial listing. According to a
statement issued by the Exchange, the listing would mark a major milestone in
the development of the GSE and the capital market.
“The issuance of the GGILBs will surely deepen
the debt market end of the stock market, set new benchmarks for future
corporate and other government bonds as well as enhance activity on the
market,” the statement said.
The current issues are three-year inflation
protected Government of Ghana bonds, which would be repaid by the government in
2004. Interest would be paid semi-annually. The GGILBs have a real coupon rate
of 5-6 per cent.
“The principal and each interest payment will
be adjusted in line with changes in the Consumer Price Index to take account of
inflation after the GGILBs are issued.”
GGILBs would be traded over the counter and
would be carried out five times a week by registered dealers called government
securities dealers. GGILB trading would be settled on the same day. The
Exchange said 18 dealers have so far registered to carry out secondary market
activity in the GGILBs.
The statement said the issuance of the bonds
started on September 7 and represented the government’s efforts to restructure the
domestic debt.
It said it was expected that about 50 per cent
of domestic debt of about ¢6.1 million would be converted under the exercise
and listed on the GSE. About ¢1 trillion of the GGILB are expected to be issued
and listed by the end of December.
More…/
The
Eastern Regional Secretariat of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU)
has warned of a possible clash between its members and those of the
Co-operative Transport Service (CTS) if the New Juabeng Municipal Assembly
(NJMA) allocates any portion of the Koforidua lorry park to the CTS.
This warning was given at a press conference
addressed by officials of the Regional Secretariat on the impasse between the
GPRTU and CTS. “We are being pushed to the wall and if it continues, we shall
react appropriately,” said Mr A.Y. Oppong, Senior Industrial Relations Officer
of the GPRTU Regional Secretariat.
Mr Oppng said that, “in this era of rule of
law, we of the GPRTU will not allow anybody to trample on our rights.”
For his part, Mr G.N. Aryeh, Regional and
National vice-Chairman of the GPRTU, in a statement read for him, accused
officials of the NJMA of taking sides in the dispute. Mr Aryeh said that for
years now there had been a bitter rivalry between the GPRTU and the CTS over
the use of the lorry stations in the municipality.
To ensure peace, the New Juabeng Municipal
Chief Executive (MCE), Mr K. Adjei Boateng on July 9, this year inaugurated a
committee “to establish a congenial atmosphere for the two organizations to
operate side-by-side in all the lorry stations within the municipality without
fear of intimidation from any quarters by ensuring equity and fairness in all
the deliberations of the committee”.
He said that after sitting for five days, the
committee recommended, among other things, that the lorry parks should be
shared based on the fleet of vehicles each has, and that the two unions should
not be near to, or face each other.
Mr Aryeh said that for the recommendation to work effectively, the
committee urged the
NJMA to set up a management committee to control the affairs of the
lorry parks without
delay.
A few days after the management committee was appointed, the Municipal
Assembly by-
passed the committee and accepted an application from the CTS and
allocated a store
directly in front of the Koforidua- Madina station of the GPRTU, for it
to use as an office
and a space in front of the store as a station. That, he said, was in
total violation of the
recommendations of the committee.
Mr Salifu Alhassan, Principal Industrial Relations Officer, urged the
Assembly to comply
strictly with the recommendations of its committee particularly
paragraphs four, five, and
six of the recommendations.
More.../
Residents
of the Sakumono Estates were compelled to control the use of electricity during
the Christmas holidays because of the failure of the Electricity Company of
Ghana (ECG) to credit them with the pre-paid metres.
Sources at the Tema ECG; office told the GNA
that the problem was due to a communication failure which made it impossible
for ECG computers at the Tema Central System to automatically process payments
made by customers.
While some of the residents stayed in darkness
because they had already consumed the emergency credit of ¢7,800 provided by
the ECG on the pre-paid metres, others watched their metres which kept on
flashing the red light and turned off lights and some electrical appliances to
save power.
The red lights on the pre-paid metre flash when
one’s credit falls below ¢10,000 and the emergency credit is activated by
pressing a blue button on the meter when power goes off completely.
Many residents who came to the ECG cash office
to find out what was happening, said that they bought power against the
Christmas holidays as far back as December 20, but their purchases had still
not reflected on their pre-paid metres as at early Thursday.
Miss Odette Kpodoe, an angry one among them,
demanded that the ECG should revert to the old system if it was not ready for
the new technology it had introduced.
The situation was good relief for neighbours of
the noisiest residents, whose sound systems remained silent, but it was an
embarrassment to others who thought that their image was dented since it
created the impression that they could not afford to buy power.
Mr Charles Nii Okai, another resident, said:
“ECG was chasing customers to settle bills but with the current situation, it
looks as if we are going to pay in advance and rather chase the ECG to give us
power, if the problem occur often”.
An ECG source said that the problem, which
began on December 24, was due to the failure of one of its radios but added
that the problem had been solved and appealed to the residents to be patient
since ECG had started crediting them with the amount paid.
ECG installed 3000 Zytec Money-Link pre-paid
metres at Sakumono Estate in mid-October and was expected to cover communities
15, 18, 19, 20 and 21.
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The James Town Traditional Council in Accra has
annulled the installation of the Nii Kwei Arku V as chief of Bortianor. The
Council described Nii Arku’s recent installation as not only illegal but also “null
and void”.
In a letter dated December 19, 2001 and
addressed to the Minister of Interior, the James Town Traditional Council said
“it still recognises the Dzasetse, Nii Akotey IV as the acting Bortianor Mantse
until the final determination of the chieftaincy dispute at Bortianor.
The letter which was copied to a number of
institutions including the police administration, the Greater Accra Regional
Security Council and the Ga District Assembly, explained that the substantive
chief of Bortianor, Nii Ogbame Ankonam I of the Solo We Clan has been temporary
set aside by kingmakers.
“No individual has the legitimate right to
install a chief during the interim until the case has been amicably resolved,”
the letter stated.
Until recently, Bortianor, a vast growing
coastal township in the Ga District of the Greater Accra region under the
leader of Nii Akotey IV, has been a very peaceful place.
Following the illegal installation of Nii Arku
V just about three months ago, there has been intermittent violent clashes
among the various interest groups contesting to sit on the Bortianor stool,
thus resulting in occasional police siege of the township and subsequent arrest
of suspects alleged to be fomenting trouble in the town.
GRi…/
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