Court
orders Deputy Minister’s arrest
Hundred
Castle workers to go home
GTV, Fox,
Kapital win big in Kumasi
The
government is considering a package of incentives for doctors to better their
standards of living and stem their exodus from the country.
A proposal
to that effect has been submitted to Cabinet for consideration. Dr Kwaku
Afriyie, Health Minister, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra, said
when approved the proposal will be extended to other health workers including
pharmacists, who intend to support government’s initiative to extend health
care delivery to the remote areas of the country.
He
indicated that after the approval by Parliament, the government will decide
whether the package should come from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative or be borne by the national budget. Dr Afriyie noted that the first
category of health workers to be considered will be those in the midwifery
sector who intend to set up clinics in the country. He explained that this is to
curb the high rate of child mortality in the rural areas.
Dr Afriyie
said the move is aimed at encouraging private sector participation in health
care delivery, particularly in the rural areas. He said currently the private
sector deals with about 35 per cent of health related cases, while the public
sector deals with 65 per cent, a trend he said should be reversed.
Dr Afriyie
said measures will be instituted to guide the beneficiary of the loans and also
regulate the fees they charge their patients. According to him, the main
problem facing the health sector at the moment is the redistribution of the few
medical officers left in the country.
Earlier, a
delegation from the United States Embassy led by Ms Nancy Powell called on the
minister to outline some of the areas of the health sector to which the US
Government intends to provide support. She said the areas include the campaign
against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and guinea worm eradication in the northern part
of the country.
Ms Powell
said even though much has been said about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there is the
need to intensify the campaign. The minister expressed government’s
appreciation to the US Government and urged other donor countries to emulate
its good example.
More…/
The General
Secretary of the National Reform Party (NRP), Comrade Kyeretwie Opoku has said
the death of Dr Ebenezer Ako Adjei must galvanise all Nkrumaists to unite their
forces to contest the next general elections.
He said
Nkrumaists should take a cue from Dr Ako Adjei’s rare display of selflessness
and commitment to the cause of the country, bury their differences and come
together to salvage the country from her present economic and social woes.
Comrade
Opoku said this when a delegation of the leadership of the NRP, Convention
People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) called on the
family of the late Dr Ako Adjei in Accra. He assured the family that the
country’s young politicians will continue to take inspiration from his good
works.
Comrade
Amoah Awuah, the acting Chairman of the Council of Elders of the CPP, on behalf
of the delegation, said the news of the death of Dr Ako Adjei was received with
grief and sorrow. He said Dr Ako Adjei who was a founding member of the CPP and
kept faith with the tradition until his death.
Comrade
Awuah hoped that efforts at uniting the family will succeed to serve as a
glowing tribute to the late comrade’s desire to re-unite all Nkrumaists in the
country and Diaspora.
The leader
of the PNC, Dr Edward Nasigre Mahama described Dr Ako Adjei as one of the few
personalities who fought relentlessly with others to liberate the country and
the continent from the clutches of colonialism. He said the state honour
conferred on him was most deserved. Dr Mahama consoled the widow, Mrs Theodosia
Ako Adjei, and the children, and wished them God’s guidance in their moments of
grief.
Mr Francis
Badgie, former Ghana High Commissioner to Britain, recalled his encounter with
Dr Ako Adjei, than a Foreign Affairs Minister and indicated that the late
comrade was a man of integrity and wisdom. He regretted his untimely death
although at that ripe age and prayed that the widow and the rest of the family
overcome “this irreparable loss.”
Mrs Linda
Fleischer-Brock, a daughter of the late Dr Ako Adjei, who spoke on behalf of
the family, expressed the family’s gratitude to the delegation for the visit
and said her father’s gratitude to the delegation for the visit and said her
father’s wish had always been to see a united Nkrumaist political family regain
political power to continue with the good works initiated by CPP government.
Other members of the delegation were Dr Nii Dowuona, Ms Fati Salifu, Ms Ella Dove
and Comrade Ahmed Ramadan.
GRi…/
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Court
orders Deputy Minister’s arrest
Gradually,
drivers are becoming victims of “do you know me” syndrome of some state
officials. First was the Central Minister, Edumadze, followed by the Dangme
East District Chief Executive, Mr Kofi Plahar.
The
pendulum has shifted to the territory of the Member of Parliament for Navrongo
and Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications. A circuit court judge, Mr
S.S. Appiah, signed the warrant to arrest the minister dated the January 29,
this year. This was after the prosecutor informed the court that the Hon
Minister had refused to produce a suspect, one Fuseini Amama, he stood surety
for in an assault case last September.
