GRi Press Review
Ghana 12 - 07 - 2001
Africa
Union is not a club
He's not my
son - DCP
Court
dismisses another NDC writ
BOG
exposed!
Big
'Wahala' at Akyem-Oda
No guns for
DCE's
Strike
threat at airport
'NPP
government is intimidating us'
Killing
Ghana softly softly
Huudu's
Benz owner storms NDC H'Qtrs
Obrafuo to
take blood test
Teacher
strikes mother dead
Africa
Union is not a club
The
Ghanaian Times quotes President John Agyekum Kufuor as saying on his return
from the 37th session of the OAU in Lusaka, Zambia, that African
leaders have agreed that the proposed Africa Union should be human centred and
not "a club of high ups" as the previous body was.
President
Kufuor said that there was a lot of consultation and seriousness among the
Heads of State at the meeting, with an open preparedness to show that Africa was
ready to take its place among the globilization going on now.
"I
believe strongly that the driving forces behind the approaching union should be
taken seriously," he said, stressing that the presence of the 38 Heads of
State and government was proof of the seriousness which African governments
attached to the need for cooperation among the countries.
President
Kufuor told newsmen that the meeting was historic, adding that for the first
time, a new Secretary-General was elected, after seven ballots, who would
prepare the transition from the OAU to the Africa Union.
More…/
He's not my
son - DCP
Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCP) Owusu Nsiah, Quarter Master of the Police
Headquarters, Accra, has denied that John Aboagye Gyimah, 20, alleged to have
been involved in the theft of ammunition from the Central Regional Police
Armoury is his son.
Reacting to
the stories carried by the two national dailies on Wednesday, he said that the
boy is rather a distant relative".
DCP Owusu
Nsiah said that reports reaching him indicated that Aboagye Gyimah misinformed
the Central Regional Police Commander who also passed on that information to
newsmen.
He
mentioned the boy's parents as Mr Kwabena Aboagye, an Accra legal practitioner,
and Ms Gloria Asiedua Takyi who is his (Nsiah) aunt.
The Deputy
Police Commissioner showed to the 'Times', a personal record form faxed from
Adisadel College, on which form Gyimah had mentioned Gloria Takyi as his parent
and guardian.
He blamed
the Regional Police Commander for misinforming newsmen, explaining that when
the boys were arrested, the Regional Commander called him to enquire whether
Gyimah was his son, which he denied.
"So, I
am surprised that he went ahead and told newsmen that the boy is my son",
DCP Owusu Nsiah stated, adding that the said publication had caused him a lot
of embarrassment.
GRi…/
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Court
dismisses another NDC writ
The Daily
Graphic carries that the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an application
brought before it by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) praying the court
to restrain the Attorney-General from varying facilities available to former
President, J.J. Rawlings, to his disadvantage during his lifetime as prescribed
by the Constitution.
In a
unanimous decision, the seven-member panel presided over by Mr Justice Edward
Kwame Wiredu, the acting Chief Justice, stated that the writ was without merit.
Article 68
of the Constitution states that "the pension payable to the President and
facilities available to him shall not be varied to his disadvantage during his
lifetime."
In a
supporting affidavit to the writ filed in April, the NDC argued that former
President Jerry John Rawlings, "is entitled to all the facilities
available to him as President".
The party
argued that such facilities, which include military security detail, shall not
be varied to his disadvantage during his lifetime.
The NDC
contended that under no circumstances should the facilities be varied without
the consent and knowledge of the former President.
The party
said until January 7, this year, Flt. Lt. Rawlings was the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and was entitled to and enjoyed
certain facilities, which included the protection and security of a military
detail chosen with his consent and approval.
This, the
party contended, was to secure and enhance his personal security, adding
"he enjoyed this security of his chosen military staff throughout the
eight years he was in office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana
Army without any interference or complaint from any quarters".
