Let’s recapture power in 2004 - Rawlings
Let’s recapture power in 2004 - Rawlings
Accra
(Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - Former President J.J. Rawlings has called on
the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party hierarchy to work hard to
recapture power in the 2004 elections. He noted that the party is going through
trying moments but indicated that with hard work and dedication those problems
would be overcome.
He was
addressing the end-of-year get-together for NDC functionaries in Accra on
Thursday. The Former President expressed his commitment to the Progressive
Alliance, but noted that he would not hesitate to take the back seat, if he is
seen to be a threat to the development of the party.
“I am
committed to the Progressive Alliance and the development of the party but at
the same time would want to take the back stage when I get the signals that I
constitute an obstacle to the development of the party,” he said. He said, the
values on which the NDC party was established was greater than one personality
and stressed the need for all to remain united and build the party for the
future.
Flt Lt
Rawlings condemned the injustices in the society and pledged his commitment to
fight such injustices in the party or out it. “If I see injustice anywhere, I
will not hesitate to condemn it, whether it is in my power or in the ruling
party,” he stressed.
He
described the prosecution of some former Ministers of State as a “political
trial” which does not augur well for democracy.
He
commended Mr Kwasi Pratt, Editor of
“The Insight” for his objectivity on national issues adding that Mr
Pratt discusses issues rather than personality.
The
Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin said the hopes and aspiration of
the people depend on the party and asked members to close their ranks and
remain steadfast in the face of intimidation. “We are one family and we should
not allow our individual pursuit to divide us,” he said.
He
announced that a committee of elders has been instituted to resolve the “ few
constraints in the party.” He said NDC members in Parliament will continue to
defend the democratic principle that have been initiated in the country. –
Daily Graphic
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EGLE to enter race for Bimbilla seat
Accra
(Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - The EGLE party has resolved to put up a
candidate to contest the forthcoming parliamentary bye-election in the Bimbilla
Constituency.
“The EGLE
party as a fully-fledged political organization recognized by the Electoral
Commission (EC) has decided not to be in the shadow of any political party and
has, therefore, resolved to enter the race for the seat of the Bimbilla
constituency as soon as it is declared vacant by the EC,” it said.
The acting
chairman of the party, Mr Jacob Letsyor, who said this in an interview in Accra
on Friday explained that the party is in the process of sending scouts to the
constituency before Tuesday to assist local activists map out a strategy that
will enable it to win the parliamentary bye-election.
Mr Letsyor
said the scouts will be tasked to assess the strength and weakness of the party
and other political parties in the constituency as well as verify from the
local functionaries logistics that the national headquarters will have to
provide to enhance its campaign for the seat.
The acting
chairman said the national leadership of the party has drawn up a comprehensive
programme to train its activists and poling agents who will be monitoring the
conduct and outcome of the bye-election at the various polling stations.
Asked to
comment on why the Progressive Alliance is not filling a common candidate to
vie for the election, Mr Letsyor said: “The EGLE Party has decided to reassert
itself after several years of domination and marginalisation by the senior
partner of the alliance, the National Democratic Congress.”
“We have
nothing to do with the NDC again and for that matter will not enter into any
electoral pact to contest future elections whether at the presidential or
parliamentary levels,” he said. The acting chairman noted that the party will
find ways to mobilize adequate funds to make its activities operational and
will not any longer depend on the financial crumbs that fall from the tables of
its senior political partner, the NDC.
Mr Letsyor
said the EGLE will enter the race with the strongest conviction of snatching
the seat from other contestants, stressing, “at the moment we are keeping our
strategy for eclipsing other parties in the bye-election closer to our chest.”
– Daily Graphic
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Takoradi (Western Region) 11 February 2002 - The Church hall of the Effiakuma Christ The King Catholic Church was well decorated and filled to capacity in readiness for the grand wedding ceremony that would join two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officers in holy matrimony.
All other arrangements for the reception and wedding party has been completed, and everything seemed to be in an apple-pie order, until a lady alighted at Effiakuma (Takoradi) from Tema, desperately looking for her husband.