The police
had earlier summoned the minister to produce the suspect by a letter dated
January 15, this year. The letter, a source at the Police Headquarters said,
was handed to the staff officer as a procedure to serve the minister.
It stated
among other things, formation affidavit and motion for forfeiture of
recognisance bond for service on Hon John Achuliwor. Chronicle gathered that
the trouble for the minister started on the 19th of September, last
year at about 10 pm.
Eye-witnesses
told the Chronicle that while in traffic at Nsawam, the Deputy Minister’s
Toyota Hilux reportedly drove carelessly and an articulated driver had to exert
his rich experience to avert a fatal accident. The articulated truck driver,
Joseph Tetteh Fiagbor, reportedly got down and enquired from the minister, who
was driving, why he drove carelessly. His vehicle had come from an acute
position and allegedly entered the long traffic at a steep hill, near the
Barclays Bank, close to the railway crossing.
The
driver’s inquisition was too much for the minister’s bodyguard, described as a
“Mr Ghana” type. He came down from the car, in which a lady accompanied the
minister, and rained lofty blows to the head of Tetteh Fiagbor several times
that sent him reeling on the ground.
Boys
selling tea and cigarettes and other drivers rushed in to save the unconscious
driver by which time the “Mr Ghana,” dressed in Lacoste shirt and hot pants to
expose his muscular built, went into the Pick-up again and moved in the
traffic.
Unfortunately,
the snail pace-like movement of traffic impeded any attempt to escape. Joseph
Tetteh Fiagbor, aided by sympathizers, managed to inform the police on duty on
the Densu Bridge at Nsawam. As the minister’s vehicle approached, the police
flagged him to stop, but first he refused and a policewoman sergeant managed to
cross him on the bridge.
Eyewitness’
account had it that the MP and minister asked the police “who are you to stop a
VIP: Don’t you know I am a minister?” Their police in their numbers stood their
grounds and insisted that since he is a dignitary, he rather should set a very
good example. Achuliwor later obliged to go to the Nsawam police station with
the ‘machoman’, but refused to pick up both police and victim, from whose nose
and mouth blood oozed.
The
eyewitness account said that he reported, “I will never allow any policeman to
join my car.” At the station, the police had a hectic time before the
‘machoman’ could go behind the counter, as he remained outside. The
policewoman’s order that assailant be made to go behind the counter was met
with shock when the Honourable Minister allegedly replied acidly, “who are you
to order him to go behind the counter?”
After a few
exchanges because the police did not know him, the MP reportedly smoked several
sticks of cigarette in moments and stood surety for the ‘machoman’. He was
asked to report on the 24th September but since then, he has not
been seen, neither did he allow suspect to report to the station.
Police
sources at Nsawam and national headquarters confirmed the story, which
investigation they said is impeded. According to the Nsawam police source,
Joseph Tetteh Fiagbor was issued with a police medical form to attend the
Nsawam Government Hospital, which he did.
When
reached by the Chronicle, the minister stated that the ‘machoman’ was not his
bodyguard, but rather a passenger and when asked if he runs a passenger
vehicle, he carried the paper through the definition of a passenger. Again,
when asked why he could stand surety for a passenger he did not know, the
Honourable minister said that he never stood surety for the ‘machoman.’
On the
state of victim, the minister said, “my concern is that of the guy and not the
victim.” He however, stated that he would be visiting Nsawam that day, a
Saturday, to see how far the case had travelled.
More…/
About two
thousand teachers with the grades of superintendent and assistant
superintendent in the Eastern Region will lay down their pieces of chalk and
pens from February 28, unless they are paid certain increments in their
salaries.
“We shall
embark on an indefinite strike at the end of February if we don’t get our
money,” a resolution passed on January 25 by a section of the aggrieved
teachers in Koforidua tersely warned. It also gave February 15 as the deadline
by which time if they are not “assured of receiving” the back pay they will
embark on the sit-down strike.
The money,
the teachers contend, is “our share of the increment granted our colleagues in
December last year. According to Eric Tetteh, the first signatory of the
resolution, before the increment, fresh graduates from the national
post-secondary teacher-training colleges received lower salaries than their
seniors who had served for more than eight years and been promoted to the level
of superintendent. University graduates started as superintendents.