The party
said in spite of the plain language of the constitutional provisions in Article
68, "certain personalities, agents and spokesman of the present government
have been making statements and pronouncements which seem to indicate that a
group unknown to the ex-President, and chosen by others and trained by others,
are to be substituted for the security personnel he currently has and had in
the past".
The party
contended that the move, if not checked, would put his security in jeopardy and
his life at risk.
It
therefore prayed the court to restrain the government from "reneging on
all agreements reached during the transitional negotiations which are in breach
of the constitution".
Mrs Gloria
Akuffo, Deputy Attorney-General, represented the government while Mr Kwaku Baah
was counsel for the NDC.
GRi../
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BOG
exposed!
In-depth
investigations by "The Crusading Guide" have established that the
Bank of Ghana (BOG) had totally neglected its reconciliation duties with
respect to entries on Foreign Accounts from 1993 to date.
A source at
the Central Bank which pleaded anonymity, told the paper that age analysis of
outstanding entries on Foreign Accounts as at April 20, 2001 were 147 in 1993,
293 in 1994; 342 in 1995; 275 (1996); 416 (1997); 630 (1998); 1018 (1999) and
1525 in 2000.
This
indicates a total of 4650 entries that had not been performed over a seven-year
period - with the figure going higher since Mr Kwabena Dufuor, the current
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, took over from Governor Agama.
According
to the source, quasi suspense accounts such as the reconciliation adjustment
accounts; exchange equalization account; all suspense accounts of BOG; all
bankers clearing account and all house clearing account need scrutinizing to
determine whether proper recording of transactions in the last six years were
judiciously affected.
Other
recommendations for consideration, the BOG source hinted, were examining the
accounting system recording sales, rediscounting and Payment of maturities of
treasury bills; obtaining and examining reconciliation statements of
Clearing/Current accounts of banks in order to ascertain the reasons for any
outstanding transactions between local banks and the Central Bank, and
obtaining and examining reconciliation statements in respect of foreign
corresponding bankers of local banks and ascertain the reasons and implications
of outstanding items, among other things.
Further
investigations revealed that whereas local cheques being processed for clearing
with the view to collecting proceeds thereof have well designed accounting
system to record and monitor the processes for obtaining proceeds, foreign
currency cheques are merely recorded in the register and is excluded from the
Bank's overall accounting system.
"This
is a serious omission, which must be corrected immediately by creating
appropriately designated accounts," the source submitted.
GRi…/
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Big
'Wahala' at Akyem-Oda
The
Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area, Oseadeeyo Frimpong Manso IV, and his
elders have blamed the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oda for being behind the
chieftaincy dispute that is currently tearing Akyem Oda and Kotokuman apart,
reports The Daily Guide.
Akyem Oda,
which is the second biggest town in the Eastern Region, is also the capital of
the Akyem Kotoku stool.
They
alleged that the MP, Yaw Osafo-Maafo who is also the Finance Minister has been
financing and encouraging the opposing faction in the dispute because he
suspects he Oseadeeyo and his elders of being National Democratic Congress
(NDC) sympathizers who have to be eliminated at all costs using his high
position in government now.
"It
may interest you to know that during the 2000 elections, the Honourable
Osafo-Maafo's campaign strategy was that the Attafuah faction and their
sympathizers should vote for him in order to remove me from office as the
incumbent Paramount Chief of Kotoku and as an appreciation for his support he
(Osafo-Maafo) will help install their favourite as a chief", the Omanhene
alleged.
The
Omanhene told a press conference on Tuesday July 10, 2001 that Mr Osafo-Maafo's
posture, has no doubt resulted in the destruction of property when the two
factions clashed recently.
According
to him, Mr Osafo-Maafo has a strained relationship with the Kotokuman
Traditional Council and is therefore siding with the Attafuah Family due to the
fact that he (Osafo-Maafo) claims he was denied the privilege to lead a
delegation that was sent to inform the immediate former President of Ghana of
the death of Okoferoboo Agyeman Attafua IV, who was Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku Traditional
Area.