Peter Adjei, 41, of IRS, Tema, and Mary Boapoma of IRS, Takoradi, were meanwhile in high spirits as they put finishing touches to their dressing and make-up to get blessed as man and wife at the church, from where they would go on a long honeymoon to consummate the marriage.
The January 20 wedding was the talk of the town, and Effiakuma residents were also getting prepared to witness the occasion that fateful day, when Patricia Yankson came around looking for her husband whom, she said, packed his belongings from his Tema home and took a French leave.
Surprisingly, none of her husband's relatives or immediate family members were around, except an auntie who lives in Tarkwa.
Having been hinted that her husband was going to wed another woman that day, Patricia did her best to locate the Christ The King Catholic Church. And lo and behold, everything was set for the occasion to begin. Her husband would no longer be hers.
When the bestman saw Patricia, he got alarmed and caused the wedding procession to halt. Obviously, danger was afoot and extra care had to be taken not to turn the entire event upside down. Narrating the incident to 'The Spectator,' Patricia said when she asked Peter Adjei, in the presence of the Reverend Father, whether he knew her, Adjei said she (Patricia) was only a friend who once accompanied her during her father's funeral.
"I was dumb-founded and it was only when I provided documents covering our customary marriage that the Reverend Father apologized for the embarrassment and refused to have anything to do with the marriage," she said. That was where the bride collapsed in disappointment and shock.
Recounting the genesis of the whole problem, Patricia said she earlier had a case with Peter Adjei who accused her of stealing ¢2 million belonging to him. During investigations, it was revealed that Adjei had refused to cater for four of his children (including two side issues) all living and catered for by Patricia.
The court which handled the case fined Peter ¢200,000. Following this, the marriage subsisted till one day Peter packed out of the house without a word when Patricia sent her three-year-old child to school. When she heard hints that her husband was on the verge of marrying another woman, she went to Takoradi to verify it whereupon she chanced upon the wedding. - The Spectator
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - People are going to think twice before giving alms to beggars if reports that a syndicate is behind what is now considered a flourishing begging business in the country prove to be true. The Department of Social Welfare is investigating the activities of the syndicate, which is said to be recruiting destitutes from the rural areas to engage in begging in Accra and other cities.
The syndicate is said to comprise some rich businessmen and women who exploit the destitutes to make millions of cedis annually. The syndicate does not only recruit the poor, but also targets disabled persons such as the blind, the deaf and cripple.
Mrs Mary Amadu, acting Director of the Department of Social Welfare, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra, therefore, appealed to members of the public who have any information about the syndicate to assist the department in its investigations.
She said the syndicate has become big business involving the use of taxis and other private cars, which convey the destitutes and drop them at vantage points in the cities, particularly at traffic intersections, to carry out their business.
Mrs Amadu said the beggars are picked at the close of the day by members of the syndicate or their agents. She said beggars are paid based on the sales they make in a day, adding that in most cases they are exploited. According to Mrs Amadu, what is particularly disturbing is the fact that children of school going age are engaged by the syndicate to guide the beggars. The result is that many more children are denied access to basic education thereby thwarting the government's FCUBE programme and widening further the rural-urban development dichotomy.
According to Mirror investigations, the syndicate normally arranges with watchmen who guard various offices and businesses to enable the beggars to sleep at locations near such premises for a fee. This arrangement, according to our investigations is to forestall the situation where the beggars would get to know the living places of members of the syndicate.
The director said begging is not a dignified job and that it is criminal to engage in it, adding "those involved in the act will be sanctioned". Mrs Amadu noted that while poverty might have largely contributed to the increased incidence of begging, parental irresponsibility has also played a part and entreated parents and guardians to be more responsible for the upkeep of their children.
She called on Ghanaians to be guided by the positive values of the extended family system, which she said holds the answer to the increasing spate of destitution in the country.
She said over 400 beggars reported to the department for training when an announcement was made for beggars desirous of training and added that the 400 was just a fraction of beggars in the city. Mrs Amadu said her department has plans to train destitutes in order to equip them with skills and vocations to become self-employable.
