Death penalty must go - Justice penalty must Asiamah
Pastor beats hubby for defiling girl, 7
Fraud rocks two top banks
'The walkout syndrome'
The Lone Ranger in Sierra Leone
Death penalty must go - Justice penalty must Asiamah
The Supervising High Court Judge at Sekondi, Mr Justice S.K. Asiamah, has called on lawmakers to repeal the law on capital punishment. He said commensurate prison sentences could be imposed on criminals in order to reform them to fit into society to contribute to the development process after serving their custodial sentence.
Addressing the opening of the Criminal Session of the special court in Sekondi on Monday, Justice Asiamah said the rehabilitation of criminals should take precedence over capital punishment. The criminal session is a special court, which tries serious criminal cases such as rape, murder, use of offensive weapons and armed robbery.
Normally, the criminal session starts from October and ends in July, but the session delayed in the Western Region due to the shortage of legal staff. During the session, 32 cases will be heard. Justice Asiamah advised judges to stay away from favouritism and ensure that justice is pursued to its logical conclusion.
He noted that judges need to be transparent and pronounce judgement without fear or favour. He said people turn to the courts to seek justice and equity, and advised judges to refrain from actions which create doubts and arouse suspicion in the minds of such persons.
“We must make justice our bastion so as to win even greedy and powerful people who seek to buy justice for their selfish ends,” he stressed. “Justice Asiamah reminded judges to be guided by the Holy Scriptures and made reference to Second Chronicles, Chapter 19: 5 – 7, which exhorts judges “to consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the Lord.”
He stressed that injustices in our courts must not be allowed to prevail and called on judges, friends of the courts and Ghanaians to “judge carefully, for without God, there is injustice or partiality or bribery.”
He further advised legal practitioners not to be blinded by monetary gains to persuade clients to plead not guilty cases that a plea for leniency is most appropriate.
A High Court Judge, Justice Senyo Dzamafe, advised legal practitioners to avoid frivolous objections and consider the merit of cases to expedite the determination of cases. He said if two sides in a case flex muscles in court, it is the accused who suffers. A Senior State Attorney, Mr William Kpobi, said adjournment in criminal cases should not be the same as that of civil and summary cases.
The immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr Ebo Quarshie, urged lawyers to get actively involved in legal aid and not allow monetary gains to distract them from seeking justice for the marginalized in society. He volunteered to defend two accused persons at no legal cost during the session.
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The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has stated that the exodus of health professionals may lead to the possible closure of some health facilities for lack of staffing.
The GMA illustrated the seriousness of the drain by citing the situation at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, in Kumasi where out of 493 nurses at post last June, 100 of them have left for greener pastures abroad.
In a communiqué issued at the end of a representative board meeting at Lake Bosomtwe in Ashanti, the GMA appealed to government to take immediate steps to improve upon salaries and conditions of service of doctors and other health professionals in order to stem the exodus.
The communiqué, signed by Dr Jacob Plange-Rhule and Dr K.S. Jehu-Appiah, President and Secretary respectively of the GMA, acknowledged the acute shortage of health professional, especially, doctors and nurses, in all health institutions in the country as a result of the ever increasing brain drain.
It further called on the government to give due consideration to the provision of more residential accommodation for health professionals and provide practical guidelines on rent deductions at the MOH.
It said the acute shortage and the deplorable state of residential facilities for health professionals are a contributory factor to the brain drain and expressed dissatisfaction with the current guidelines governing rent deduction in the MOH.
The communiqué alleged that about 600 Ghanaian professionally trained doctors are domiciled in New York alone, adding that whereas the country needs about 3,000 doctors to effectively deliver quality healthcare, the job has been left in the hands of only 1,600 doctors. It appreciated the President’s decision to make health and education priority areas in the action plan of the government for this year.