Also he
said Mr Osafo-Maafo bears him a grudge because he failed to inform him
(Osafo-Maafo) about his installation as the new Omanhene of Oda.
The
Omanhene, a medical doctor domiciled in the United States wondered why the
government is making frantic efforts to get Ghanaians abroad to come home and
help develop the country while other senior members like Osafo-Maafo tries to
undermine that effort and consequently appealed to President Kufuor to
intervene in the matter.
Mr
Osafo-Maafo in a reaction to the press conference on Wednesday, said the
Omanhene has not been gazetted and therefore could not be recognized as such.
He denied
supporting the Attafuah family in the dispute saying he is a politician who
does not even hail from Oda itself and could not dabble in chieftaincy matters
affecting the town.
According
to the MP, he cannot practically do anything about the dispute, being something
that should be determined by the Regional House of Chiefs' Judicial Committee.
More…/
No Guns for
DCE's
The New
Patriotic Party (NPP) has no intention to arm District Chief Executives (DCEs)
with guns and other ammunition as used to be the case in the past.
"As a
government the NPP has no policy to arm DCEs with AK 47s, shot-guns, revolvers
and other fire-power even though we agree that some government appointees need
security protection in view of the nature of their jobs", Hon. Kwadwo
Baah-Wiredu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development stated in an
interview with the Daily Guide on Friday.
He
explained that it is the sole responsibility of the police, the military and
other security agencies to handle weapons like AK 47 assault rifles for
societal protection.
"Mr
journalist, these security institutions such as the Police Service and the
Military Personnel are those mandated by the Constitution to protect the
civilians like you and I," he told the paper.
According
to him, it is not mandatory or constitutional to equip DCEs with arms or guns
for their personal protection or for whatever reason.
GRi…/
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Strike
threat at airport
The
Chronicle says signals that it has picked have confirmed that members of the
Joint Into Plane Services Aviation (JIPSA), and the Joint User Hydrant
Installation (JUHAI), are warming up for a strike action to press home demands
for better conditions of service.
Members of
the two associations refuel both commercial and cargo planes at the Kotoka
International Airport. Besides, they also check the quality of fuel, manage the
depot and lift fuel into storage camps.
The job, a
specialized one, is said to be very vital to the airline industry and there are
fears that the aviation industry will grind to a halt should they carry out the
strike action.
Some of the
airlines that rely on their services are Ghana Airways, Swissair, South African
Airlines, Luthansa, Air Afrique, British Airways, KLM, American Airlines and
Ethiopian Airlines.
Reliable
sources within the aviation industry told the paper that the threat to collapse
the industry by the workers follows persistent refusal by their employers,
Mobil Ghana Ltd, Elf, and Total, to regularize their conditions of service and
secure their safety since their job is hazardous.
The workers
told Chronicle that some of them have worked for the past ten years as casuals.
Aside of that, they don't have any conditions of service to regulate their
salaries.
More…
'NPP
government is intimidating us'
The
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members in Parliament have accused the
Kufuor administration of attempting to subjugate Parliament under the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, an arm of the executive.
Besides,
they have accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of
intimidating them.
Parliamentary
Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin, who leveled these charges against the government
in an interview on Friday, said the NPP has been subjecting the NDC to a series
of intimidation since
it assumed office.
The
controversial former Deputy Minister of Defence, Dr. Tony Aidoo, corroborated
Bagbin's accusations on Wednesday on GTV's Breakfast Show when he said the NPP
has made political intimidation a national policy.
Bagbin told
the Chronicle that four NDC MPs - Ken Dzirasah, Edward Salia, Ato Quarshie and
Kosi Kedem - have fallen victim to NPP machinations against the NDC in the last
six months.
Dzirasah is
the MP for South Tongu and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, while Kedem,
Salia and Quarshie represent Hohoe South, Jirapa, and
Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abrem (KEEA) constituencies respectively.
