Millions of waste at Ghana National
Petroleum Corporation
Government to rehabilitate nine hundred schools in the
north
Rawlings to serve on international
AIDS advisory board
Free Zones programme records $350m in exports
Millions of waste at Ghana National
Petroleum Corporation
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - The draft forensic audit report commissioned by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government to investigate malfeasance in State Owned Enterprises has recommended the prosecution of the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata under section 179(A) of the Criminal Code for flouting PNDC Law 64 and causing huge financial loss to the state.
GNPC under the management of Tsikata allegedly indulged in derivatives trading with Societies General Bank (SGS) up to the tune of $40 million without the approval of GNPC’s board members. Tsatsu who reportedly, wedded the former Public Affairs Manager of GNPC Esther Cobbah recently, is also accused of recklessly purchasing Oil Rigs up to the tune of $38 million.
This was also without the approval of the GNPC board. The report also recommends that Tsikata be prosecuted for the disbursement of an advance of ˘7.2 billion from CDH Financial Services without board approval.
Tsikata is already in court for the company’s investment of US$1.0 million in Valley Farms Limited also allegedly without board approval. GNPC was set up in 1985 to explore petroleum opportunities or hydrocarbons in the country. But under Tsatsu Tsikata as Chief Executive, the company added a host of other functions.
It went into salt production in the Songhor Lagoon at Ada, a situation which generated much controversy. It also started promoting cleaner energy fuel such as LP gas. GNPC also had interests in a hotel at Mole in Northern Ghana. The Corporation’s tentacles also covered gold mining at Prestea and Gas thermal plant still under construction at Effasu in the Western Region. They were also involved in telecommunications.
Media reports linked the resignation of Dr Kwesi Botchwey, former Finance Minister to uncontrolled expenditure of GNPC without anybody calling Tsatsu to order. Botchwey himself has admitted that he resigned because of GNPC. Reports said GNPC had over drawn its accounts to the tune of ˘80 billion, something which frustrated the Finance Minister leading to his resignation.
GNPC was also deeply involved in the West African Gas pipeline project. However last April, the Volta River Authority replaced GNPC as a partner of the West Africa Gas pipeline project due to its inability to raise money for the shares. Observers saw the pipeline as GNPC’s last hope for redeeming its image.
The gas pipeline consortium is made up of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, SOBEGAZ of Benin, SOTOGAZ of Togo, Shell Petroleum Company of Nigeria and Chevron. GNPC’s 33 percent share in WESTEL has also been allegedly given to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Meanwhile, the government has started a process aimed at downsizing the over 700 staff of GNPC to about 70 workers.
At a press conference in Accra last year, the Minister for Energy Albert Kan Dapaah said his ministry had recommended a small well-motivated staff of about 70 to team up with other companies to do speculative surveys for oil.
If they find anything viable from the speculative surveys, they would go and market the seismic data, if they find a buyer they would split the proceeds, he said. “Until we find something, in my opinion, there is absolutely no need to have a staff strength of over 700 workers,” Kan Dapaah further explained.
In March, the GNPC’s oil exploration rig “Discoverer 511” was seized in Oman on the orders of Societe Generale Bank because of the corporation’s indebtedness to the bank. - Public Agenda
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Low-key reception for Blair - modesty or security?
Accra
(Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - As Tony Blair, arrived in Accra to begin a
three-day official visit last Thursday night, there was little to suggest that
an international personality like the British Prime Minister was visiting
Ghana’s capital.
There were
no flags, posters, giant billboards, flowers or balloons in the streets of
Accra to give any clue to his visit. The feverish, last minute preparation,
which usually heralds the arrival of important foreign dignitaries, was absent.
The
situation starkly contrasts with the visit of world leaders who came to Ghana
in the recent past, including former US President, Bill Clinton, in March 1998
and the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, in November 1999. Hasanal Bulkiyee, the
Sultan of Brunei, in 2000, Libyan Leader Muamar Quadafi also in 2000 and Thabo
Mbeki of South Africa also visited recently.
