Police advise prostitutes
to halt business for now
Help police to solve murder of women - Dzirasah
Kingmaker challenges Judicial committee
Belgium Ambassador bids goodbye
Kumasi Judges go to computer school
Bechemhene swears oath to Asantehene
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
Following the murder of yet another woman in Accra at the weekend, civil right groups here are calling for a one-day sit-down strike by all women on Monday.
The Group, which include FIDA, CHIRAJ, Ghana Employers Association and other NGOs have also petitioned the President, Parliament, the Minister responsible for national security and the Inspector General of Police to treat the issue, which has become known as the Accra serial murders, as a national crises.
The group today besieged Parliament to present a petition to the Speaker of the House.
Meanwhile, the Minister responsible for National Security, Mr Kofi Totobi Quakyi said on Tuesday that there hasn’t been any major breakthrough in investigations into the murders as an irate public blames the security agencies of inaction in tracking down the perpetrators.
"We have not made any significant breakthrough in investigations...There have been some arrests by the police. (But) the investigations have not led us to what we think is the bottom of the matter .…" he told the Accra-based Joy FM radio station.
The public has been demanding action from the security agencies for almost two years when the murders started in Accra and the silence of the authorities on the matter has made people accuse them of inaction.
Some have called on the Inspector- General of Police and the Interior Minister to resign over the lack of progress in apprehending the culprits.
The police have refused to make any comments claiming that these may jeopardise their investigations. They also say they are over-stretched and do not have adequate resources.
The present uproar has been triggered by the murder of the third woman in one week and about the 25th in Accra and 31st in the country within the past two years.
The latest victim was found on Sunday at Asylum Down. She is believed to be from either the northern part of the country or the Volta region and in her late 20s.
Mr Totobi Quakyi said he fully appreciates the gravity of the situation as it has grave security implications and tarnishes the image of the country, which has been known to be peaceful.
"We cherish the fact that Ghana is peaceful and such incidents could start sending wrong signals to the outside world... Of course our first concern is to the people of this country."
The government said on Monday night that it is concerned about the spate of murders and called for public co-operation to bring the perpetrators to book. The National Security Council is meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
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Police advise
prostitutes to halt business for now
Accra (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
The Police on Tuesday appealed to
women to avoid going out at night alone and advised that if it becomes
necessary for them to walk in the night, they should do so in groups.
They also advised prostitutes to
stop their business for the time being until there is a significant
breakthrough in investigations being conducted by the security agencies on the
murders of women in the country in general and Accra in particular.
Speaking to the GNA in Accra, a
police source said, even though, the Constitution guarantees freedom of
association and movement, women have to be careful with the calibre of people
they associate with.
"Prostitutes should know that
their lives are in danger since they are always found in the company of
men" some of whom they do not know.
Twenty-five women have been
murdered in Accra with the latest victim being found at Asylum Down on Sunday
morning.
The Minister responsible for
National Security, Mr Kofi Totobi Quakyi said on Tuesday that no major
breakthrough has been made in the investigations.
"There have been some arrests
by the police, (but) investigations have not led us to what we think is the
bottom of the matter," he told the Accra-based Joy FM radio station.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 04
July 2000
Mr Kenneth Dzirasah, First Deputy
Speaker of Parliament, on Monday appealed to the public to help the police to solve
the cases of the murder of women in the country.
He said they could do this by
offering information that would lead to the arrest of the culprits adding that
the security agencies particularly the police need assistance in the discharge
of this responsibility.
Speaking at the ninth and final
Regional Parliamentary Forum at Cape Coast, to keep the people abreast with the
work of Parliament, Mr Dzirasah, explained that Parliament had already summoned
the Minister of Interior to find out what the security agencies were doing to
check the murders.
The First Deputy Speaker, who is also the MP for South Tongu, was
reacting to concerns expressed by participants about the murders and what
Parliament was doing about the problem.
It has also passed a loan agreement
to provide equipment to enhance the effectiveness of the police in combating
crime.
He said that it has taken the
government some time to get assistance for this purpose because the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) do not regard equipment for the
police as development assistance.
The government had to seek a
commercial loan adding that "everybody is anxious and we must all be
cautious and alert".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
Political parties on Tuesday said
the timing of the preliminary assessment of the parties by the Electoral
Commission (EC) would distract their attention from campaigning for the
December elections.
Six months to a crucial election should
be used for development of plans, mapping up party strategies and serious
propaganda work on the field and not for bureaucratic procedures that should
have been done earlier, they said.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) found
during visits to the national and regional offices of some parties in Accra
that although the political parties are aware of Act 574 that spells out their
assessment, they have not furnished the EC with the status of their parties.
Since the last elections in 1996,
most of the parties have not furnished the EC with their audited account,
updated records on party officials at the national, regional and district
offices. This is in spite of the fact that the initial list submitted to the
commission for registration has changed.
