GRi Press Review
Ghana 05 - 07 - 2001
Punish the
offenders - President lashes at environment degraders
Owusu-Ankomah
named Sports Minister
The ongoing
Quality Grain case - Bank's terms weren't met
'Suspension
of pupil appropriate'
Customs
blamed for collapse of local industries
Ban on
drumming is legal
I am not
guilty - Victor Selormey opens defence today
The trial
of Kwame Peprah
Another
expert supports Sahara deal
Pratt has
'45 more questions' to ask on Sahara contract!
NDC confab
was fraudulent
GJA,
Editors condemn Wereko-Brobby
NPP, NDC
fracas scare investors
Man beats
wife to death after testing HIV positive
Punish the
offenders - President lashes at environment degraders
President
John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday called for disciplinary measures to check
unhealthy environmental practices in society which degrade the environment and
result in costly flooding, reports The Ghanaian Times.
He
emphasised that whereas appropriate punishment should be prescribed for people
who subject the environment to unsanitary conditions, Local Government bye-laws
should be made to work to protect the environment and keep the drainage system
clean and refrain from littering the environment.
President
Kufour made the call at the State Award Scheme at the Banquet Hall of the State
House in Accra.
In an
apparent reference to the recent floods which hit some parts of Accra, the
President said, "we must as a society demonstrate that we are learning
from the adversaries that affect us and we must begin to show evidence from
now."
More…/
Owusu-Ankomah
named Sports Minister
After
months of expectations and speculations, Mallam Isa's successor, as head of the
Youth and Sports Ministry, has been named.
According
to a release from the office of the President signed by Ms Elizabeth Ohene, he
is Paapa Owusu-Ankomah.
Owusu-Ankomah,
43, the Deputy Majority Leader is the Member of Parliament for Sekondi. He is a
lawyer by profession and was called to the bar in 1981.
The newly
appointed Youth and Sports Minister, who has been described as a man with a
calm disposition, pledged to help the youth of Ghana realise their potential
while thanking the President for the honour done him.
Until his
appointment, the Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama assumed oversight
responsibility for the Youth and Sports Ministry, when the appointment of
Mallam Isa was revoked by the government. Mr Joe Aggrey is his deputy.
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The ongoing
Quality Grain case - Bank's terms weren't met
Two
prosecution witnesses who gave evidence in the Quality Grains case on Wednesday
told the Fast Track Court in Accra that the company could not satisfy the
bank's condition for a loan or a guarantee, writes the Daily Graphic.
The
witnesses, Dr Percival Alfred Kuranchie and Mr John Samuel Cook, Managing
Director and Project Manager, respectively, of the Agricultural Development
Bank (ADB), however, said the project was technically feasible and financially
viable.
Dr
Kuranchie and Mr Cooke said these when they gave evidence at the court,
presided over by Mr Justice Kwame Afreh, an Appeal Court Judge who sat as an
additional High Court judge in the case in which six ministers and senior
public officers in the NDC administration are being tried for allegedly causing
$20 million financial loss to the state.
They are Mr
Ibrahim Adam, former Minister of Food and Agriculture; Dr Samuel Dapaah, former
Chief Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture; Mr Kwame Peprah, former
Minister of Finance; Dr George Yankey, former Director of Legal Sector Private
and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance; Nana Ato Dazie,
former Chief of Staff, and Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, former Chief Executive of the Ghana
Investment Promotion Centre.
They have
all pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and causing financial loss
to the state and are on self-cognisance bail.
Led in
evidence by Mr Osafo Sampang, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Cooke
said in July 1995, he was invited to a meeting with the directors of Quality
Grain Company Ghana Limited to discuss a project report submitted by the
company for farming activities and the production and exportation of other
agricultural commodities.
Mr Cooke
said the meeting was attended by officials of the bank, including himself and
Dr Kuranchie on one hand, while the directors of the company were represented
by Ms Juliet Renee Woodard, Mr Bismark Nettey and a representative of Egala,
Atiso & Co., the accounting firm for the project.
"After
the discussions, my MD asked me to look at the report submitted and appraise it
since it did not contain all the technicalities that are required by the
bank," he said.
According
to him, he interviewed the directors of the company, visited the project site
and requested all supporting documents from the company, which included the
company's registration certificate and the technical report submitted to it by
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
"At
the end of the appraisal, I came to the conclusion that the project was
technically feasible and financially viable and that the loan could be paid in
less than three years," Mr Cooke said.
He said the
company, however, could not satisfy the bank's condition of providing 40 per cent
of the project cost and added that when "I reported this to the Managing
Director of the bank, the bank decided not to finance the project because the
company failed to meet the requirement for financial assistance".