During such
visits, usually much of the city, which has been engulfed with filth and
lunatics parading the streets (far outnumbering Accra Metropolitan Assembly
city guards) is cleared and all beggars removed. Some people once called for
the frequent visit of foreign personalities as a way of keeping the city clean
and free of roaming mad people.
Looking
back at Bill Clinton’s visit in particular, American flags fluttered at major
junctions and on streetlights, and state radio was full of details about the
visit. Mr Clinton even addressed what is known to be the largest crowd of his
two terms of presidency at the Independence Square in Accra.
In the
aftermath of the 11th September attacks in the United States, there
is heightened security, shrouded in secrecy.
Unlike the
Queen who was driven to a lavish state cocktail held in her honour at the plush
International Conference Centre, shortly after an equally grand welcome
ceremony at the airport. Tony Blair arrived to a modest welcome ceremony
without a guard of honour to inspect. He was shuttled to Osu Castle, the seat
of government, where he went straight into talks with President Kufuor and
other cabinet Ministers.
Not even
the State House Complex, which houses the Parliament building where Mr Blair
was expected to make a speech, had seen any face-lift in anticipation of his
visit - a sharp contrast to the Queen’s visit. The legendary “Ghanaian
Hospitality,” which is best exemplified by the display of culture and music
during such visits, was missing. A special durbar of chiefs and other
traditional leaders was organized in honour of both the Queen and Bill Clinton.
According
to a BBC report about Blair’s visit to neighbouring Nigeria only a day before,
the situation was not any different from Ghana’s. The report said the only sign
of the British Premier being in town was that prospective guests at Abuja’s
leading hotel had been told it was overbooked and red carpet had been laid at
its doors.
In Ghana,
as in Nigeria, ordinary people do not seem to know anything about the visit. At
the popular Makola market, just about two kilometers away from the Osu Castle,
most of the traders and shoppers who gather there in their thousands every day
were concentrating on their normal business.
A
middle-aged woman selling fresh tomatoes told me that all that they are
interested in was that, at the end of the day, the visit of the British Prime
Minister should translate into real economic actions, which will help Ghana to
emerge from its current state of high indebtedness and poor condition.
One of them
said, “we don’t know if it has anything to do with us.” Another said. “we are
striving for decent jobs and an affordable life for ourselves and for our
children.”
But even
among those who were unaware of the Prime Minister’s trip, there are high
expectations about what he could do. “Prime Minister Blair must help our
President to take Ghana out of HIPC,” someone suggested, while a young
university graduate, Kojo Appiah, had one request for Blair. “He should advise
our government to link academic institutions with industries in order to
provide easy access for young graduates to acquire jobs.”
At a press
conference held on the eve of his trip, the Minister for Presidential Affairs,
Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, said they welcome his visit and expect that as leader of
the former colonial power, Prime Minister Blair will take a more active role in
solving the country’s social, economic and political problems.
After
addressing Parliament and a session of bilateral talks, which included
government officials and dignitaries, Tony Blair visited Suhum and Tafo where
he had the opportunity to see at first hand the process that the country’s
cocoa beans undergo before finally being exported to European countries,
including Britain.
As he
delivered his speech to Parliament, Tony Blair discoursed specifically about
how the West wants to see more stability in African nations and to develop and
promote a new partnership with Africa to fight poverty and deprivation as a way
of preventing terrorism.
The low-key
reception for the British Prime Minister has also been given a different
interpretation. A government official said it was mainly due to a request by
the British government. But some members of the public think that it was
designed to get public attention and that of government officials to focus on
the message of the Prime Minister rather than protocol that has no benefit for
the people on the street.
With the
Prime Minister’s itinerary not made public, others believe that it has more to
do with security following September 11. Whatever the reason, this is a wise
decision considering the fortunes that poor African governments spend on lavish
programmes and activities to herald the visits of foreign dignitaries. - High
Street Journal
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - A forty-five year old ex-soldier, Sgt (rtd)
Karim Salifu Adam, who refused to implicate President John Kufuor, Courage
Quashigah, Prof Adu Boahen and Dr Safo Adu in a trumped up treason charge in
1994 has made a stunning revelation that the Bureau of National Investigations
(BNI) offered him a bribe to implicate them.