The parties have also not declared
their assets, source of finance and contributions in cash and kind as the act
demands.
The EC on Monday officially
embarked on a nation-wide assessment of political parties to ensure that their
operations are in conformity with constitutional provisions and the Political
Parties Law (Act 574).
The Act states, among others
things that all political parties shall establish branches in all the regions
and in addition organised in not less than two-thirds of the districts in each
region.
Mr. David Adeenze Kangah, Deputy
Chairman in-charge of Operations, said in the interview with the GNA that the
exercise would cover all constituencies.
He said the Commission is
empowered to cancel the registration of a political party on the grounds that
it has refused, neglected or failed to establish or maintain national, regional
and district offices.
The checklist for the inspection
of the national, regional and district offices of political parties includes
the declaration of assets such as the nature of office facility, date and mode
of acquisition and the number of rooms and office equipment.
The parties are also to disclose
the type of furniture in use, payment of the salaries of party office permanent
staff, utility bills and other party expenditures.
The checklist is based on sections
15(1) 13(1) of the political parties Act 2000. It states that within 90 days
after the issue to it of final certificate of registration, a political party
shall furnish the commission with details of the existence and location of its
national, regional, district and constituency offices or such longer period as
the commission may allow.
Mr Dan Botwe, General Secretary of
New Patriotic Party (NPP) said the assessment is the prerogative rights of the
EC but added that he finds it difficult to understand the delay by the
commission in carrying out the exercise earlier.
"As a party we have
undertaken our programmes and responsibilities according to the constitutional
provisions and the political parties law. Therefore, we have no problem with
the assessment."
Mr Botwe said NPP is a democratic
party and will not wilfully put any constraint in the path of any
constitutional body in performing its functions.
He, however, appealed to the EC to
conduct the exercise without fear or favour and avoid any temptation to work in
the interest of any political party or group of persons.
Mr Ahmed Ramadan, Deputy National
Treasurer of People's National Convention (PNC), said the party has issued a
directive to all executive officers in the regions to identify and take an
inventory of party offices and list them out for the exercise.
Mr Ramadan said the only problem
of the PNC is the timing of the exercise because some of their regional offices
are not connected to the national office by telephone.
He said they have office
accommodation problems in some of the regions and districts hence their
inability to furnish the appropriate authorities with locations.
Also the frequent change of party
offices is due to unreasonably high demand of landlords for rent advances, he
added.
Mr Ramadan said the party has not
submitted any audited account to the EC since 1996 because the commission
failed to come out with a unified modality for the parties.
The accounts submitted by some
political parties in 1996 did not reflect their expenditure for the elections.
He said the commission, therefore,
suggested to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to adopt a uniform
modality, but this is yet to be formulated.
Mr Yaw Kundow, deputy regional
organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the party has 22
functional constituency offices in the Greater Accra Region and that they are
ready for the exercise.
He said the EC on Friday, June 30,
inspected two offices of the party for the assessment.
Adding that the exercise would
bring discipline into the operations of political parties for the growth of
democracy.
Mr. Kundow said the EC must be
bold to discipline parties, which are not conducting their activities according
to regulations.
Although Ghana has 10 registered
political parties, which is lower than the number in some countries in the
sub-region, there is still the need to streamline their activities to avoid
waste of resources, he said.
Mr Kundow added that the streamlining
would help not only the EC but also other stakeholders in their deliberation
with political parties as the "media parties" will be out.
He said some political parties
could have been better off as pressure groups. Other political parties said the
exercise should not be used as witch-hunting against the young parties.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 04 July 2000
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene has with immediate effect destooled the chief of Apromase, near Kumasi, Nana Dofini Agyeman II for vacating his post for 10 years.
Nana Agyeman is presently working in the United States and has been unable to perform his traditional role.
The Asantehene, sitting in Council, said Nana Agyeman returned to the country during the funeral of Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II this year and wanted to swear the oath of allegiance to him.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he advised Nana Agyeman to return to Apromase to put
the stool affairs in order but he left the country unceremoniously.
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Wa (Upper West) 04 July 2000
One of the seven kingmakers of Wa has reacted angrily to the recent ruling on the Wa chieftaincy dispute by the judicial committee of the Upper West regional house of chiefs, calling it "veiled fraud".
The chief of the Wa Muslim community, Yeri Naa Alhaji Amora Iddrisu, accused the committee of indirectly destooling him in its ruling.
Making the accusations in a statement to the press at Wa on Monday, he said the committee in its judgement questioned his authority and humiliated him by claiming that he was old and feeble and his evidence could, therefore, not be relied upon in the determination of the case.
On June 27, this year, the judicial committee gave its ruling in the protracted chieftaincy dispute.
