PNC
files writ to restrain Nitiwul
Elubo (Western
Region) 26 February 2002 - One person died while twelve sustained gunshot
wounds when the police at the weekend opened fire on a crowd perceived to
be a faction opposed to the installation of a new chief at Elubo in the Western
Region.
Ackah Anvo, 70, a cocoa farmer, died while being conveyed to nearby Half-Assini, for medical treatment. One of the injured, Amo Morchir, 65, who was shot in both legs, had his right leg amputated on arrival at the Effia Nkwanta Hospital, Sekondi, where he is on admission together with Kabella Boah, 45. The ten others are on admission at the Eikwe Hospital, Half-Assini.
An eye-witness,
who pleaded anonymity, told the ‘Times’ at Sekondi that the Chief of Elubo
organized a durbar with the intention to install a new chief, who would administer
affairs on his behalf in view of his old age.
But some
youth and opinion leaders in the town opposed the installation and threatened
to disrupt the ceremony on grounds that they were not consulted. They argued
that the ceremony was illegal since it did not constitute an appropriate forum
to install a legitimate chief for whatever reasons.
The eyewitness
said that when the opinion leaders and the youth realized that their concerns
had been ignored and the installation was going on as scheduled, they marched
to the durbar grounds to disrupt the ceremony. However, the police were called
in to maintain law and order and that resulted in a clash. In the process,
the police fired shots into the crowd resulting in Ackah’s death.
Meanwhile,
a dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on the town. The decision, by the Western
Regional Security Council (REGSEC), followed the deteriorating situation in
the town. A statement issued by the REGSEC in Sekondi by the Deputy Regional
Minister, Ms Sophia Hanna-Sam, noted that there had been moves by a faction
in the dispute to prevent the installation of a new chief.
The old
chief is reported to have abdicated the stool voluntarily. The REGSEC assured
the public that the appropriate action would be taken to maintain peace in
the town. – The Ghanaian Times.
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2002 - Forty-five experts in rice production from the 16
ECOWAS countries on Monday began a four-day workshop on harmonization of policies
and coordination of programmes on rice production in the sub-region.
The workshop
being organized by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is to extend
information and exchange views on issues regarding the production, trade and
utilization of rice in the various countries.
Opening
it, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd) said since rice had assumed a greater status
as the most important food item in the sub-region, there was the need for
the sharing of ideas to ensure its increased production.
In Ghana,
he said, the government was attempting to reduce the importation of rice,
which now stood at $100 million per year by 30 per cent. The Minister said
that since the crave for rice could not be stopped, efforts were being made
to produce it locally. “As a first step, the Ministry is introducing water-harvesting
to ensure sufficient water for rice production, the pilot of which has been
tried with success in the northern parts of the country,” he said.
Major Quashigah
said that the Ministry was also introducing rice processors with destoners
to improve upon the quality of rice produced in the country. He said the Ministry
had also been prevailed upon to buy rice from the farmers for processing and
bagging for sale.
That, he
said, would prevent brokers from buying local rice and putting them in foreign
bags for sale as imported rice. He asked the experts to share ideas and work
in concert so that the sub-region would stop depending on other countries
for rice.
Mr Antonio
Ndong Mba, Deputy FAO Regional Representative for Africa, who chaired the
function, said the timing of the workshop was appropriate since leaders of
the various countries were considering ways of integrating their economies.
“It is therefore
appropriate for us in the agricultural sector to take the necessary steps
to coordinate our policies and programmes to maximize the impact of our efforts
to eradicate hunger and poverty and enhance the food security situation of
our hardworking people,” he said.
Mr Mba observed
that countries in the West African sub-region were finding it difficult to
reduce their dependence on imported food items, especially rice. As a result,
he said, availability and access to the commodity had now become priority
considerations in national strategies to meet food security requirements.
– The Ghanaian Times.
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 26 February 2002 - The Governing Council of the Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology (KNUST) last Friday unanimously rejected an application
by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof J.S.K. Ayim, for a two-year extension of his
tenure which ends in August this year.