According
to him, the BNI kept a cache of arms and ammunition at an unknown place and
presented him an amount of $10 million, which was in hundred denominations and
asked him to say on camera that the ammunition was given to him by the four men
who were then leading opposition members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“They told
me not to panic because they were not going to hurt me and that they had kept a
cache of arms and ammunition somewhere which they would show me if I agreed to
cooperate with them. They said I should say that the arms were given to me by
Prof Adu Boahen, John Agyekum Kufuor and Dr Safo Adu.
They
presented me with an amount of money, which they said was $10 million in
hundred denominations. I refused and told them that it was too much for me to
do that because the people hadn’t done anything. They promised me that they
won’t harm them but they only wanted the world to know that they are people of
tolerance and integrity,” he said.
Ex-Sgt
Karim said while the discussion was going on at the Accra office of the BNI,
one of the agents entered the room and said, “the camera is ready.”
The visibly
angry ex-soldier told Chronicle investigators that soon after he refused to
heed to their request he was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to an unknown
destination where he was dumped in a condemned cell. The cell room, he said,
was flooded above ankle level.
The
aggrieved soldier recollected that before his refusal to implicate these
“innocent men,” he was kept in a “self-contained” cell at the BNI headquarters
where he had access to television, radio, a bed, a dining table and a fridge
stocked with assorted drinks.”
He added
that he ate good food, which made him wonder why such special courtesies were
being extended to him in a BNI cell. “It was only after I refused to do what
they wanted me to do that I was removed from the comfort of the self-contain
room and dumped in that condemned cell,” he said.
It all
began four years after Sgt. Karim resigned from the Ghana Armed Forces on July
1, 1996 to concentrate on his construction firm in Tamale, in the north. He was
in the Armed Forces for 15 years. That is from 1976 to 1991.
On May 23,
1994, ex-Sgt. Karim was dropping his children at school when BNI agents
arrested him before his children on suspicion of arms dealing. “They alleged
that I was dealing in arms and ammunition so they went to my house and searched
me and nothing was found. The next day, which was May 24, I was brought to the
BNI headquarters where they kept on saying that I should cooperate with them
and that they won’t do anything to anybody,” he said.
He said on
his arrival he met four officials at the BNI headquarters whom he named as “Lt.
Col. Okran, Chief Inspector Agbenyegah, Col. Ahiadzi and Balanson Quansah. Sgt
Karim said he was kept at a “self-contain” cell between May 24 and June 6, 1994
when they had hints that the private press had got wind of his detention and
torture.
He said
after he had refused to implicate the four opposition members, “they tortured
me and at a point I was bleeding all over my body and there was plenty blood in
my stool. This torture continued until June 14,1994.
Sgt. Karim
recollects that by that time news about his detention had gone round and the
Ghanaian Chronicle has published an article about his detention, forcing the
BNI to quickly send him to court on June 15, 1994.
“Immediately
after the story was published, I was rushed to court the next morning, before a
Magistrate Judged called K.O. Kumi on 15 June, 1994 on provisional charge of
treason.”
According
to Sgt Karim he was prosecuted by Mr Osafo Sampong, currently, the Director of
Public Prosecutions. He said Mr Sampong prayed the court to remand him for
further investigations. “Anytime we appeared in court, they managed to buy more
time for me to be remanded.”
He
continued that his counsel, Mr Akoto Ampaw, consistently pressed for the case
to be heard until he was finally indicted for treason on November 23, 1994. He
said he never appeared in court again until May 14, 1996 when trial began. It
ended on November 28, 1996.
Continuing,
Karim said the presiding judge, Justice K.K. Kurankye kept on postponing the
judgement date until he fell sick and died in April 1997. “He first gave
January 31, 1997 as judgement day. He adjourned it to February 21, 1997 and
again adjourned it to March 21 and April 11 and May 9, 1997. The time buying
continued until he himself passed away.