Earlier Dr
Kuranchie had said that after careful examination of the report that the
company submitted to the bank, it was detected that it fell short of some
technical requirements so he referred the report to the Head of the Corporate
Department to assist the company to appraise its report.
He said
after the appraisal of the report, he gave a feedback to Mr Adam, the sector
minister, that the project was bigger than the bank could finance.
He said the
money was to be provided by the EXIM Bank, while ADB was to serve as a
guarantor.
More…/
'Suspension
of pupil appropriate'
The Ghana
Education Service (GES) has stated that the decision by the authorities of the
Achimota Preparatory School, Accra, to suspend a 13-year old JSS student, who
allegedly had a relationship with a teacher of the school is appropriate and in
line with the service's regulations.
The
teacher, Jeffrey Kwame Kumah, allegedly had a sexual relationship with the
student and when this was brought to the notice of the school authorities,
Kumah was given the sack and the student suspended for the rest of the academic
year.
The Acting
Director-General of the service, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, said in an interview in
Accra on Wednesday that the suspension was not a punitive action by the school
authorities, but rather a "temporary withdrawal" to enable the girl
to recover from the trauma she has been through.
He
explained that in the circumstances, the girl cannot enjoy the comfort of the
school environment, "because she now has a stigma and a serious
psychological problem which requires proper counseling before her
re-integration into school".
Mr
Tettey-Enyo further explained that although the Achimota Preparatory School
does not fall under the public schools system of the GES, it is under the
supervision of the service.
He said the
school authorities have taken the right steps by sacking the teacher and also
withdrawing the girl for the time being for purposes of counseling.
Kumah, 31,
an English teacher of the school, was dismissed on June 28, because of the
alleged relationship with the girl.
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Customs
blamed for collapse of local industries
The Evening
News reports that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Konadu Apraku has
blamed the collapse of the country's industrial base on Customs, Excise and
Preventive Service (CEPS) officials who collude with smugglers to bring
inferior goods into the country to sell at cheaper prices to the detriment of
made-in-Ghana goods.
He said
such unpatriotic acts by CEPS officials have not only led to the collapse of
the country's industries, but affected revenue mobilisation and the entire
economy.
Dr Apraku
was speaking at a week-long leadership seminar organized by the Institute of
Economic Affairs (IEA) for 26 students selected from three universities in the
country, under the theme: "Building a culture of liberty, freedom and
democracy for the next generation."
He noted
that "if this trend is not arrested immediately, the nation's industrial
sector which is the engine of growth will grind to a halt."
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Ban on drumming
is legal
The
Chronicle reports retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice N.Y.B. Adade, as saying
that the ban on drumming during the celebration of Homowo and Awubea by the Ga
and Awutu traditional councils of the Greater Accra and Central regions respectively,
have constitutional backing.
He,
however, noted that the problems with such customary laws backing the ban are
in respect of their nature, scope of rules, enforcement, and who sanctions
violators of those rules.
Speaking at
the memorial service to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the
murder of the three High Court judges on Friday Justice Adade argued that by
virtue of the recognition of Article 11 (1) of the Constitution gives to 'rules
of customary law', the existence of edicts banning drumming and noisemaking
during the two festivals can be said to be part of Ghana's common law.
Justice
Adade said the Constitution defines 'Customary Law' as "rules of law,
which by custom are applicable to particular communities in Ghana, … that have
particular rules of behaviour which they observe in their day to day
lives".
He argued
that if the rules of behaviour have been recognised by the Constitution as
rules of law, "then surely the Homowo rules are part of the laws of Ghana
which by Article 41 (b) all Ghanaians are obliged to observe…"
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I am not
guilty - Victor Selormey opens defence today
The former
Deputy Minister for Finance, Mr Victor Selormey is to open his defence today at
the Fast Track High court trying him for fraudulently causing the loss of
$1,297,500 to the state, writes The Daily Guide.
This
follows three options given him by the presiding judge, Justice Samuel Baddoo,
to choose between standing in the dock and give statements without being
cross-examined, to rely on police statements or to sit and give evidence and
later be cross-examined by the prosecutor.
Counsel for
the accused, Barima Manu, opted for the third option (i.e., to sit and give
evidence) and prayed the court to give the accused, enough time to open his
defence but the Judge, refused and instructed the accused to open his defence
today since enough evidence has been made against him.
The Judge
also refused an application by Counsel for the accused, Barima Manu, to order a
Magistrate in Texas to take a statement from Dr. Frederick Owusu Boadu of
Texas, U.S.A., arguing that it is beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
Mr Selormey
is alleged to have conspired with the said Dr. Frederick Owusu Boadu, a
Ghanaian Consultant in the United States of America, to fraudulently cause the
loss of $1,297,500 meant for a court computerization project.