The Council,
under the chairmanship of Prof Emeritus Kufuor, decided to advertise the position
when it becomes vacant in August. The decision of the Governing Council has
warded off a looming legal tussle, which threatened to rock the university
had the Vice-Chancellor’s application been granted.
The mood
on campus among both lecturers and students after the meeting on Friday was
one of relief and the decision of the Council seemed to have had a general
acceptability. It also put to rest the tension and rancour that had been associated
with the election of the vice-chancellorship of the KNUST in recent times.
The appointment
of Prof Ayim in 1999 was occasioned by a prolonged two-year battle, which
left the university front polarized and it took over a year for some bridges
to be built to ensure smooth administration of the university.
It would
be recalled that the Governing Council of KNUST met about ten days ago to
determine whether to advertise the vice-chancellorship position, which becomes
vacant in August, or grant an unprecedented two-year extension to the incumbent
Prof S.K. Ayim.
The incumbent
Vice-Chancellor had sought relief under Article 199 Clause 4 of the 1992 Constitution,
which gives provisions for retired public officers to be engaged in the service
for a limited period of not more than two years at a time of exigencies and
applied for a two-year extension to his tenure.
The Governing
Council, upon deliberation, dismissed outright Prof Ayim’s application. The
contention was that the KNUST is not short of manpower and no such exigency
exists. Meanwhile, The Statesman has learnt that interested parties are working
feverishly for the University authorities to advertise the vice-chancellorship
position when it becomes vacant. – The Statesman.
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2002 - The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has demanded
the immediate arrest of Joseph Ade Coker, former Vice-Chairman of the Association,
for issuing a dud cheque to the football-controlling body in the sum of $50,000
(¢380 million).
Ade Coker,
former Chairman of Great Olympics Football Club, was said to have issued the
cheque fraudulently, aware that there was inadequate funds in the account
to cover the payment. The payment of the money was recommended by the Justice
Sule Gbadebe Commission of Inquiry into the International Transfer of Players
and Related Matters, which the government accepted as contained in the White
Paper issued in May 2000.
The Gbadegbe
Commission accused Ade Coker for under-declaring the contract sum involving
the transfer of Richard Kingston as $90,000 instead of $150,000. The club,
therefore, incurred criminal liability under Section 139 of the Companies
Code, Act 179, hence the recommendation for the payment of the money.
At an Executive
Council meeting of the GFA, held last week, the Statesman learnt that members
were furious over the criminality of the former Olympic boss for issuing the
dud cheque. A resolution was unanimously passed seeking the immediate arrest
of Ade Coker, who now runs A.C. Olympiakos, a First Division Club.
In addition,
the GFA has set up a committee to recommend appropriate sanctions to be taken
against the Olympiakos’ boss for flouting the rules of the game by committing
acts “unbecoming of his status.” The rain cheque, the Statesman learnt, was
issued two years ago but attempts to get Ade Coker to replace it proved futile.
In another
development, the GFA Executive Council has asked the controversial Bayern
Munich Ghanaian international, Samuel Osei Kuffour, to substantiate the allegation
of embezzlement leveled against the Association.
Kuffour
was reportedly said to have accused the GFA members of embezzling money made
available by the sports kits giant Adidas, as part of the sponsorship deal
for the Mali 2002 African Cup of Nations.
Sources
close to the Association told The Statesman that Kuffour’s allegation has
embarrassed the members and therefore threatening legal action if he either
fails to substantiate or withdraw the allegation.
The members
of the football governing body agreed that a famous world-class footballer
such as Kuffour making such a serious allegation speaks volumes and that the
GFA should investigate it and institute appropriate action. – The Statesman.
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PNC files writ to restrain Nitiwul
Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2002 - The People’s National Convention (PNC) has filed
writ at a Tamale High Court seeking to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC)
from fielding Mr Dominic Nitiwul as a parliamentary candidate for the Bimbilla
Constituency bye-election slated for March 14.
The PNC
is also seeking to restrain Mr Nitiwul from holding himself as both a member
and parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the Bimbilla
Constituency bye-election until his true status has been determined.
