Police Chiefs behind robberies
Police, army to retrieve weapons
Govt to probe assemblies in CR
FBI in Ghana to help hunt serial killers
Question marks over Robert Dodoo
No further comment
Okumkom surrenders office key
Ex-Ministers leave huge phone bills
Govt to withdraw Ambassadors
Big Heads to roll
Don’t change Army Heads
Outcry against appointments committee
Finance Minister predicts hard times ahead
Shocker – Paper work alone costs 12.6 billion cedis
Police Chiefs behind robberies
Mr J.K. Owusu, former Commissioner of Police and ex-senior member of the Special Branch now Bureau of National Investigation, (BNI) Headquarters, has revealed that the recent spate of armed robberies in Accra and certain parts of the country could be the hand work of some senior police personnel and disgruntled NDC activists in possession of weapons, ‘The Ghanaian Chronicle said.
In an exclusive interview with the paper in Accra, Mr Owusu said the Police Service has had a history of syndicates headed by senior police personnel who assist and protect robbers and saboteurs.
He cited a gold syndicate that operated in the police service in the 80s that was protected by the then Inspector General of Police Mr. Cobbina, whose conduct was investigated by the present commissioner of police in charge of administration, Mr Seth Aggor.
He named members of that syndicate as Messrs Samuel Sarpong Alexander S.R.B. Appiah and Sgt. Seth Martey.
Owusu said, even though the modus operandi of these officers have changed with time he cannot vouch for their loyalty to the state because some of them are still in the service.
Late last year the Crusading Guide, a private newspaper, led a campaign about the robbery of 2 billion cedis worth of gold belonging to a private company with the source being traced to the doorstep of Jack Beble who heads the Police Commando Unit.
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Police, army to retrieve weapons
The state-owned Daily Graphic said a combined team of the military and the police is to embark on a nationwide exercise to retrieve all unlicensed weapons and those stored in locations not under the control of the Security Service.
Alhaji Malik Al-hassan Yakubu, Minister of the interior, announced this in Accra on Monday, saying all persons in possession of unlicensed weapons are, therefore, to surrender them to the police within two weeks of the directive.
“All weapons stored in locations outside the strict control of the Ghana Armed Forces or the Police Service must be turned over to the Armed Forces or the Police Service to be stored in their authorised armouries”, Alhaji Malik said.
He explained that these form part of measures taken by the government to tackle and bust the heinous crimes of women killings and armed robberies.
He noted that the spate of armed robberies is reminiscent of what happened soon after the inauguration of the Limann Presidency in 1979.
According to Alhaji Yakubu, the spate of the robberies cannot be explained, but if it is meant to show that the government is unable to maintain and keep a stable and peaceful state for business to flourish, the NPP Government is firmly resolved to effectively tackle and bust the heinous crimes of women serial killings and armed robberies.
“Our action on the unauthorised possession of arms and ammunition while having the immediate aim of fighting the current criminal activities in Ghana, also has the effect of indicating Ghana’s readiness and resolve to implement ECOWAS initiative to tackle proliferation of arms in the West African sub-region,” he said.
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Govt to probe assemblies in CR
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government would soon institute a probe into the financial administration of all the 12 district assemblies in the Central Region to ensure that they account for all monies used during the era of NDC government, Graphic stated in another story.
Mr Isaac Edumadze, Minister designate for the region, made this known at a dinner organised by the patron of the Mfantsiman West Constituency of the party, Mr John Nsiakoh, for members at Saltpond on Sunday.
Mr Edumadze said the government has cause to believe that there has been misuse of funds and corruption at the assembly level and the probe will help set the records straight.
The probe, he said, will also help ensure that there is transparency in the transitional process at the district levels.
Mr Edumadze gave the assurance that the NPP government will keep its campaign promise to create jobs and fight poverty and ignorance in the counry.
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FBI in Ghana to help hunt serial killers
The Statesman reports that homicide experts, including FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agents from the United States, have arrived in the country to assist the police in unravelling the serial murders of women in Accra in fulfilment of the NPP’s campaign pledge to bring in foreign experts to help solve the three-year old problem.
Briefing journalists in Accra on Monday, Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, Minister of Interior, said the FBI agents are to discuss with their Ghanaian counterparts strategies to deal with the situation.
More homicide experts, he said, are expected from other friendly countries to boost the activities of the security forces.
The Interior Minister stated that the NPP government is determined to rid the society of criminals and no efforts would be spared in this direction.
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Question marks over Robert Dodoo
The Statesman says its investigations have uncovered serious question marks about Dr Robert Dodoo’s record as Head of the Civil service and a number of people who work at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service are calling for his removal.