The communiqué also called on the government to expedite action on the appointment of a Director General and other directors for the Ghana Health Service (GHS). The GMA noted with concern the slow pace of operationalisation of the GHS and Teaching Hospitals Board. It observed that it is high time that these boards were put in place to make policy formulation for the health sector more productive.
The association noted with satisfaction the government’s efforts in providing 200 cars for doctors and other health professionals to enable them to provide quality health care delivery in all the health institutions in the country.
The communiqué also acknowledged the steps being taken by government towards the establishment of the Ghana Postgraduate Medical College as one of the means of stemming the continuing drain of highly trained health professionals and implored it to speed up the process of its establishment. It reiterated the call on the government to declare health an essential service and resolved to create a forum for a comprehensive public debate on healthcare financing as part of GMA’s third annual public lecture this year.
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Metropolitan Entertainment Television (Metro TV) has stated that although it had a legitimate right to CAN 2002, it decided to suspend its schedule for last Sunday to save lives and property in the event of threats from certain quarters. It said investigations have shown that the threats were issued by some unscrupulous persons who are bent on destroying its good image.
In a press release issued in Accra on Monday, Metro TV said last Sunday there were serious attempts by certain sections of the media to intimidate and bring its good name and hard won reputation into disrepute by waging a campaign of lies against the company.
The release said threats were also issued to the effect that there was a contingency plan to invade the company’s premises, confiscate its equipment, arrest staff and close down its station. According to the release, Metro TV had filed a suit at the High Court on January 9, this year to seek redress for what it considers an infringement on its rebroadcast rights with TV Africa.
It assured the public that Metro TV is within its legitimate right to ensure a continued broadcast to satisfy its viewers, adding that, “we shall not do anything to prejudice the outcome of the pending litigation.”
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The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Nana Akuffo-Addo, on Monday urged all critics of the National Reconciliation Law and those others going about prophesying doom to rather help make the law a success.
This is because the law does not have any sinister motive or secret agendas to pursue, he said. Speaking to the ‘Times’ in an interview in Accra on Monday, the A-G said the law was focused on the various military government because they constituted the only period in the country’s history, which had not been scrutinized.
According to him, all the civilian regimes had been subjected to various commissions of enquiry when they were overthrown by the military. Nana Akufo-Addo said that if the NPP government had any secret agenda, there would have been other ways to do it other than the law.
“We could have been fighting for the removal of the entrenched clauses in the constitution which indemnified the PNDC government”. Nana Akufo-Addo said that the President could also have used the powers conferred on him by the Constitution to simply appoint people into a National Reconciliation Commission without passing it through parliament.
After all, he said, the President brought together the Stadium Disaster Commission to investigate the May 9, 2001. Accra Sports Stadium Disaster without passing it through parliament.
According to him, all the civilian governments were being kept out of the law without exception adding that, “it is consistent on that count”. “This means that all the governments from the First Republic to the Fourth Republic are excluded by the Law,” the Attorney-General said.
He explained that, military governments could not be said to be the same as civilian democratic governments because in civilian governments, there is the law of habeas corpus but in military governments this law is thrown away. Habeas Corpus is an order requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court.
Nana Akufo-Addo said, all over the world, reconciliation had been restricted to specific periods, such as in South Africa, where it was put after the Sharpeville massacre of 1961 whereas Nigeria chose the Military governments.
And in all these places, they had served their purpose, he emphasized. The A-G said even though, the law was focused on the military regimes anybody who has anything to be investigated was free to petition the commission.
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The textile and garment trade under the President’s Special Initiative Project, is to receive a big boost in exports to the United States market, under the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA).
A leading United States retail and distribution firm, K-Mar Corporation, has offered to assist in the export and distribution of the textile and garment to be produced under the PSI to marketing firms in the United States.
The deal was reached following successful negotiations between Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr Allan Kyeremanten, and K-Mart Corporation, the second largest retail and distribution outlet involved in the export and import trade in the United States.