Dr Edward
Mahama, Leader of the PNC, disclosed this in an interview on Monday. He was
outlining steps the PNC was taking in the light of the controversy over the
status of Mr Nitiwul, who the PNC earlier introduced as its parliamentary
candidate for the Bimbilla Constituency bye-election.
The current
controversy followed the declaration at the weekend by Nitiwul that he had
pitched camp with the NPP in the battle for the vacant Bimbilla seat, following
the resignation of Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas on February 15, this year. Dr Chambas
relinquished the seat following his election as the Executive Secretary of
the Economic Community
of West African States.
According
to Dr Mahama, the PNC took the decision to present Mr Nitiwul as its candidate
for Bimbilla poll because the party knew him as a member who was capable of
winning the seat for the PNC. “Any claims to the contrary can therefore only
be regarded as false and motivated by malice or mischief,” he stressed.
Dr Mahama
said that at the time Mr Nitiwul came to him to seek the nomination of the
PNC to contest the poll, he came with some PNC members and sympathizers, who
are prepared to testify even in court to his PNC membership. He further indicated
that the PNC was in possession of other documents of Mr Nitiwul, which he
(Mr Nitiwul) presented to the party when he sough his nomination for the parliamentary
contest.
“At the
appropriate time we would produce all these to prove our assertion that he
(Mr Nitiwul) is a member of PNC.” The PNC leader contended that Mr Nitiwul
had never at any material moment resigned his membership of the PNC and could
legally, therefore, not be a member of another political party, let alone
feature as a parliamentary candidate for it.
“I wish
to submit that in seeking to contest this election on the ticket of the NPP,
Mr Nitiwul is either a fraudster or an imposter who does not deserve to be
accorded the respect and honour due a member of Parliament,” he stressed.
The PNC
leader pointed out that a lot of resources had been expended by the PNC at
the constituency, regional and national levels to prepare Mr Nitiwul’s candidature
for the Bimbilla bye-election and therefore it was immoral and completely
untenable, for a variety of reasons, to turn his back on the PNC.
“We are
seeking to build and sustain a viable democracy that will respect honesty,
transparency and abhorrence of corruption and all vices. We accordingly have
a bounden duty to fight to uproot behaviours and attitudes such as are being
exhibited by Mr Nitiwul and I call on all Ghanaians to join us in this fight,”
he urged.
Dr Mahama
said the PNC had commenced efforts at choosing a new candidate to replace
Mr Nitiwul and served notice that “the PNC will fight hard to win the Bimbilla
seat, notwithstanding the odds.” – Daily Graphic
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Cape Coast
(Central Region) 26 February 2002 - Concerned citizens and aggrieved landowners
in the Central Region who have fallen victim to a shady system at the Survey
Department, whereby certain officials reject site plans and subsequently re-design
same for extra fees ranging from 400,000 to 500,000 cedis, have called on
the government to institute a probe into the report as a matter of urgency.
Following
a publication in the Chronicle dated Friday, February 8, headed “Storm gathers
over Survey Department as officials, landowners wrangle over document”, more
reports keep on tricking in, especially from victims at Kasoa, about the machinations
of officials of the department to enrich themselves at the expense of landowners
in the region.
Among organizations,
which had become victims is the Catholic Arch Diocesan Secretariat in Cape
Coast, which lost some 12 plots meant for the expansion of Holy Child School
in Cape Coast.
Speaking
to the Chronicle last week, Rev Father Francis Amonoo, who is in charge of
Estate of the Catholic Church, said the loss to the church had prevented the
Archdiocese from undertaking expansion work on the school.
Explaining
further, Rev Father Amanoo expressed regrets that as a church, they cannot
offer bribe whenever they go to conduct searches at the department, as result
of which they are delayed unduly resulting in a collusion with others to sell
the plots.
The former
chairman of the 19-member board, Mr Kwame Tenadu, who was registered as a
qualified surveyor in 2000, while in office, reportedly boasted that he was
untouchable because of his membership of the ruling NDC party.