“Dr Robert Dodoo was not a civil servant when appointed to head the Civil service. He is said to have owed his position to the political influence of the former First lady, Nana Konadu, and is alleged to have used his high position on numerous occasions to divert Civil service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) funds to support 31st December Women’s Movement (31DWM) projects such as day nurseries,” the paper carried.
In the last five years Dr Dodoo presided over the disbursement of £5million for the CSPIP.
Sources close to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) revealed that he wielded great influence regarding disbursements of funds and siphoned off aid money provided by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to establish his own supply and consultancy companies.
These companies, the paper had learnt, he contracted to make supplies or provide consultancy services the CSPIP.
Dr Dodoo is also said to have caused considerable indiscipline among the female staff of OHCS, because of his relationships with some of them which some of his staff suspected to be unwholesome.
His behaviour reportedly, slowed down performance and dampened the morale of workers but the workers were said to be afraid to talk for fear of possible victimisation.
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No further comment
The Ghanaian Times reports that the police on Tuesday declined to comment further on the case involving the Deputy National Treasurer of the NDC, Baba Camara, as to the source of 21 vehicles parked at his company premises on the Spintex road.
A police source told the ‘Times’ in an interview in Accra that, their decision followed comments by the Minister-designate for Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, to the effect that the police overreacted in their attempt to inquire into the source of the vehicles.
It said “the statement, coming from a high-ranking government official has put the police in jeopardy” as their well-intentioned action seemed to have been misinterpreted.
The source indicated that their decision not to comment did not however, mean that investigations into the case had been halted.
“Our decision not to comment is just to safeguard our activities. It should not be taken that we will not do what is expected of us so far as the case is concerned.”
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Okumkom surrenders office key
Okumkom Nana Agyeman, the former Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan assembly (KMA) is reported in another story in the ‘Times’ to have finally surrendered the key to his former office which had since his leaving office been in his possession.
He handed over the key to the Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director, Mr Michael Kobina Essandoh, last Thursday in the presence of Mr Joe Issachar, Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Director, some top KMA officials and members of the Assembly.
A dependable source close to KMA told the paper on Tuesday that the handing over was done after an inventory of items in the office had been taken.
According to the source, all items were found intact except a video deck.
Confirming the handing over, Mr Essandoh said that efforts were being made to trace the Video Deck.
He said that Nana Akwasi Agyeman was, however, yet to hand over the keys to the official residence of the Metropolitan Chief Executive.
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Ex-Ministers leave huge phone bills
Ghana Telecom will soon initiate proceedings to recover billions of cedis owed it by former Minister and the Ministries they headed for the use of its facilities, a front-page story of the Evening News said.
The huge telephone bills reflect the uncontrolled expenditure of the previous government, which has bequeathed to the state a debt of over six trillion cedis.
Investigations by the paper have revealed that six ministers alone incurred a total of 11,833,866,950 cedis in debt as at February 2, 2001.
These Ministries are Finance with a debt of 5,812,433,803 cedis, Trade 1.942,122,534 cedis, and Education 1.539,251,438 cedis.
The rest are Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General Department 702,302,890 cedis and 817,005,123 cedis from the Ministry of Works and Housing.
The paper’s search further revealed an unprecedented huge telephone bills left by some Ministers in the former NDC government.
Mr John Mahama, then Minister of Communication tops the list with 39,822,215 cedis from his personal telephone at the Ministry and Mr Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Education Minister closely follows with his two telephone lines incurring 20,790,601 cedis.
Mr E.T. Mensah and Patrick Addy both ministers formerly at the Ministry of Youth and Sports bequeathed to the nation 2,911,719 cedis and 1,240,293 cedis respectively.
Others said to have incurred huge bills include former deputy Education ministers, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas and Kwabena Kyere, deputy Minister of Finance, Victor Selormey, Minister of Local Government, Cecilia Johnson and Mr Mike Gizo, who headed Ministry of Tourism.
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Govt to withdraw Ambassadors
The Evening News in another story says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far received just a little over 40 out of about 1,700 diplomatic passports issued to Ministers, political appointees and diplomats in the erstwhile regime.
Mr Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Minister of Foreign Affairs who disclosed this on a JOY FM radio programme on Monday explained that usually diplomatic passports are issued for specific purposes and that ordinarily these should be returned to the Ministry.
The Minister said although the government had not received any information yet regarding the abuse of its use, there was the possibility of people subjecting the document to abuse.
On the government’s foreign policy he said the Kufuor administration was going to take a more proactive posture in its relations with both neighbours and the rest of the world instead of reacting to issues.