Mr Kyerematen on Thursday led a delegation from K-Mart Corporation including its Vice-President, Mr Dale Apley, to call on President John Kufuor and hold discussions on the deal.
Mr Apley told President Kufuor that K-Mart Corporation was adding Ghana to its list of business interests worldwide to enable it to export the garment and textile produced under the PSI to the United States market, using the AGOA advantage.
This was the result of several months contacts made between Mr Kyerematen and K-Mart Corporation during which the two sides shared a lot of ideas on the PSI, while discussing the many opportunities involved, he said.
Mr Apley said that his firm was already involved in business in sub-Saharan Africa, dealing with the export of a lot of products manufactured by countries in the region. He said that K-Mart corporation was, therefore, very glad to open its door to the government and do business with Ghana with respect to the textile and garment aspect of the PSI.
Introducing the delegation earlier, Mr Kyerematen, a key figure in the implementation of the PSI, said that Mr Apley requested to come to Ghana himself to explore opportunities which would help his firm to determine its own production levels with regards to the textile and garment trade.
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The Pastor of the Yehova Mission House at New Ningo who caught her husband defiling a seven year-old girl, on January 6, 2002, subjected him to some dirty slaps before handing him over to the Police.
Samuel Akweitey, 65, the alleged rapist, has been remanded in custody by a Tema Circuit Court. A medical report tendered in court revealed that the girl’s hymen had been broken and her vaginal orifice enlarged.
The prosecution told the court that on January 6, 2002 around 5.40 pm Akweitey, asked the victim to sweep his room at the Mission house, where they both resided. In the process, he dragged the little girl into his room and unto his bed, removed her panties and forcibly had sex with her. When the victim complained of pains, Akweitey asked her to shut up or she would die.
The accused’s stepdaughter who went into the hall to pick up something heard an unusual noise from the room and entered to find out what was happening. There she caught the stepfather in the act and reported it the pastor. The victim’s mother reported the matter to the police who arrested Akweitey.
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The Minister of Tourism and MP for Bawku Central, Madam Hawa Yakubu has accused the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, of rudeness.
She said the Speaker’s attitude to her during last Friday’s Parliamentary forum in Accra was an exhibition of a total lack of respect to her dignity as a woman and a Member of Parliament who has a legitimate duty to let the House know the problems of her constituents.
Madam Yakubu made the accusation in a telephone conversation with “The Evening News” in Accra shortly after the forum.
According to her, she passed a note to the Speaker requesting to comment on the riot which occurred at Bawku about a month ago.
She said the Speaker who did not allow her to comment on the issue instead, announced to the public that a member wanted comment on the Bawku issue but he would not allow because time was far spent.
The Bawku Central MP said she expected the Speaker to also pass a note to her to decline her request to comment on the matter. Rather, she said the Speaker went public and announced to the crowd that a member had wanted to comment on the Bawku conflict but he would not allow.
Madam Yakubu said the speaker’s attitude was that of rudeness and caused a lot of embarrassment to her as a Member of Parliament for the area then under discussion.
She said while the Speaker was appointed by members of the House including herself, she was elected by the people in the constituency and every opportunity should be given to her to carry the sentiments of the people who elected her to the House for redress.
Madam Yakubu called on the Speaker to change his attitude towards members of the House for proper parliamentary democracy to be established. She said the issue she had wanted to comment on was very dear to her heart and the people of Bawku in general and wondered why the Speaker found it unnecessary for her to comment on.
The MP said the recent conflict at Bawku caused the lives of more than 100 people and the destruction of property worth millions of cedis, but nothing had been done for the victims. According to her, she had spent over 50 million cedis on the victims who always come to her for assistance and thought that the forum offered an opportunity for her to draw the attention of the country to the people in the area.
Madam Yakubu said a positive change in the behaviour of the Speaker, particularly to members of the House would go a long way to make parliamentary work more easy and efficient. She regretted that the Speaker was using his position to prevent members from airing their views and comment on issues bothering the people in their constituencies.