“Right now
a ‘Certificate A’ fresh from college and the superintendent both receive the
same salary - ¢524,000, net per month”, he explained. That is the salary paid
at level 10 as laid down in guidelines set out by the Ministry of Finance in
July last year. Signed by the Chief Director, J.A. Yamoah, the document
containing the guidelines was meant for the implementation of “recommendations
of the appellate body of Ghana’s Universal Salary Structure.” But the
implementation has not gone down well with a section of the teachers in
Koforidua.
Assistant
superintendents of education, ‘postsecans’ who have served for at least three
years were maintained at level 9. “This means that those coming fresh from
college are actually being paid more than their seniors in the filed,” Tetteh
explained, calling it a travesty of justice.
He wondered
why the appellate body committed such an unpardonable oversight but rightly
remembered to increase the salaries of senior superintendents. While the former
has been moved from level 12 to 13, the latter has climbed from 13 to level 14.
Implementation of the new structure started last December.
Assistant
superintendents and superintendents interviewed said they were shocked when pay
slips for the month of January 2002 showed that they were to receive their old
salaries.
The
revolution, which was meant for Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi, the sector minister, was
to be channeled through the Eastern Regional Minister’s office, Chronicle was
informed. A check at Akyem Tafo, Suhum and other populous towns in the Eastern
Region confirmed that affected teachers there were similarly aggrieved and
gearing up for battle.
GRi…/
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The Ghana Armed Forces has introduced a new dress code for its members- they are to carry on them always, condom wallets. The authorities supplied the wallets to them. This forms part of the efforts by the GAF to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Military.
Lt-Colonel Dela K. Sakyi, Commanding Officer of the Sixth Battalion of Infantry (6BN), disclosed this last Friday at the annual get-together (WASSA) of the troops at the Kamina Barracks. Speaking about activities engaged in by the battalion, he said that they had also embarked on agricultural and afforestation project.
Already, they have planted a 650-acre land with 4,000 tree seedlings. Mr Issah Ketekewu, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, said that a recent survey by a reputable organization showed that 65 per cent civilian polled had good image of the military, adding that even though that was not bad but the military could do more to improve on that.
He urged wives of the soldiers to organise themselves into groups in order that they can qualify to benefit from the business assistance government was giving to local entrepreneurs.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ernest Owusu Poku has directed the transfer of Inspector Adu Gyamfi, the Officer-In-Charge of Dawa Police Station with immediate effect.
This followed allegations that Mr Adu Gyamfi has been chasing two married women in the town. He was alleged to have been caught red-handed in bed with one of the said women by the husband. Mr Kwesi Nkansa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) in charge of Administration at the Police Headquarters disclosed this in an interview with the “Times” in Accra.
He explained that the transfer was to enable the police to conduct independent investigation into the allegations. DCOP Nkansa noted that, the Chief of Dawa near Sege, Nene Duamor Agborkor X, in a letter to the IGP, alleged that, Mr Adu Gyamfi, in order to cover his activities with the two married women, had rented a room for each of them at Sege.
It alleged that Adu Gyamfi turned the Police Station into a warehouse for smugglers commuting between Lome and Accra. Adu Gyamfi was alleged to have been collecting ¢100,000 from every vehicle that discharge smuggled goods at the police station. The letter mentioned Toyota mini buses GT 5734 R, GT 3606 F, GR2775 M, GR 8599 R, and GT2145 F, as some of the vehicles involved in the illegal business.
It alleged that Adu Gyamfi had no respect for anybody in the town; not even the ruling clan. He was said to have threatened to arrest and prosecute anybody who dare comment on his behaviour. It further alleged that Toyota mini bus, GT 7935 A, in a bid to collect smuggled goods lodged at the police station, knocked down an old woman.
Adu Gyamfi’s behaviour according to the letter has brought about a strained relationship between the Chief and the people in the town. Mr Nkansa noted that as a result of the gravity of the allegations, the IGP had decided to effect the transfer of Adu Gyamfi, to bring peace to the area while the matter was investigated.
GRi…/
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Last Monday, the exhumed mortal remains of the late General Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa-one of the military men who toppled a democratically elected government for the first time in the history of this nation in 1966-were reburied at his hometown, Krobo in the Ashanti Region.
At the burial ceremony, Baffuor Amankwah Afrifa, son of the late General, told Kwabena Akosa, BBC Correspondent, that he had no regrets for the 1966 coup d’etat.
Baffuor Afrifa underscored, “Yes my father did the first coup and I am proud of it, and he wasn’t so proud of it. He wanted democracy; and living in dictatorship, the only way to change things was to change by a coup.
My father himself when he took over, he handed back to a civilian government; he wanted democracy. And he also later on fought an election did so well. So the coup does not need to happen anymore.