He has
pleaded not guilty to six counts of conspiracy, defrauding by false pretence
and willfully causing financial loss to the state.
The former
Deputy Minister has been granted bail in the sum of ˘1.5 billion with two
sureties to be justified.
More…/
The trial
of Kwame Peprah
A
prosecuting witness testifying in the trial of six senior public officials in
the NDC administration for their alleged involvement in the $22 million
financial scandal at the Quality Grains Company Limited, has said it was the
former Finance Minister who asked him to support the project.
The
on-leave Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Dr.
Alfred P. Kuranchie on Wednesday, told the court presided over by Justice Kwame
Afreh, an Appeal Court Judge who sat as an additional High Court Judge, that he
had a call from the former Minister of Finance, Mr Kwame Peprah, asking the
Bank to assist with funds for the production of rice at Aveyime.
He
disclosed that upon further discussion with Dr Samuel Dapaah, former Chief
Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, he was made to understand
that the investor, Mrs Renee Woodard, alias Juliet Cotton needed ˘100 million.
According
to Dr Kuranchie, the ADB offered ˘50m as the request came towards the end of
the year.
Kuranchie
said the company opened a cedi account at the Gulf House in Legon as well as a
foreign account.
The six
accused persons standing trial are Mr. Ibrahim Adam, former Minister of
Agriculture, Dr. Samuel Dapaah, former Chief Director of the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture, Mr Kwame Peprah, former Minister for Finance, Dr George Sikpah
Yankey, former Director for the Legal Sector, Private and Financial
Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, Nana Ato Dadzie, former Chief
of Staff and Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion
Centre.
They are
alleged to have conspired to cause financial loss of more than $20 million to
the state.
They have
all pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on self-cognisance bail.
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Another
expert supports Sahara deal
A Ghanaian
business executive, Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, has criticized the partisan way in
which the Sahara oil deal is being discussed in the press and expressed the
fear that the repercussions may affect indigenous enterprise in the oil
industry.
Mr
Amoabeng, the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Trust Financial Services
Limited and a one time local representative for ELF Aquitaine of France, told
The Accra Mail in an interview on Wednesday that the oil industry is a highly
developed and complex market whose operation is not as simple as imagined.
He said it
is normal to contract the lifting of crude oil to oil companies who have the
requisite expertise and contact in the market.
"Lifting
crude oil is not like picking tomatoes from the market," he said, adding
that it is unfortunate that those who are making much noise about the Sahara
issue do not have an insight of how the industry operates.
Comparing
the 10-year oil contract of Vitol to that of Sahara which is one year, the
Chief Executive asked: "what really matters is whether this deal regarding
Sahara is much better than Vitol.
"If I
should put myself in the shoes of the Minister of Energy, I would have acted
the same manner to save the nation some money and to get the goods delivered at
the right time," he said.
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Pratt has
'45 more questions' to ask on Sahara contract!
The
Managing Editor of The Weekly Insight, Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has stated that the
positions he raised at the recent Government press conference on the 'Sahara
saga' were all accepted by the Government.
When asked
whether he was happy with the conference, he said, "I think you should be
asking them whether they are happy with what I presented because clearly they
accepted all the positions I had put forward. None of the positions put forward
was disputed," said Kwesi Pratt.
The Weekly
Insight Editor who is known for his critique of the Sahara contract submitted
that a press conference was not a fair forum for debating issues, adding that
many people had wanted to raise issues but did not get the opportunity to do
so.
"The
matter cannot end here, many issues were not properly debated", he
underscored.
Kwesi Pratt
insisted that the 'Sahara Saga' must be discussed on radio, in the newspapers,
in Parliament, in educational institutions and other fora, since it was a
matter that affected everybody in the country.
More…/
NDC confab
was fraudulent
The
Government Adviser on Energy, Dr Charles Wereko Brobby has stated that the
recent press conference held by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the
Sahara oil contract was fraudulent and aimed at deceiving Ghanaians.
The Energy
Adviser told the Crusading Guide that the NDC press conference was a total
distortion of the real facts on the Sahara Contract. He stated that the
inability of the party (NDC) to put up any defence and to show up at the press
conference to address their concerns is a vindication that the Government had
been transparent in the Sahara contract.
"There
had not been malfeasance or any corruption on the part of Government in this
Sahara contract", he said.
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GJA,
Editors condemn Wereko-Brobby
The
Government Adviser on Energy, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby has incurred the wrath
of journalists, according to The Independent.