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Fraud rocks two top banks
The Standard Chartered (Gh) Ltd, and Ecobank (Gh) Ltd, two of Ghana’s most prominent banking institutions, have been hit with a financial fraud perpetrated by a syndicate using a sham company.
Investigations revealed that some fraudsters used the name of a non-existent company styled, Total Link and Supplies Limited, to open an account with the Spintex Road Branch of the Standard Chartered (Gh) Limited and used same account forging the signature of a client of Ecobank to have a total amount of 99,551,000 transferred into their fraudulent account established with Stanchart.
The said sham company is not registered with the Registrar General’s Department and under banking regulations, one would have expected the Standard Chartered to expertly cross-check the background of the said company before doing business with it so that those behind it could be arrested in case of fraud.
On the other hand, Ecobank (Gh) Ltd. failed in protecting the customer as their security systems put in place to have a customer’s account safe could not detect a forged signature from a client’s correct signature.
Officials of Ecobank could only put their mistake on human error, while a senior management staff of Stanchart, Mr Vanderpuye told the Chronicle late December last year that, Total Link and Supplies Limited presented to the bank four documents indicating they were registered under the laws of Ghana, even though counter investigations at the offices of the Registrar General’s General Department indicated that the company is non-existent.
“We wish to inform you that a careful search has indicated that the above-named company has not been registered with the registrar of companies,” a letter signed by the Chief State Attorney, K.O Ohene-Obeng, stated. It was dated November 30, 2001.
Also in a police report, the Holy Trinity Clinic, the Ecobank client, stated unambiguously that it had never done business with Total Link and Supplies Limited.
Information available to this paper shows that on November 5, last year Total Link and Supplies Limited, forged the signature of the Director of the Holy trinity Clinic to have an amount of 38,350,000 cedis transferred from the clinic’s account with the Ridge branch of Ecobank into its account with Stanchart.
The same fraud was done a month earlier on 11 October, involving an amount of 61,201,000 cedis and investigation has established that the said fake company closed its account less than a week after the second fraud was perpetrated.
The fact that an official of the clinic was involved in the fraud cannot be ruled out since it is impossible for an outsider to have access to the cheque book, whether blank or signed, but the fact that both banks could not put in adequate measures to avoid fraud raises questions as to the safety of doing business with Ghanaian banking institutions.
The case is to be handled by the police and information available to the Chronicle indicates that cheques number 577720 and 577604 used for the deal, as well as the fake documents used in opening the account with Stanchart, are being scrutinised carefully by the security agencies to establish those behind the sham.
Meanwhile both banks are meeting to discuss how to credit the account of Holy Trinity Clinic with the missing cash fraudulently cashed by the fake company, Total Link and Supplies Limited, Chronicle gathered.
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Even though the Bimbilla seat occupied by the current ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas, is yet to be declared vacant by the Electoral Commission, three leading political parties are waging frantic efforts in an unbridled quest for the seat.
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) are leading the pack in the race to wrestle the seat, likely to be vacant in February when Chambas assumes office as the chief civil servant of the sub region.
But there is a snag. Parliament has as yet not received a letter from Chambas indicating the time and date he would step down.
“No such letter has come through,” Clerk of Parliament, Mr Tachie told the Chronicle on Monday this week.
The electoral Commission (EC) is required by law to organise a bye-election 30 days after a parliamentary seat is declared vacant. This is preceded with a seven-day notice to all the political parties.
Henry Okyne, Public Relations Manger of the EC, says his outfit is yet to receive notification from Parliament about the vacancy “Until we receive notification we cannot act,” he told the Chronicle on Tuesday.
The ambiguity notwithstanding, the contesting parties are pushing their chances in the race that is expected to be a straight fight between the NPP and the NDC. The two Nkrumaist parties, the CPP and the PNC are likely to post a good showing.