The
Minority Leader said all four MPs have been stopped at various times at the
airport when they attempted to board flights through the VIP lounge on trips
outside Ghana that had been approved by Parliament.
He said the
MPs had their passports withheld for several minutes without explanation and
were only allowed to board their flights upon approval by the government.
"They
were delayed and other people served. When they persisted to know from the
immigration officers the reasons for being treated that way, they were not
offered explanations. They were later requested to produce permits that allow
them the use of the lounge. They were also told that their traveling and use of
the lounge had to be approved by a higher authority."
The
minority later learnt that the higher authority in question is at the ministry
of Foreign Affairs, according to Bagbin.
"How
can this be? Parliament as an institution is not under Foreign Affairs. If we
are going to subjugate a whole arm of government under the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, then we better forget the notion of separation of powers in the Constitution".
"If
the NPP government does not want the NDC members traveling on
Parliament-approved trips to use the VIP lounge, why don't they inform the
House so that we save ourselves the embarrassment they subject us to."
The VIP
lounge is usually reserved for diplomats, heads of the security agencies,
departmental heads of various institutions and MPs, different from the VVIP
lounge, which is reserved for use by the President and leaders of the other
arms of government.
Attempts
made since Monday to speak to the Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs, Mustapha
Ali Idris, or any of the ministry's directors to get their side of the story
failed.
GRi…/
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Killing
Ghana softly softly
The Accra
Mail says documents from an anonymous source recently found their way to its
offices telling a terrible story of "doing acts with the intent of
sabotaging Ghana's economy" at the Gateway Services Limited (GSL), the NDC
created monopoly in charge of inspecting shipments of goods to Ghana.
The paper
adds that discreet inquires that it did about the operations of GSL reveal a
web of corrupt practices, conflict of interest and downright economic sabotage.
GSL was
formed to take the place of other companies doing the same job, like COTECNA,
which incidentally is now part of GSL.
The paper
says even more surprising, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) are
involved in GSL, not as a final arbiter, but a partner!
International
trade law requires importers of goods in commercial quantities, normally with
values above US $5,000 to submit the goods and invoices for inspection by
internationally recognised inspection agencies. This is to make sure that the
goods invoiced are actually those being imported and also to make sure that the
values on the invoices are not fictitious so that appropriate duties can be
levied.
One of the
documents available to the Mail quotes a senior official from CEPS confessing
that since he joined GSL, he discovered that between 90% and 95% of all the
invoices presented were either fake or fictitious! But yet, business is
progressing as usual, even in these days of zero tolerance for corruption.
This means
Ghana is losing the much-needed cash for development through dubious
documentation countenanced by the monopoly set up by the former government.
At the time
of filing this report, another document has revealed that a company in Tema
(name withheld), for example had presented invoices for merchandise showing
less than US $500/ton of the particular merchandise, when in fact industry
insiders agree that the said goods cannot be anything below US $900/ton for
massive shipments or at most US$1,200/ton for normal shipment. This means massive under-invoicing has taken
place with the connivance of the inspection agency, GSL.
The
Ministries of Trade and Finance so far seem helpless in putting the reins on
the NDC created behemoth.
GRi…/
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Huudu's
Benz owner storms NDC H'Qtrs
The
Independent carries that the otherwise smooth routine security checks at the
entrance of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) headquarters at Kokomlemle,
Accra, was in the early hours of Tuesday momentarily jolted.
Reminiscent
of America's Hollywood Disney World theatre, the narrow strip of land in front
of the security entrance to the headquarters of the former ruling party, for
well over 45 minutes became a spectacle of a Rambo-like movie where power play
was at full glow.
Investigations
by the paper later revealed that the apparent anger of one Fred Owari and his
friends who had accompanied him to offer support to defy security niceties at
the NDC check point was against the NDC's General Secretary-Alhaji Huudu
Yahaya.
A muscular
looking six-foot plus Owari accused the NDC scribe of taking his Benz salon car
illegally.