He said some of the Ambassadors and envoys still at post whose appointments were political should have tendered in their resignation but this is not forthcoming and therefore the government is forced to withdraw them.
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Big Heads to roll
Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo the new Minister for Finance is reported by the Guide to have confirmed that there would be changes at top management level of some key government financial institutions.
He said recent revelations concerning the operations of these financial institutions call for in-depth analysis into the challenges confronting them.
The Finance Minister who made the disclosure on Joy FM Radio on Monday said it is likely that the absence of some of the Chief Executives in these institutions may help with the analysis of the problems facing them.
“So far, it has been noted that institutions likely to be affected are, the Accountant General’s Department, State Insurance Corporation (SIC), (ADB), and Social Securitya nd National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)”, he was quoted to have stated.
Mr Osafo Marfo stressed that the changes are bound to happen and that whatever it is found that must be changed, the government will definitely carry it out the change.
The paper recalls some financial institutions having come under public scrutiny for sometime now with calls for official investigations into their operations, among them, SSNIT and the SIC.
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Don’t change Army Heads
Ghana’s former Commander of the UN Peace-keeping Force has cautioned the Kufuor administration against the removal of the top army hierarchy, ‘The Guide’ reported in another coverage.
General Emmanuel Erskine who was also the presidential candidate of the defunct People’s Heritage Party (PHP) in 1992 said the sensitive nature of the armed forces requires tact and diplomacy at this time of the nation’s democracy when it comes to taking decisions that affect the changes at the top of the military.
He was speaking on an Accra FM, Choice on its programme agenda Setting at the weekend.
General Erskine also cautioned against tribalising the armed forces because that can pose a serious threat to the country.
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Outcry against appointments committee
The Ghana Palaver says there is public outcry against the way in which affairs are being conducted by the Parliamentary Appointments Committee (PAC), thus allowing serious issues, bordering on misconduct, raised against Ministerial nominees, to be swept under the carpet.
“Memoranda and petitions on some pertinent issues alleged to have been sent to the committee, are said to have not been given the desired attention or simply glossed over,” it stated, citing worries of many leading businessmen over the outcome of the committee’s investigation into a petition filed against Mr Felix Owusu-Agyapong. The Minister-designate for Transport and Communications had been mentioned in a case related to the sale of a UNILEVER property to Mr Sam Jonah of the AGC, said to be fraught with suspicion.
It said in the same vein, the public expect “very little” to come out of the case raised against Dr. Kwesi Nduom, Minister-designate for Economic Planning and Regional Integration, in which the nominee had been involved in a matter investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), concerning a business transaction with the State Enterprises Commission.
The Business entities as well as the tax obligations of the nominee were among issues said to have been probed by the SFO.
The Palaver carries that as a result of what appears to be “whole-sale” pass marks being offered the nominees, public interest shown in the work of the committee during the previous Parliaments, is completely lost this year.
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Finance Minister predicts hard times ahead
The NPP government will present its first budget statement to parliament between the end of February and the beginning of March 2001, according to Hon Yaw Osafo Maafo, Minister of Finance, in an interview on JOY FM on Monday and carried by ‘The Independent’.
Previous budget statements, which have been released by the NDC government, have almost always resulted in astronomical increases in prices brought about by one single factor-increase in the price of fuel.
According to the Finance Minister, the budget would among other things look critically at instances such as the use of 45 per cent of the country’s total revenue to service debts. In his words “this must be halted immediately.”
Primarily the budget would aim at stabilizing the cedi by reducing inflation and interest rates and also minimize deficits.
Mr Osafo Maafo added that this may call for some stringent measures which may in turn be a bit harsh on the average Ghanaians.
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Shocker – Paper work alone costs 12.6 billion cedis
The Graphic Sports writes that although the sod for the proposed Olympic Stadium for Ghana is yet to be cut the country has already parted with a staggering $1.445 million (about 10.1 billion cedis), which is part of a total $1.8 million (about 12.6 billion cedis) for feasibility studies and architectural designs.
There is an outstanding balance of $345,000 to be paid to the International contractors, B.V. Philips Eindhoven of Holland, who have threatened to take the nation to international Arbitration Court for breach of contract.
The contract, between the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) and B.V. Philips, obliged Ghana to complete payment by the end of June 1999, on the completion of the feasibility studies and architectural designs but the outstanding $345,000 is yet to be honoured and the contractors, in September 1999, wrote to the MOYS threatening legal action.
The MOYS in an attempt to prevent the embarrassment and the cost such of such action on the nation, sought the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) prompt solution but its effort have proved futile to date.
The MOYS according to the story was signing the government’s part of the contract but never directly got involved in the payment of monies, leaving the MOF with those transactions.
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