The NPP is dispatching General Secretary Dan Botwe to the Northern Region next week to assess the party’s chances and also to coordinate and harmonise campaign programmes and strategies between party headquarters and regional office.
Kwadwo Afari, Head of Publicity at the party headquarters, is very upbeat about his party’s chances should a bye-election be called by the National Electoral Commission. He told the Chronicle on Monday that the party’s regional office has been assigned the duty of doing the necessary groundwork at the constituency level.
Afari is confident nothing can stand in the way of the party and victory. “We are attaching a lot of importance to winning the seat when it becomes vacant. We have tasked our regional office in Tamale to start the preparatory works. We are going to win.”
“I don’t see how we cannot win. We are going to benefit from our incumbency. This time there would be no intimidation and bribery. There is going to be even field and we are going to win.” The NDC also hopes to cash in on its historic popularity in the North where it won over the NPP in the December elections. Sources within the party believe the bye-election would see a re-enactment of what transpired last December in terms of results.
The CPP is also sure it can rustle some feathers as far as the bye-election is concerned. Party Chairman Dr Abubakar Al-hassan told the Chronicle his party is preparing feverishly to give the other parties a good run. “The constituency executives are meeting today (Monday) and are expected to choose between two candidates. We don’t want to handpick from the headquarters.”
Asked to comment on the chances of the CPP, a lyrical Dr Al-hassan stated: “We want do a lot more groundwork before we can say anything substantive about our chances”. He was confident however that if all goes well with preparations made so far the CPP would spring a surprise. Non of the parties would disclose the names of their candidates when pressed to do so.
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'The walkout syndrome'
Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament, has expressed concern over the frequent "walkouts" which rocked Ghana's Fourth Republican Parliament in the last Session.
According to him, some Members of Parliament (MPs) hide behind "walkouts" as a democratic right of expression to leave the House "whenever they strongly oppose a particular course of action or decision". "Even though it is a legitimate Parliamentary strategy, it is rarely used and it very quickly loses its significance while holding up important work which the House must see through", Ala Adjetey said.
He hoped that such a drawback would not be repeated this year but rather "cooperation, conciliation and compromise will assume their rightful places in the battlements and ramparts of the Parliamentary Castle and ensure that conflict and acrimony, which very quickly lead to 'walkouts', will not be given free rein to raise their ugly heads in debates".
The Speaker made these submissions at the Eighth Annual Public Forum on Parliament. He bemoaned the inability of Parliament to determine the resources that are necessary for it to effectively carry out its role. In this regard, the Speaker disclosed that Parliament had "established a Special Budget Committee to enable it have more say in determining the resources allocated to it to perform its functions and discharge its obligations adequately".
In addition, Ala Adjetey said a Judicial Committee had also been established to deal with issues relating to allocations for the Judiciary.
He told the Forum that in the last Session, Parliament passed 23 bills including the Repeal of Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws (Amendment) Act, 2001, (Act 602), the Fisheries Act 2001, the Bank of Ghana Act, 2001, the National AIDS Commission Act, 2001 and the National Reconciliation Commission Act, 2001, (Act 611).
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The Lone Ranger in Sierra Leone
It has turned out that President J.A. Kufuor of Ghana was the only lone-ranger, as Head of State, among the group of foreign dignitaries, invited to witness the burning of huge piles of guns and other offensive weapons to mark the end of civil war in Sierra Leone.
Although almost all African Heads of State were invited to witness the ceremony, none considered the bon-fire ceremony, so important as to make their personal presence necessary. So, in their wisdom, the African leaders either sent their ministers or merely wired messages of good-will and congratulations to the Sierra Leoneans.
But, the travel-happy President of Ghana thought otherwise. And the result was embarrassing. He had to share honours with other Foreign Ministers, while his own Foreign Minister, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang and Information Minister, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey were relegated to the back-ground, carrying brief cases. It serves them right.
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