His assertion was in response to a question posed by the BBC correspondent. Earlier in the interview, Baffuor had urged the Government to investigate the atrocities that happened which had prematurely sent “great people” into their graves in order to ensure that such things did not occur any longer and also bring the perpetrators to book.
Asked to explain what he meant by bringing the perpetrators to book, Baffuor Amankwah Afrifa said the perpetrators must be put before a Ghanaian court of law. “I want justice to be done; I want them to be put before a Ghanaian court and if they are found guilty- and I am sure they would be-the right punishment should be given them,” he articulated.
According to him, he detests further bloodshed, thus his call for redress before the court. He recalled that when General Afrifa and his colleagues took over power they handed over to a civilian government, saying his father wanted democracy and that once the country is enjoying democracy, there was no need for any more coups.
“We live in a democracy; so many people have died; so many people have suffered for us to get this far so please; we must cherish what we have got and use it to move forward”, he underscored.
More…/
The operations of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (AGC), the gold prospecting company headed by Dr Sam Jonah continued with a strong performance in 2001.
AGC’s total gold production for the year under review was 1,656,784 ounces at an audited cash operating cost of $189 per ounce compared with the previous year’s 1,737,264 ounces produced at a cash operating cost of $187 per ounce.
These are contained in a release on Ashanti 2001 Production Results. Total gold production in that year reduced mainly due to the closure of surface mining operations at Obuasi, complete cessation of operations at Ayanfuri and a 50 per cent share of Geita’s production which is now attributed to AngloGold, AGC’s JV partner.
According to results, the Group safety performance was maintained at world-class levels throughout the year and the lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) for 2001 of 0.58 injuries per 200,000 hours worked compared with 0.52 in 2000.
“This low injury rate reflects the commitment of the company to safeguard the welfare of its employees and to maintain world class safety standards”, the release indicated. Obuasi’s production for the forth quarter was134,423 ounces compared with 137,139 ounces achieved in the forth quarter of 2000; while the underground production for the quarter was 619,000 tonnes in the corresponding period last year.
Underground mining contributed 2,507,000 tonnes, 7 per cent greater than the 2,348,000 tonnes hoisted in 2000. A total of 4.06 million tonnes was processed as compared with 5.33 million tonnes in 2000.
At Ayanfuri, production continued on a reduced scale for the first half of the year, as small deposits were extracted and old pits cleaned up. The mine produced a total of 11,517 ounces in 2001 before mining ceased at the end of the second quarter.
Gold production for 2001 was a record 205,130 ounces, exceeding the previous year’s record of 193,868 ounces by 6 per cent, and gold production from carbon-in-Leach (CIL) plant increased to 158,103 ounces from128, 374 ounces in 2000.
Bibiani produced 253,052 ounces during 2001 compared with 273,711 ounces the 128,374 ounces in 2000. And reduced mill feed as well as lower plant recovery accounted for the reduction in gold production at the time.
In 2001 Siguiri-Guinea (85 per cent equity) produced a total of 283,199 ounces compared with 303,381 ounces in 2000. Underground production for the year of 1.16 million tones was 11 per cent higher than the 1.04 million tones achieved in 2000.
The Geita mine in Tanzania produced 545,562 ounces in its first year of production of which 50 per cent is attributable to AGC. Regarding exploration, focus in Geita during the year was on the identification and evaluation of several prospects within Geita Gold Mines’ extensive mining and prospecting licences. Exploration activities were carried out in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali Ghana, Zimbabwe and DR. Congo.
GRi…/
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Hundred
Castle workers to go home
More than a
year after some public officials took away the controversial End-of-Service
Benefit (ESB) under the NDC regime, some of beneficiaries especially those at
the Office of the President at the Castle, Osu, are still at post. But, the
Chief of Staff, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, has made it clear that all of them would have
to go home to enjoy their ESBs.
Sources
close to the Castle told “The Evening News” that a consultant who was tasked to
review the workforce at the Presidency has completed his work and submitted the
report to the Chief of Staff for action.
Insiders
say at least 100 people from the Castle workforce would go home as part of the
recommendations contained in the report. The source said the project is aimed
at pruning down the whole Castle workforce to ensure efficiency and proper
management of resources.
Most of the
people to be affected by the exercise, according to the source are those who
normally do not have specific role to play in the general work at the Castle
and those who have already taken their ESBs. The source expressed disgust at
the situation where some people take ESB although their retirements were not
due and continue to be at post.