His action,
backed by five equally well-built friends, was thus the last resort to take
back his car after what the he termed "persistent appeal to the right
conscience of Huudu" had failed.
Fortunately,
Huudu was not at post.
He obviously
was disappointed at the absence of Alhaji Yahaya and that infuriated him the
more to pour invectives on Huudu and any body who accosted and tried to calm
him down.
"None
of you can take my legitimate car. The era where you exploit your political
connections to steal our cars are over. I am prepared to go every mile to have
my car back, even if it will mean being physical", he screamed at the NDC
yard.
Unwillingly,
though, the six who had virtually taken every individual at the headquarters
hostage left amidst strong protestations.
"We
shall return in full force the next time. You guys had better ask Huudu to
bring the car or be prepared to face the consequence", one of them yelled.
The
Independent later found out that the leader of the group had his car confiscated
by the former Commissioner of CEPS, Nii Okai in the run up to the last
elections although the time with which Owari was supposed to settle duties on
the Benz car had not elapsed.
None,
including the then CEPS boss himself could offer any tangible explanation with
regards to the whereabouts of his car.
GRi…/
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Obrafuor to
take blood test
Confronted
with the prospect of being named father of a set of three-year-old twins,
Ghana's hiplife rap supreme, Mike Eliot Kwabena Asiamah a.k.a Obrafuor, has put
his blood on the line to determine if indeed he fathered the children, reports
the Graphic Showbiz.
The mother
of the twins, 25-year-old Miss Vida Amoah, an unemployed Senior Secondary
School graduate claims that Obrafuor is the father of her two boys and she
would be ready to present them for a DNA test to prove her claim.
Making the
claim at the GNA offices in Asante Mampong and picked by Joy FM radio last
week, Vida said she lived close to Obrafuor at Taifa in Accra, where she fell
in love with the musician. She became pregnant six months later and
subsequently gave birth to the twin boys on March 3, 1998 at the Korle Bu
Teaching Hospital.
Vida
claimed that when he was informed of the pregnancy, Obrafuor, who had then
started his musical career, wanted her to abort the pregnancy but later dropped
the idea because he could not afford the cost.
She claimed
that Obrafuor abandoned her four months into her pregnancy, adding that not
even her delivery through caesarean section could elicit the sympathy of the
musican.
According
to Vida, her parents could not support her upkeep and that of the children due
to cost of living in Accra and she was, therefore, forced to send the children
to her hometown, Asante-Manpong.
Obrafuor
has however, described Vida's claims as balderdash.
Speaking to
Showbiz last Monday, the dreadlocked musician said he was most surprised by it
all. "In fact neither Vida nor her parents has approached me to discuss
any matter concerning the pregnancy and delivery yet this girl has had the
children for three years. How?" he asked.
"Quite
recently, Maame Afia Konadu of Peace FM informed me that an aunt of Vida Amoah
had reported me to her concerning the twins and she had arranged a meeting for
us to discuss the matter but up till now Vida and her family have not come for
us to have that meeting.
Obrafuor
however admitted having had a brief affair with Vida some three years ago at
Taifa where both of them lived. He said he slept with her but she was not her
girlfriend and that even when she was pregnant he saw her several times and
inquired about who was responsible but she did not mention him. "In fact,
I used to tease her anytime I saw her", he added.
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Teacher
strikes mother dead
Roger
Hagan, 27, a teacher of St. Margaret Preparatory School at Tema near Accra, had
had unstable relationship with his mother for many months, the mother having
allegedly refused to show him his real father, reports the P&P.
The paper
says it gathered that on June 22, 2001, Roger as usual picked up a quarrel with
his mother, and in the course of the hot argument, allegedly hit the head of
the woman several times with a concrete block, thus opening very deep cuts on
her head and eventually resulting in her death.
Roger was
subsequently arrested by the police who charged him with murder.
He had
since appeared before the Tema Community Tribunal on a charge of murder, and
has been remanded in custody to re-appear on July 16, 2001.
GRi…/
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