GRi Press Review
Ghana 18 - 07 - 2001
No funds -
2nd cycle schools in NR face closure
IGP
subpoenaed to fast track court
Rawlings
causes another stir: MPs clash over speech
Bodies to
be exhumed next week
Rawlings
fears for his life
Defence
budget to be made public
Mrs Bob
Kotei is dead
Kofi Wayo
calls for action
Killing
zero tolerance
Fake Postal
Orders cost Ghana post millions
Probe
Sherry Ayittey
Fowl thief
shot dead
No funds -
2nd cycle schools in NR face closure
Second
cycle schools in the Northern Region are to be closed down because feeding
grants have not been released to the respective schools, according to the Daily
Graphic.
The
Scholarship Secretariat is yet to release the grants for the second and third
terms even though the academic year will end next month.
The
decision to close down the schools was arrived at by members of Heads of
Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the region on Tuesday.
The
Northern Regional Director of Education, Mr Jacob Bagonluri who announced this
at Tamale said he has, however, prevailed on them not to close down the schools
till Friday when he expects the issue to be settled.
The
situation has compelled heads of the various schools to purchase food items on
credit.
However,
due to the inability of the schools to settle their debts, the food contractors
have refused to further on credit.
According
to the director, some of the schools are yet to settle the debts they incurred
last year. "Infact this recurrent situation is frustrating the smooth
delivery of education in the region that is already deprived", he said.
Mr
Bagonluri who could not readily state the total amount owed food contractors by
the schools, said the grants, provide each student with a feeding fee of ˘3,000
a day.
More…/
IGP
subpoenaed to fast track court
The
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) or his representative will on Thursday appear
before the Fast Track High Court in Accra, trying Victor Selormey, a former
Deputy Minister of Finance, for alleged financial malfeasance.
This
follows the court's acceptance of a request by the defence counsel to subpoena
the IGP to give evidence to confirm whether he received a letter written on
behalf of Leebda Corporation of the United States of America by Bram Larbi,
Beecham and Company, a law firm, which acts as solicitors for Leebda in Ghana.
Before the
court made the order, defence counsel, Mr Barimah Manu, had laboured in vain to
tender the letter in evidence, through Mr Frank William Kobinah Beecham,
partner in the law firm, who was in the witness box.
The court,
presided over by Mr Justice Sam Baddoo, an Appeal Court judge, sitting as an
additional High Court Judge, refused the application on the grounds that it was
not in evidence as to whether or not the letter reached the IGP.
The court
also ordered the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to release a lap top
computer and a CD ROM it seized at the Kotoka International Airport last Monday
to Bram Larbi, Beecham and Company.
This was
after it had emerged during the evidence of Mr Beecham that the items, which
were shipped from the United States by Leebda Corporation to the law firm, were
impounded by operatives of the BNI without any explanation.
GRi…/
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Rawlings
causes another stir: MPs clash over speech
The
Ghanaian Times reports the breakout of confusion in Parliament on Tuesday as
the Minority and Majority sides engaged in a debate over a statement allegedly
made by Ex-President Rawlings that there could be a coup d'etat in the country
if things keep going on the way they are currently.
The
Ex-President was alleged to have said in an interview with the BBC, which was
played on local radio stations on Tuesday, that there could be another coup if
things kept going on the way they were in the country.
Whilst the
Minority said that he did not make those comments, the majority remained
resolute to their claim that he made those comments and insisted that the tape
be brought to the House.
Tempers
flared up and the Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey made efforts to control the
situation.
It all
began when Ms Akua Sena Dansua (NDC - North Dayi) made a statement on the
seeming threat to the nation's security and survival through the media.
In the
statement, Ms Dansua said that a section of the media, particularly radio
stations, were being used by certain individuals and groups to fan political,
tribal and violent sentiments among the citizenry, and that agenda was daily
being executed without decorum and restraint through the use of abusive and
provocative language.
Everything
was going well until Nana Akomea (NPP - Okaikoi) took his turn and stated that
if there was a threat to the nation's security then it was the former
President.