In the ruling, Yeri Naa Iddrisu was said to have voted for Yakubu Seidu, the petitioner but he denied doing so.
Yeri Naa Iddrisu said as chief and a kingmaker, he does not take or solicit directives from anybody before carrying out his traditional roles and for the committee to rule that he was delegated to vote for Yakubu Seidu was totally wrong and baseless.
He pointed out that the committee was set up to determine the relief sought by an aggrieved party in a specific dispute and not to question the authority of any kingmaker.
The Yeri Naa said, "In any case, the supreme court ruling of August, 1985 on the same subject which the committee cited extensively to support the petitioner never left any doubt in its recognition of my role in the enskinment of a Wa Naa".
Yeri Naa Iddrisu asked members of the committee to retract all humiliating statements made against him in their ruling and render an immediate apology.
"Failure to do this will result in a legal action to redeem my image and position which the committee clandestinely took away".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
Vice President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday received the outgoing Belgian Ambassador, Gregoire Vardakis, at the Castle, Osu, and urged him to propagate Ghana's investment potentials abroad.
He said the potential exists for investment and that the time has come for serious but genuine businessmen, including Belgians, to exploit the opportunity for good returns.
Mr Vardakis has been reassigned to Kuwait after a three-year duty tour of Ghana.
Professor Mills expressed appreciation to Brussels for providing a forum for discussions between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and their European Union (EU) counterparts, particularly on issues bothering on trade and commerce.
He said Ghana is particularly interested in enhanced ACP-EU relations, because there is the need to work together to remove obstacles that hamper smooth trade from Africa, as well as the negative effects of globalisation.
"We are more interested in trade than aid," Prof. Mills reiterated, saying that although globalisation has some positive sides, it has brought in its wake certain disparities that need to be addressed.
He said Ghana hopes to exploit the existing close bilateral relations with Belgium to compete meaningfully in the global economy.
Mr Vardakis said his country regarded Ghana as a beacon in West Africa in terms of democracy, good governance and more importantly, the paralleled Ghanaian hospitality.
"Wherever I go, I will tell the people that 'Akwaaba' is still prominent in Ghana."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) on
Monday said it has drawn up a four-year action plan to help in combating child
labour.
A press release issued in Accra
and signed by Mr Kwamena Apponsah, the Public Relations Officer, said the
action plan was adopted at a three-day workshop on child labour organised by
the TUC in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at
Koforidua.
The workshop was under the theme,
"The Role of Trade Unions in Combating Child Labour in Ghana" and was
attended by 31 participants, including members of the TUC steering committee.
Under the plan, the TUC is to
deepen its linkages with civil society organisations such as the academia and
traditional rulers and to mount educational campaigns. It will also use
advocacy and lobbying in achieving its objectives.
Areas of child labour that would
be of immediate concern to the TUC would include child trafficking,
prostitution, slavery, bondage and engaging them in quarrying and mining.
Mr John Fallah, an ILO specialist,
noted that children are the most important blocks for the building of any
nation and there is the need to prepare them well for the future.
Mr Christian Appiah Agyei,
secretary-general of the TUC, pointed out that child labour was compounding the
problems of unemployment and gave the assurance that the TUC would tackle the
issue with all the seriousness that it deserves.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 04 July 2000
Bungalows and chambers of Judges and registries of the Judicial Service are to be computerised under a World Bank sponsored programme to ensure efficiency.
Mr Justice Charles F. Hayfron-Benjamin, Director of Continuing Judicial Education, who announced this, explained that computerisation of the registry would help eliminate missing dockets and forfeited payments of court fees.
Addressing the opening session of the third in the series of a two-week computer literacy and appreciation course for 12 Superior Court Judges and selected members of staff in Kumasi on Monday, Mr Justice Hayfron-Benjamin said new rules of court procedure under computerisation would be applicable to the Circuit and High Court Judges and some aspects of the registry.
The Director, a retired Supreme Court Judge, noted that with the changes and modernisation of the Service, it would be ideal for judges to have computers of their own to enhance their work.
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Kumasi (Greater Accra) 04 July 2000
Nana Fosu Gyeabour II, newly-enstooled Omanhene of Bechem, on Monday swore the oath of allegiance to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
Nana Fosu Gyeabour known in private life as Mr Opoku Akoto, is the Vice-President of the Ghana Poultry Farmers Association.
He succeeds his uncle, Nana Asibuo Gyamfi II, who died in September 1997. The Asantehene speaking at the swearing in ceremony noted that Nana Gyeabour's enstoolment marks the end of a three-year chieftaincy dispute and the beginning of a new era of hope and progress.
He advised the kingmakers and the people to co-operate with Nana Fosu Gyeabour to promote peace in Bechem and Asanteman in general.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu charged the new Omanhene to initiate programmes to ensure the development of his area.
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