He is said
to have helped in taking policy decisions and programmes to enhance implementation
of the Lands Commission Acts 483 of 1994, but which resulted in certain actions
taken that fall outside the set standards.
The Chronicle
can report that a circular sent last year by the Survey Department headquarters
in Accra to the Ghana Bar Association has been referred to its legal team
to give its opinion whether the circular is acceptable or not.
In a circular,
it is stated that surveyors should get site plans approved before they are
given to their clients. This is because about 70 per cent of site plans are
drawn by draughtsmen before they look for surveyors to sign them, as if they
(surveyors) prepared them.
Even though
some well-known surveyors are dead and gone, their stamps with signatures
are being used in the preparation of site plans for approval - one such popular
surveyor was the late Mr Holdbrook Smith, whose stamp is still being used
by somebody and accepted by the Survey Department.
These are
some of the issues the concerned citizens and aggrieved landowners are complaining
about to be looked into and corrected. A source told the Chronicle that the
system of re-drawing of site plans by the Survey Department, introduced during
the tenure of office of Tenadu, has created a situation where it is seen to
be a national exercise.
An aggrieved
landowner in Cape Coast who wanted anonymity who to this paper after reading
the story pointed out that most government appointees are either shy or afraid
to accept their faults when they are exposed while in office, adding that
he is waiting for the day a probe would be instituted for him to come and
expose more of the malfeasance against the officials.
He said
as a cover up, the government appointees try to put dust into the eyes of
people to believe their stories as creditable performers when in actual fact
they were not. Sources close to the Survey Department indicated that the system
of rejection and redesigning of site plans by the department was not in operation
until Tenadu assumed office as Chairman of the 19-member board.
The Chronicle
can report that a book which the surveyors recorded their reports was put
aside but now that their clandestine activities have been exposed, it has
resurfaced and the authorities are pleading with some well-known surveyors
to back date the reports for the office.
Owing to
activities of Tenadu at one stage, the board passed a vote of no confidence
in him making him refuse to attend meetings. As a result, the Ghana Bar Association
representative on the board was made to sign documents on behalf of the commission.
In the course of time, Tenadu decided to tender his resignation because he
was met with stiff opposition from members of the board.
He therefore
made attempts as an NDC guru to get to the Ministry of Lands to remove the
lands officer but it became late for him when the NDC lost the 2000 general
elections. The Chronicle has enough documents at its disposal to contest any
action to be initiated by anyone, in addition to victims who are prepared
to appear before any committee or court to give evidence anywhere in support
of the paper’s report. - The Chronicle.
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comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2002 - When President J.A. Kufuor embarked on his Special Initiative for Garments through the Ministry of Trade and Industries with the aim of attracting a selected number of garment and textiles manufacturing firms overseas to relocate in Ghana and produce for the export market, MARC Industries Ltd., owned by Mark Kofi Osei, (fashion designer and Managing Director) embraced the initiative and established his factory at Spintex Road, Batsona.
MARC Industries, which has the capacity to produce over 5,000 dresses a day and large quantities of clothing for both local and the export markets (America, UK, Germany, etc) has suffered a major setback as a result of encroachment on its land bought and duly registered with the Lands Commission. Mr Osei revealed this to The Crusading Guide recently.
Mr Osei who showed different documents from the Lands Commission, the Survey department and the Metro Works Department, Town Planning Office, Accra to support his claim on the land was disappointed that after numerous appeals to those organisations as well as the courts of the land, nothing had been done about the problem, leading to the encroachers building on his land. He disclosed that he had sent a number of petitions to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to no avail.
“Its rather unfortunate that a petition was sent to the office (AMA) at Labadi but the officer in charge told me that when the encroacher completes his building on my land, they (AMA) would come and write stop work.” Mr Mark Osei added that the encroacher (Ladi Amina) had started carrying out work on the land rapidly, “on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and even in the evenings so as to quickly finish her building on my legally acquired land”.
The MD who took the paper to the encroached portion (90ft, leaving 25ft) of the land, stated that, it would be difficult to bring in materials and machinery to the factory because the encroached portion is near the major road, which would have been used as an entry point to the factory.