Nana Akomea
said he heard the former President on radio alluding to the fact that there
might be a coup if things continued the way they were going.
But Mr Kosi
Kedem (NDC - Hohoe South) on a point of order declared that Ex-President
Rawlings had not said that.
This
brought Mr Hackman Owusu Agyeman (NPP - New Juaben North) to his feet, stating
that the tape had been played several times for his comments by the radio
station.
Mr Kedem
still objected to that and so Mr Owusu-Agyemang indicated that Radio Ghana had
a copy of that tape.
A number of
speakers from both sides made submissions for or against getting the tape to
the House and the majority leader, Mr J.H. Mensah, pressed for a continued
discussion of the matter.
The Speaker
however overruled further discussions and declared: "This matter is closed
and if anyone wishes to open it, there are other avenues."
More…/
Bodies to
be exhumed next week
The
exhumation of the bodies of three former Heads of State and other military
officers executed in the wake of the June 4 insurrection in 1979 will begin
next week.
They are
General A.A. Afrifa, I.K. Acheampong and F.W.K. Akuffo Heads of State under the
NLC, SMCI and SMC2 regimes respectively.
The rest
are Major General R.E.A. Kotei, Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, Air-Vice Marshal Yaw
Boakye, Major-General Emmanuel Utuka and Col. Roger Feli.
The
executive Committee appointed by the President, Mr J.A. Kufuor, to handle the
issue, announced this following meetings it held with widows and families of
the military officers on Monday.
The
committee during joint and separate meetings were informed by the widows that
they wished for a military burial for their husbands.
The
committee informed the widows and families that even though records were
available to identify the burial sties of the deceased, it deemed it extremely
important to establish their true identities.
"To
ensure this, therefore, the Executive Committee has decided to conduct forensic
studies (DNA test) to determine the absolute identities of the remains of the
senior officers"
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Rawlings
fears for his life
Former
President Jerry John Rawlings has admitted that he feels insecure seven months
after he handed over power to President John Agyekum Kufuor, reports The
Ghanaian Chronicle.
According
to Rawlings recent media reports that former dissidents and some of his
colleagues who fled the country during his 19-years in office have returned and
might pose a security threat to his life are intended by the Kufuor
administration to provide a cover to eliminate him.
Speaking on
a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme on Tuesday, Rawlings said as
a former president, he knows governments can make and unmake evidence, adding
that he has fears the media reports provide a platform for his elimination,
which could then be blamed on the "so called dissidents".
He claimed
that the Kufuor administration has all the tabloids on its side and that they
are creating a subtle environment to eliminate him.
"Well,
I guess some of these things are kind of what you call hard to believe… You
see, when you are dealing with government, they can make and unmake evidences.
You can have the truth on your side. Yes, because they have all the apparatus.
The security agencies, the tabloids on their side (and) when they are
publishing things or creating the impression that former dissident colleagues
of mine intend to eliminate or do me in… naturally, they are trying to create a
cover for subterfuge for an attempt on my life."
Though
Rawlings admitted that he suspects that the government is painting the picture
of dissidents baying for his blood only as a cover, he said he does not know
whether it is the dissidents or the government that would eliminate him.
Asked why
the Kufuor administration would wish trouble on him and whether he was not
being paranoid, Rawlings said the NPP created the impression of having all the
solutions to Ghana's problems before it came into office. And now that they are
facing problems in handling the economy, they feel haunted that Ghanaians would
wish to have the NDC back.
He said the
NPP is therefore, bent on destroying him and the NDC in order to weaken the NDC
from ever coming to power as an alternative government.
More…/
Defence
budget to be made public
Defence
Minister Kwame Addo Kufuor has broken the spiral of secrecy on Armed Forces
expenditure with a decision to make the Defence budget open to the public for
scrutiny.
The
decision, he said, is aimed at reducing Armed Forces expenditure, as well as
ensuring transparency and keeping to his government's avowed promise of zero
tolerance for corruption.