Soon after
the death of the presiding Judge, Karim was dumped in Prison Custody at Nsawam
Prisons and taken to court again on July 7, 1997 for a re-trial, a move he and
his counsel rejected and saw as part of the time buying trick by the
prosecutors.
Karim told
Chronicle in an interview over the weekend that while affable counsel, Mr
Akotoko Ampaw disagreed with the re-trial of his client and insisted on judgement,
the new presiding Judge, Justice Faakye, also insisted on a re-trial compelling
his lawyers to send the case to the Supreme Court.
“I never
appeared in court again until I was finally told that my docket was missing. My
docket could not be found until the new government came into power in 2000 when
I was freed,” he said.
On July 30,
last year, ex-Sgt Karim, the Tamale based contractor, was set free by an Accra
High Court presided by Justice Apaloo. His release followed an application of
the government’s disinterest in continuing with his prosecution by the new
Attorney General. According to records, Karim’s trial was riddled with many
controversies some of which cast a dark spot on his trial.
There were
contradictory evidence by prosecution witness and the chief investigator of the
case, Inspector Frank Agbenyegah of the BNI. It emerged that even though
Inspector Agbenyegah did not contact the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso,
evidence was given in court, which suggested that the Ambassador had been contacted
after learning that Karim was recruiting and giving military training to about
21 people in Burkina Faso to overthrow the then government of Ghana.
Also,
Agbenyegah made the court to believe that he had confirmed with the Northern
Regional branch of the BNI that Karim was a contractor even though he could not
produce documents in respect of an official request for that information or
confirmation.
“After I
was free, I realized that my job was gone, all my machines have broken down, my
children’s education are in jeopardy and I have come to meet a broken home. All
my children have dropped out of the school. My mother died while I was in jail.
I am now a beggar. Mr first born, Yussif Abdul Karim is 22 years and
unemployed. I am not doing anything and my world has now been shattered for a
crime I did not commit,” Karim told Chronicle investigators.
When
Chronicle asked Karim how he felt having been imprisoned for nearly seven years
for a crime he thinks he is innocent of, he said, “I feel very bad and bitter
to have been treated like this. If I had several options, I will choose
vengeance first because I think the people who have jeopardized my life for no
crime must be paid back in their own coin. If this is the way I am going to be
treated then I can seek vengeance no matter how much it will cost me.”
“Look, now
I am out of jail, nobody seems to care about my plight. If this is the way I am
going to be treated then like I said, I will not care how much it will cost me
to seek vengeance. People who can help me get out of this mess don’t seem to
care,” he said.
When asked
by Chronicle investigators whether he was prepared to cooperate with the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission he said, “yes, why not.” – The Ghanaian Chronicle
GRi…/
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Tema
(Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - Thirty-three seafarers last month were
rescued off the coast of Ningo-Prampram in the Greater Accra Region, after
their wooden vessel sank.
According
to information made available to the Chronicle on January 18, this year at
about 7 pm, the wooden vessel, Ama Kekyeh, left the Tema Fishing Harbour for
fishing expedition, but barely six hours later, information got ashore that the
vessel has sunk. The 33-member crew, however, survived as they were rescued by
two other fishing vessels. The exact location is about two and half hours sail
from the Tema Port.
Information
available to the Chronicle revealed that the vessel after leaving the fishing
harbour was in touch with the owner, Sammy Ackah, twice before midnight, but it
soon started taking in lots of water as the two pumps on board could not help.
This happened about 32 fathoms (192ft) off the Ningo/Prampram coast.
Captain
Kwesi Etru, in charge, managed to signal to two fishing vessels nearby, which
went to rescue the crew. A sister vessel, Sea Star, was called from ashore to
help in retrieving a few fishing gears from the sunk vessel but it ended
fruitless.
Investigations
revealed that instead of a Very High Frequency (VHF) communicator, Ama Kekyeh
was operating a mobile phone system. This prevented any Save our Soul (SOS)
message from getting to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) signal
station for the necessary assistance.