In an
interview with Komla Dumor, the host of JOY FM's Super Morning Show last
Tuesday, Dr. Wereko-Brobby sought to impute impropriety against all journalists
whose concern on the vexed Sahara issue does not conform with the government's
position on the issue.
Komla had
wondered why the Sahara issue would not go away.
The Energy
adviser answered that the Sahara issue was not going away because some
journalists have taken money in black polythene bags (Wiase Ye Sum) from
opponents of the government and had decided not to let the Sahara die.
Asked by
the host whether he could substantiate the allegation, Wereko Brobby said he
would prove the allegations and the malfeasance of those journalists at the
Media Commission and present the findings as a special wedding gift to Komla,
who legally got hitched to his cherished love recently.
He referred
to his accusers as "wiase ye hu" (dark world) journalists and
commended the editor and publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle, Nana Kofi Coomson
as the most credible journalist because the Chronicle editor took the trouble
to find out from him about the Sahara saga.
Interestingly,
Wereko-Brobby, a.k.a. Tarzan, had in the run-up to the 2000 elections,
chastised the same Kofi Coomson, for referring to his defunct United Ghana
Movement as a Non Governmental Organisation.
In a sharp
reaction to Tarzan's allegations, the President of the Ghana Journalists
Association, Mrs. Gifty Affenyi Dadzie challenged Wereko-Brobby to substantiate
his allegation.
Mrs
Affenyi-Dadzie said the matter should be referred to the Ethics Committee of
the GJA, for Dr. Brobbey to substantiate his wild allegation.
Until he
has proven beyond all reasonable doubt the authenticity of his allegations, the
GJA strong woman said, the utterances of the energy adviser only smacks off
intolerance on his part, to accept views that were divergent to his.
The editor
of the Weekly Insight, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, challenged Wereko-Brobby to bring up
any evidence that he has against any journalist who has collected a bribe, into
the public domain, adding that the fact that the allegation was coming from no
less a personality than the government's adviser on energy, makes the issue a
serious one.
Ben Ephson,
the editor of the Dispatch said Wereko Brobby was being irresponsible and said
unless Wereko-Brobby can substantiate his allegation, he should apologize and
retract the irresponsible statement.
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NPP, NDC
Fracas scare investors
The
Ghanaian Voice reports that the Hon Alban Bagbin has stated that unless the NPP
government re-negotiate with the Dutch government or stop the harassment of the
main opposition party there is no way investors from the region would come into
the country to do business.
He said it
is not only the Dutch but most European and Western Countries he visited in
recent times also registered their disappointment at the way things were going
on in Ghana.
In an
interview with the "Ghanaian Voice", Hon. Alban Bagbin who recently
visited Holland said after a 16-member Dutch delegation had visited the
country, a few months ago, they went back to paint a gloomy picture about how
after Ghana had had a smooth transition, the NPP government had turned round
and causing stir and tension by what he termed harassment of the opposition
parties.
Hon. Bagbin
said the Dutch therefore expressed fear of establishing their businesses here
since such acts could not guarantee their investments.
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Man beats
wife to death after testing HIV positive
Mr Anthony
Gibbah, 34, could not believe his ears when doctors at the Tema General
Hospital told him that a test conducted on him revealed that he had contracted
the deadly HIV virus.
The story,
in the P & P, says Gibbah and his wife, Abena Sintim, now deceased, lived
at Kpone near Tema in the Greater Accra Region.
According
to investigations, Gibbah used to work with the Lizza Steel Company at Tema,
but Abena turned to be the bread-winner when Gibbah lost his job two years ago.
In the
course of time, Anthony was knocked down for weeks by what he believed to be
malaria. After undergoing self-medication without any improvement, he is said
to have asked his wife to escort him to the Tema General Hospital to see his
medical officer uncle. Abena is reported however to have asked a friend to do
that in her stead as she had some business hurdles to clear.
Gibbah had
become very weak by the time he got to the hospital, and so was admitted. After
a series of blood tests and examinations to firmly establish the cause of his
ill health failed, doctors found it prudent to do an HIV test.
Gibbah
fainted just when the result was announced to him. When he regained
consciousness, Gibbah told the doctor that his wife was responsible for the
fate that had befallen him, since she was a notorious flirt.
P & P
investigations further revealed that Gibbah stole himself away from the
hospital a week later and headed straight for Kpone, where he allegedly
strangled his wife to death.
According
to sources, Anthony burst into tears after committing the offence and handed
himself over to the Community 8 Police who put him behind bars, pending police
investigations.
When P
& P contacted the Community 8 Police, they confirmed the incident, adding
that the docket on the case has been forwarded to the Attorney General's
Department.
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