The
minister, who made these disclosures in an exclusive interview with the
Chronicle on Monday however, added that in the interest of national security,
not everything about the military can be made known to the public.
"Not
everything about the military can be made known to the public, but in a
democratic dispensation, because of the right of the people to know, Defence
budget must be read in Parliament and the Parliamentary Defence Committee must
be taken into confidence by the Ministry of Defence on several issues."
Hon Addo
Kufuor said however, that items such as ammunition, weapons, aircraft, ships
and other items of sensitive nature used by the military must of necessity be
kept in secret in the interest of national security.
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Mrs Bob
Kotei is dead
The Daily
Guide reports that the wife of the late Major General R.E.A. Kotei, one time
Minister for Information in the SMC 1 regime, is reported dead.
Mrs Esther Bobea
Kotei, 63 passed away at the 37 military Hospital on July 4.
Mrs Kotei's
husband, Robert, was one of the military generals executed together with three
former Heads of State by the Rawlings' AFRC regime in 1979.
She died
without even knowing where her husband's body was laid to rest after his dawn
execution on June 26, 1979, after a hurriedly put together kangaroo court at
Burma Camp pronounced him and others guilty of crimes against the state.
On May 10
this year, Daily guide published the exclusive story about the location of the
graves of the murdered generals after its own crack investigations.
The story
said after the executions at the Teshie range, the bodies were sent back to
Nsawam prisons where a gang of prison officers and carpenters hurriedly
prepared Wawa Coffins for the six men. Their mortal remains were then
transported through Nsawam township, to Adoagyiri to Coaltar where eight
shallow graves field and their bodies were hurriedly interred.
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Kofi Wayo
calls for action
Mr Kofi
Wayo, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on Ghanaians
to get ready to demonstrate against any future increase in the price of
petroleum products.
He said the
price increases cannot be justified because with proper planning and greater
efficiency the government can import crude oil at reasonable prices.
Mr Wayo who
was speaking on VIBE FM, a radio station in Accra said he has been disappointed
by many of the NPP Ministers who are just wasting state funds traveling abroad
at the least excuse.
He singled
out Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey as some of the few Ministers
who know what they are about and are serious.
He said
"the President is okay" but many of the people around him are just
"ripping the people off".
According
to Mr Wayo, "the NDC stole with guns" but the "NPP chaps are
stealing with pens".
"What
is the difference?" He asked people to enable him fight against corruption
and mismanagement.
He also
spoke out against attempts by some NPP gurus to frustrate him.
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Killing
zero tolerance
The Accra
Mail says its own investigations have revealed that corruption is very much
alive and flourishing in the business community.
"Indeed
so bad is it that some members of the business community themselves are saying
that enough is enough and siding with the media to help the President achieve
his objectives."
The paper
says after it broke the story on Gateway Services Limited, reactions were varied
from importers. And, in a dramatic fashion two days ago, an importer stormed
into its offices bulging with files and livid with indignation.
"Mr
Editor," he said, "your story was perfect, they are killing Ghana
really softly, softly." He then
proceeded to exhibit one invoice after the other which he alleged the people at
Gateway had colluded with him to falsify.
He would
show the original invoice with a particular amount and the "new"
invoice with reductions, usually by as much as one third. He said it was now
common practice. "They actually ask you if you want to pay all that much
money to the government," he lamented.
He told the
Mail that even though he had personally "benefited" from the scam,
his conscience had never been at peace and so when the story broke, he felt he
should add his voice.
"Gateway," he said, "deals with imports coming through
the Tema Harbour and GSBV deals with imports coming through the Kotoka
International Airport. They must all be probed."
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Fake Postal
Orders cost Ghanapost millions
The Ghana
Postal Services Ltd. has for the past six weeks been facing a spate of fake
postal orders encashment and the company has so far lost about ˘20 million to
this scam, writes The Free Press.
According
to the paper, cases of fake postal order encashment has so far been reported
from post offices at Kaneshie, Asamankese, Takoradi, Aburi, Accra Central and
Akim Oda.