On hearing
of the vessel’s plight, the Ports authorities dispatched two tugboats,
including a diving pot, to locate the spot and place a bony to warn seafarers.
Reliable
information had it that only one of the tugboats made the trip because the
other also developed serious leakage on the way. The exact position could not
be traced because by the time the tugboat got around, Ama Kekyeh had gone to
the bottom of the vast sea.
The fishing
harbour manager, Mr Anthony Jim-Fugar, who spoke to the paper, said that if Ama
Kekyeh were to be equipped with a VHF system, probably it would have been
saved, with assistance from the GPHA.
Fugar used
the occasion to call on the Navigation and Shipping Division of the sector
ministry to ensure that maritime laws are enforced. According to him, if the
two fishing vessels were not to be closer to save the crew, another disaster
would have befallen Ghana.
He
mentioned MV Duke Offen, a Nigerian registered vessel, which had its engine off
completely, but had to be drifted ashore at the Atorkor Slave Memorial park,
near Anloga. The vessel was not having the right anchor hence the danger.
In a
related development, Fugar said that very soon MV Bani belonging to Cactus Ent,
will be salvaged. The cost involved is estimated at about $54,000 and this will
be borne by the owners. - The Ghanaian Chronicle.
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - Nine hundred basic schools in
the Northern Region are to be rehabilitated under a government programme to
improve educational facilities in the area. The Department for International
Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom has approved 42 billion cedis
(Ł4million) for the project.
The Minister of Education, Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, who disclosed
this in an interview, in Accra said the programme will also cover the provision
of furniture for the schools to enable the pupil to study in a conducive
learning environment. He said the project will be undertaken on a pilot basis
in the region and indicated that the community will be required to provide
labour on the project.
Explaining the rationale behind the intention to use community support
in the execution of the project, Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi said this is to enable the
ministry to make maximum use of the money available.
The minister said if construction cost is to be borne by the donors the
available funds may not be able to meet the cost of the number of schools to be
rehabilitated and provided with furniture.
Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi dismissed the notion that the project will be
shoddily executed because there will be no motivation for those to be engaged
to provide free labour on the project. He said the people will be encouraged to
put in their best, since the structures will be there to serve their interest
and train leaders of the country.
Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi describe as unfortunate the poor conditions
under which some pupils learn particularly under trees while some do so in
dilapidated structures. The minister also deplored the situation where teaching
and learning processes are carried out with some of the pupils lying down.
He said the new administration places special emphasis on providing
quality education in a conducive teaching and learning environment and pledged
that this policy will not be compromised. The minister expressed the hope that
the project will be successfully executed to motivate the donors to replicate
it in other regions. - Daily Graphic
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Rawlings to serve on international AIDS
advisory board
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 February 2002 - Former President Jerry Rawlings
has accepted an invitation from former President Bill Clinton to serve on the
Advisory Board of the International AIDS trust, a new United States-based NGO
set up to adopt strategies in the fight against AIDS.
It will also create awareness, seize strategic opportunities, galvanizes
leadership, mobilise resources and promote effective interventions in the fight
against AIDS, a statement from the office of the former President has said.
In a letter to President Rawlings, President Bill Clinton notes, “in the
past two years, we have witnessed the global community’s efforts to come
together in the fight against the plague of AIDS.”
He goes
on to say that, “history offers the great gift and lessons of times when the
world has united in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and turned the
tide. I believe that you can be a key part of the sacrifice, strength and
co-operation contained in just such a moment.”
Concluding, President Clinton says, “I want to thank you for your
dedicated leadership in the battle against AIDS. As a leader, your help is
urgently needed now to enhance the global battle against this epidemic. Your
willingness to lend your name and talents to the work of this new organization
would undoubtedly make a world of difference,”
Former President Clinton is the Chairman of the International AIDS
Trust. Other members of the board include former South African President,
Nelson Mandela (Co-Chairman), former US President Gerald Ford, Rwanda President
Paul Kagame and singer Elton John.