Following the visit of the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Biniface Abubakar Sadiq to his factory recently, Mr Mark Osei hinted that he was going to petition the Ministry to intervene to find a solution to the tussle over the ownership of the land. On how he acquired the land, the MD said that he bought the land from one Madam Borbu Borley, a citizen of Nungua after all the documents had been cross-checked at the Lands Commission.
When Madam Borbu Borley was contacted at her residence, she confirmed having sold the land to Marc Industries, adding that she was surprised about the encroachment on the land and challenged this paper to check up with the Lands Commission on its true owner. A search by the Crusading Guide at the Lands Commission revealed the land is not a state land and is indeed registered in the name of Mark Osei.
When a Fashion Designer of Marc Industries, Akua Serwaa Osei was interviewed, she disclosed that the garment industry, which has the capacity to generate over US$50 million export revenue and to employ thousands of Ghanaians, should not to be toyed with by government in the present “Golden Age of Business”.
Akua Serwaa reiterated that the company has a lot to offer both on the local market and international export market, adding that the Ministry of Trade and Industry should intervene in the saga over the encroachment of their land and resolve the matter to avoid frustrating investors who come to offer employment opportunities to Ghanaians. Marc Industries Ltd. according to management cannot carry on with its expansion work, which would enable them employ many Ghanaians.
“The company is deeply frustrated and its clearly a disincentive to the President’s Special Initiative on Garment. If we want Ghana to develop, some of these issues must be properly dealt with to restore investor confidence in the country. It is my hope that the Ministry of Trade and Industry would immediately step in to stop the encroachment of my legally acquired land”, concluded Mr Mark Osei who stayed in Spain for over 22 years but has decided to relocate in Ghana as result of the President’s special initiative. - The Crusading Guide
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2002 - Some non-Ghanaian businessmen, particularly, Lebanese
sawmillers have been transferring large sums of foreign cash from their local
accounts into their accounts outside the country.
As soon
as revenue from the export of timber products are paid into their local accounts,
these Lebanese businessmen present invoices to their bankers to direct them
to transfer such monies into their foreign accounts.
Nana Kwaku
Asubongteng, a Kumasi-based timber producer, disclosed this to newsmen in
an interview at Bonsu-Nkwanta in the Western Region. A GNA news item quoted
Nana Asubongteng as saying that the excuse often given by these Lebanese was
that they were going to use the transferred monies to purchase spare parts
and other items but they end up lodging the monies in their foreign accounts
to the detriment of the country’s economy.
Nana Asubongteng
therefore appealed to the Ministries of Finance and Trade to investigate the
transfers and to initiate measures to check the mass transfer of monies by
non-Ghanaian businessmen into foreign accounts.
“If stringent
measures are not initiated to check the practice, many non-Ghanaian businessmen
will take Ghanaians for granted and the economy would continue to suffer,
while the golden age of business policy would be a hoax,” he stated.
He said
the government’s “Golden Age of Business” policy should not be misconstrued
to mean that businessmen can enrich themselves through “foul means” at the
expense of the country’s economy. That policy, he said is to encourage and
entice both local and foreign investors to invest in the country and to contribute
to the growth of the nation’s economy.
Nana Asubongteng
said such negative practices from these foreign businessmen in the timber
industry has made most of our local sawmills insolvent and unable to pay promptly
for logs supplied to them by producers.
In another
development, some Ghanaian timber producers from the Ashanti and Western Regions
have expressed concern about the way the Forestry Commission has been discriminating
against Ghanaian timbermen in the allocation of quota for production of timber.
The producers expressed the concern at a meeting at Bonsu Nkwanta in the Juabeso-Bia
District of the Western Region.
They alleged
that the Commission has this year allocated large quotas to the Lebanese sawmillers
while Ghanaian timbermen have small quota. As a result, the producers claimed
that the Lebanese sawmillers are able to produce more timber for export than
their Ghanaian counterparts. They therefore appealed to the Commission to
ensure that fair play prevails in the allocation of quota in the future. –
The Evening News.
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