Although she complained that the department lacks funds and logistics to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation of the destitutes, Mrs Amadu said her department has concluded arrangements to convey beggars to Somanya where there is a rehabilitation home for screening and rehabilitation.
She said beggars willing to return to their hometowns would be assisted to do so. She expressed frustration at the rate at which trained destitutes quickly abandon their trade, sell their tools and equipment and return to beg on the streets of Accra. This, she said, is because the beggars earn more from begging than engaging in productive ventures. She pointed out that in some African countries, destitutes have been trained and organized into co-operatives to produce handicrafts for exports.
She said her department has nine rehabilitation centres nationwide where destitutes could be trained and indicated that about 1000 people could be trained annually. She expressed government's determination to improve the lot of destitutes and commended non-governmental organisations which are engaged in the training of the less fortunate people in the society. - The Mirror
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - All the security personnel who took part in an operation and seized four vehicles from the residence of the former Vice-President, Professor J.E.A. Mills, have been suspended from duty pending thorough investigations.
A statement issued from the Office of the President at the Castle, Osu, and signed by the Government Spokesman, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, said that there was clear evidence to suggest that there was a deliberate plan, using a network of certain security services, to discredit the government.
“The modus operandi of this network has been leaking information on impending operations, engaging in operations that have not been cleared by the top management and deliberately bungling operations to embarrass the government,” the statement said. It said that the time had come to “deal ruthlessly with these misfits in the security set up,” adding that a search was underway to weed out those in the service who have continued to work against the interest of the state”. The statement warned that the government would not hesitate to punish those whose acts were calculated to undermine its credibility.
Meanwhile, the National Security Advisor, General Joshua Hamidu, has unreservedly apologized to Mrs Naadu Mills for the way in which the vehicles were seized from the residence of the former Vice-President by the security personnel. – The Ghanaian Times
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In their bid to make quick money, two servants of God, a Pastor and an evangelist have been duped to the tune of ¢63 million. The con men made them to believe that by engaging in the purchase and resale of Decis, a chemical, they could become millionaires overnight.
They are Pastor Osei Kwame De-Graft Johnson of the Apostolic Faith Mission at Odorkor, and Evangelist Agnes Agyemang, and her husband, Nana Kwasi Agyemang of an unnamed church, in Accra.
They were duped ¢18 million and ¢45 million cedis respectively. The fraudsters, Kwaku Oppong, a trader, and Daniel Ofori, driver, were arraigned separately before an Accra Circuit Tribunal on Friday with defrauding by false pretences. They both pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody. Ofori is to report again on February 13 and Oppong on February 15.
Chief Inspector Benedicta Akolgo told the tribunal, chaired by Mr Imoru Ziblim, that on January 5, Pastor Osei-Kwame received a phone call on his mobile set in which the caller claimed to be a member of his church based in Germany.
The caller then introduced to him someone called Peter Shoel who was his working partner in a fruit factory in Germany. According to the prosecutor, the caller told Pastor Osei Kwame that the factory was short of Decis, the main chemical used in processing the fruit, and said that Dr Duah at Takoradi, was the only person who imported the chemical from Saudi Arabia.
Consequently, he was given the said Dr Duah’s phone number to make contacts to purchase a quantity of the chemical for resale to Peter Shoel, who was due to arrive in Ghana on January 7, by KLM.
Pastor Osei Kwame then contacted Dr Duah and arrangements were made for the supply of six bottles of the chemical at 18 million cedis as samples. On January 7, the pastor was asked to meet the accused at Kasoa where he paid the amount in exchange for six bottles of the chemical.
Later, the accused went with the pastor to meet Peter Shoel at the airport but he did not turn up. Therefore, the complainant lodged a report with the BNI for the accused’s arrest.
In the case of Evangelist Agyemang and her husband, the prosecution said that someone called them on May 17, 2001 and introduced himself as her husband’s nephew based in France. The caller suggested a lucrative business involving a chemical called Decis which was used to spray apples and other fruits. – The Ghanaian Times
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