Former President Rawlings will leave Accra on Monday for a Global AIDS
Mobilization Strategy Session in President Bill Clinton’s office in New York on
February 13, 2002. – Daily Graphic
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Cape Coast (Central Region) - One week after armed robbers attacked and
wounded the Reverend Bennet Abaka-Wilson of Saltpond Methodist Church, another
pastor has been attacked at Adaso, also in the Central region.
The Reverend Robert Dawson-Amoah of Ayifua Anglican Church was shot in
the thigh during the raid on his residence. Seven of the robbers were later
arrested by the Police in a 12-hour operation.
Those arrested were
identified as Kweku Quaye, 28, who shot the pastor, Mohammed Abubakari, 26, a
labourer at the Cape Coast Central Police Station, and
Michael Quarshie, 33.
The rest are Kwesi Abiram, 19, Anthony Mensah, 18, James Debrah Mensah, 19, and
Peter Eshun.
Reports said the
robbers used cement blocks to break down the door. They stole ˘18 million cedis
which was to be used to purchase a 47-acre land for the
church’s citrus plantation
project at Dehyia. They also took away some items belonging to the church, including
religious ornaments.
Rev Dawson-Amoah and
his house-help, Bernard Benyia, who also sustained serious injuries from
beatings by the thugs, were treated at the Central Regional
Hospital and
discharged.
Sources close to the Cape Coast Police told the ‘Times’ that they
received a telephone call at dawn on Saturday that robbers had attacked the
residents of Adaso, where the pastor lived. The Police later besieged an
abandoned house at Kotokuraba, which was being used as a hideout by the
robbers.
Led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Muniru Arafat Nuhu, the police
managed to arrest three of the suspects and handcuffed them. Surprisingly, the
suspects managed to escape in their handcuffs after over-powering the policemen
who were with them while the other policemen searched the house to retrieve
items, comprising a television set, tape recorder, an equalizer and a bag
containing dresses, among others.
A police re-enforcement team, however, arrested the suspects with their
handcuffs again at the Third Ridge and Coronation areas upon a tip-off.
Thereafter, the team, made up of about 20 policemen, embarked on an intensive
search of known hideouts of criminals.
Within 30 minutes, two more of the suspected robbers were arrested and
placed in custody at the Central Police Station.
The action attracted a large number of people to the Police Station.
While applauding the police for their efforts, the people did not spare the
robbers and gave them slaps before they were placed in custody.
They anxiously waited for others to be brought and when two more
arrived, they gave them their share of the beatings. The police could not
control the large crowd. Although the police team, led by ASP Henry Amankwatia,
had no vehicle, they managed to arrest the suspects, using a private vehicle.
The police are still searching for other members of the gang. Rev.
Dawson-Amoah told the ‘Times’ earlier at his residence that the robbers who
attacked him were about eight. – The Ghanaian Times
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Free Zones programme records $350m in exports
Accra (Greater Accra) - The nation’s free zones programme since its
inception in 1996 has recorded about $350 million in exports, with more than
6,800 jobs taken up.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry who disclosed this
assured that government would offer companies operating under the free zones
maximum support to ensure the attainment of the “Golden Age of Business.
He observed that one remarkable outcome of the President’s investment
promotion efforts was as a result of which Barry Callebut, a cocoa processing
company, became the first company to commence operations in the Tema Free Zone
Enclave.
Dr Apraku explained that the free zones programme was primarily designed
to attract badly needed investment funds, in addition to facilitating
technology transfer into the country.
“In recognition of this immense contribution, government is resolved to
sustain a conducive climate for the smooth operation of companies who have
chosen to operate under the programme” he said.
The Minister said that the Ghana Free Zones Board has put up adequate
mechanisms to ensure strict compliance with the requisite regulations that
underpin the programme. He explained that activities of free zone firms were
regularly monitored to curb any deviation from its stated objectives. He
appealed to all partner agencies of the free zones programme to endeavour to
remove any bottleneck that might undermine its success. – The Ghanaian Times
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com