Another
source at the Castle administration expressed concern about the situation and
regretted that the exercise was kept away from the office, which was supposed
to have handled it. “As civil servants and people who had knowledge about the
exercise and supposed to have compiled the names of those going on retirement,
we should have done that.”
“But this
time, the whole exercise was kept away from us; a Colonel from the Ghana Armed
Forces attached to the Castle was asked to conduct the exercise, thus keeping
us away”, they complained.
The Chief
of Staff Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, when conducted confirmed the story, but declined to
comment further. He said he has received the consultant’s report and was yet to
study it. He, however, emphasized that some staff at the Castle would
definitely go home.
It is
recalled that “The Evening News” last September reported that the Office of the
President was overstaffed, with the numerical strength of the working force
rising sharply from 250 to 764 shortly after the NDC lost the 2000 elections.
It was reported that the workforce included people who had retired and even
benefited from the controversial ESB. The then Chief of Staff, Mr. Jake
Obetsebi-Lamptey, confirmed the story and promised to engage experts to cut
down the workforce.
GRi…/
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GTV, Fox,
Kapital win big in Kumasi
It was a
mixture of fun, suspense and entertainment at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in
Kumasi when GTV, Fox FM and Kapital Radio virtually silenced the other
competitors at the first Radio and TV awards organised for radio and Television
stations operating in the Ashanti Region.
For the
state-owned GTV it was a reversal of roles against their major competitor TV3.
TV3 went home with one award as against 13 by GTV out of the 15 awards
available for the five TV stations operating in Ashanti. A similar event
organised in Accra last year saw TV3 sweeping the TV awards to the
disappointment of GTV; the performance of GTV in Kumasi, however, was beyond
everyone’s imagination.
The issue
being raised by most people is why the premiere station has not raised
questions about this event as they did (about they not being a private station)
when the Accra version took place. But things were not easy running in the
radio category where GCR (Garden City Radio) managed to pick only one of the 16
awards available to be won by the 12 FM radio stations operating in the region.
Fox FM and Kapital Radio shared between them 12 of the radio awards: each
station won six awards respectively.
The awards,
which went to GTV are Best Youth Oriented Programme (Fun World), Best Children
Programme (By The Fire Side), Best Local Language TV Talk Show (Mmaa Nkommo),
Best TV English Talk Show (Kwaku One-on-One), Best Serial Drama, Local
Production (Akan Drama) and Best TV Sports Programme (Sports Highlight).
The rest
are Foreign Production (Passions), Best TV Station for News, Best TV
Broadcaster, News (Francisca Ashittey-Odunton), Best Female TV Personality of
The Year (Gifty Anti), Male TV Personality of The Year (Earl Ankrah) and TV
Station of The Year.
Fox FM was
named as the Ashanti Region’s Radio Station of The Year and they also took home
Best Sports Programme (Fox Sports), Best Music Programme, Contemporary
Highlife/Hiplife (Adadam), Best Interactive Talk Show (Hard Ball) and Best
Morning Show (Fox Morning Drive).
The other
big winner on the night Kapital Radio won Best Music Programme, Reggae (Lovers
Rock), best Music Programme, Gospel (Still Waters), Most Beneficial Programme
on Culture (Abibigoro), Best Radio News Presenter (Patience Dapaah), Radio
Personality of The Year, Male (William “Loving Cee” De Bordes).
The
remaining four awards Best Youth Oriented Programme, Best Midday Show and Best
Radio Station for News went to Otec FM (Youth In Action), Luv FM (Metropolitan
Mix and Drive Time) and GCR respectively.
More…/
The third
edition of the Ghana Music Awards, which is to come off in a couple of months
time was launched at Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra last week.
The launch
ceremony was performed by the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Nana Akomeah. In
attendance were members of the mass media, industry experts and musicians. The
event was chaired by Mr Haruna Attah, a member of the National Commission on
Culture who represented the Chairman of the National Commission on Culture.
In a speech
read on his behalf, Prof Hagan congratulated Charter House Productions, the
organisers of the awards for contributing to the development of musicianship in
Ghana.
On his
part, Nana Akomeah urged musicians to observe a high sense of decorum in the
lyrics that they use in their songs. He said risqué lyrics may send wrong
signals that could be bad or good for the music industry in Ghana.
During
interaction with the organisers, Mrs Theresa Ayaode, the event coordinator,
said that the Ghana Music Awards was still on “the quest for zero defect” and
asked that patrons of the awards to feel free to point out errors that should
be corrected to make future editions of the awards successful.
GRi…/
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