Sources
close to Ghana Post revealed that the fake postal orders were in the ˘40,000.00
denominations and management was contemplating withdrawing the ˘40,000.00
denominations from circulation until the source of the fake ones had been
discovered.
The source
revealed that so far one person had been jailed whilst another person was
facing trial for cashing fake postal orders.
Giving
details, the source stated, that on June 27 this year, one James Kwabena Opoku
was arrested at the Asamankese post office when he attempted to cash ˘200,000
worth of fake postal orders in ˘40,000 denominations. He was arraigned before
the Asamankese Circuit Court the next day and jailed for 10 years.
In another
incident, one Takyi alias Agya was also arrested at the Accra Central Post
Office for attempting to cash ˘2.4 million worth of fake postal orders and is
currently facing trial.
At
Takoradi, a student was arrested for attempting to cash fake postal orders and
when interrogated he said it was sent to him by his mother, who on contacting
admitted having bought them from the Kaneshie Post Office.
Some staff
at the post office have also been invited for questioning.
Top
management at Ghana Post are tight-lipped over the affair but a source revealed
that letters had been sent to all post offices nationwide to be on the lookout
for these fake postal orders, whilst the ˘40,000 denomination is being
temporarily withdrawn from the system.
GRi…/
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Probe
Sherry Ayittey
The Evening
News carries that workers of the GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited have called
on the government to institute an immediate probe into the last ten-year
administration of the former Chief Executive, Ms Sherry Ayittey.
Hailing the
government's removal of Ms Ayittey from office, the workers are of the view
that she should account for her stewardship since that would be in the interest
of justice good conscience and fair play.
Owing to mismanagement,
GIHOC Distilleries, reputed to be one of the best in the sub-region is indebted
to a number of organisations running into billions of cedis, the workers say.
Speaking to
the paper after the workers, clad in red bands have demonstrated against the
former Chief Executive, Mr Somuah Ankomah, the Union Secretary said GIHOC is
indebted to 11 institutions to tune of about ˘14.7 billion.
He
mentioned them as National Investment Bank (NIB), ˘1.5 billion. Integrated
Investment (Gh) Limited, ˘1.6 billion. Vidriera Carnana SA $609, CEPS, ˘4.8
billion, IRS, ˘239 million and the VAT Service, ˘546 million.
Others are
the Ministry of Finance, ˘137 million, Japanese Grant (Bank of Ghana), ˘1.4
billion and Japanese Grant (Merchant), ˘704 million.
The former
managing director, is also alleged to be involved in a controversial purchasing
agreement with Integrated Investment (Gh) Limited under the directorship of her
friend, Dr Sydney Laryea.
The said
purchasing agreement of alcohol from the company has resulted in a debt of over
˘1.6 billion.
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Fowl thief
shot dead
Samuel Edy,
a security guard working with the Volta River Estates Limited at New Akrade,
near Akosombo, has been charged with murder for shooting dead a man who
allegedly broke into his poultry farm and stole a fowl, reports The Dispatch.
The
incident occurred on July 10. At about 2:00 am on that fateful day, the
deceased, Alarbi Hommanyo, a notorious criminal from Kpong, broke into the
poultry farm. This was after Samuel had complained of people stealing his
fowls.
Reliable
sources said Alarbi first stole a fowl and hid it outside the poultry farm.
Samuel, who was on patrol, spotted him when he returned to catch another fowl.
Samuel fired a warning shot and the deceased fled.
He chased
and caught up with him but the deceased stopped and punched Samuel who fell to
the ground. As the deceased fled, Samuel got up and shot him in the back and he
fell and died.
Realizing
what had happened, Samuel told his brother-in-law about it and they both
reported the matter to the Police.
When he was
brought to the Odumase Court, Judge E. Ampadu said the case should be referred
to a High Court. He therefore adjourned the case to July 27 and asked the
accused to be placed in custody.
GRi…/
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