Criminal Libel Law repealed
‘Declare U. East disaster zone’
Two grabbed with cache of arms
Africans must take up own destiny – Veep
GEA moves to sabotage ESB
‘Don’t sell out GCB utilities’
Don’t send pupils home for school fees – Churcher cautions private
school proprietors
We would not have come…If it were NDC govt
5.6m dollars blown
Edumadze to appear in court
Road accidents cause nation over $300 million
Rawlings, staff face delayed ‘Allowa’
BNI, SFO probe SIC
Lawyer demands
¢500m …From Pastor Yiadom
Politics is dirty game - Akwasi Agyemang
Government records ¢512.1 billion budget surplus …1st qtr of 2001
Heads to roll in Police Service
Take Homecoming seriously
- Joe Boateng
Criminal Libel Law repealed
The Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws have been repealed following the
passage of the Criminal Code (Criminal and Seditious Laws Amendment Bill), Act
2001 last Friday.
According to the Daily
Graphic Parliament unanimously repealed. With the amendment, any prosecution
instituted under any of the repealed sections, and are still pending before any
court or tribunal shall cease.
According to the amendment,
proceedings shall not be instituted in respect of the same facts, and any
person accused of any offence under any of those sections shall be deemed to
have been discharged.
Debate on the issue, which
lasted two days, was hectic, and, although most of the MPs favoured the repeal
of the law, others, particularly on the Minority side, asked the House to take
a critical look at the issue.
A memorandum on the bill
presented to the House by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, stated that “the purpose of the bill is to fulfil the
promise of repeal, and thereby demonstrate the Kufuor government’s
determination to make good its promise to the nation”.
It said the repeal is evidence of the sincerity of the New Patriotic
Party government’s commitment to the process of democratic consolidation in the
country.
The memorandum further stated
that the repeal of these laws, enacted during the colonial period to frustrate
the freedom of the people and perpetuate servitude, should have been done at
the time the country gained independence.
The repeal of the law was one
of the major campaign promises of the NPP government during the run-up to the
2000 Presidential and Parliamentary elections and the action initiated has
received general acclamation by the public, including media practitioners.
More../
‘Declare U. East disaster zone’
The Presidential candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC) in
the 2000 elections, Dr Edward Mahama, has urged the government to declare the
Upper East Region as a disaster area.
According to him, this would
empower and properly inform the government to take the requisite measures to
deal with the multiplicity of problems afflicting the people and impacting
adversely on their standard of living.
The PNC leader, who made the
call in an interview in Accra at the weekend, said the problems in the area
were currently being worsened by a crippling fuel shortage, adding onto the
hardships of the people of the area.
“The situation is not only
creating long queues for fuel but more alarmingly, facilitates the hoarding of
petroleum products and their sale at very exorbitant prices to the detriment of
the people”.
Dr Mahama pointed out that
this situation was not only adversely affecting fares but also their businesses
and other commercial activities in the area, all of which, he said, combine to
adversely impact on the living standards of the people.
He said it is in respect of
the numerous problems of the area and the need to act swiftly to stop the
peoples’ lives from getting worse, that he is calling on the government to
declare the region a disaster area and take the appropriate steps to get things
normalised.
More…/
Two grabbed with cache of arms
The Graphic says the police on Sunday arrested two persons with a cache
of firearms concealed in a compartment beneath the seats of their Opel saloon
car at an automobile workshop at Darkuman in Accra.
The two, Kofi Agyare, 37, a
driver, and Kwesi Sam, 20, an automobile body sprayer, were arrested following
a tip-off.
Director of Police Public Relations, David Eklu, said the suspects in
their bid to conceal the arms and ammunitions removed the panels beneath the
back seats of the car, with a Nigerian registration number, LA 2342 RF, and
created a compartment for the weapons.
A search on the vehicle revealed
29 single-barrel shotguns, five double-barrel shotguns, one pump-action gun and
250 BB cartridges.
Mr Eklu said Agyare, who is
the principal suspect, told the police that he bought the weapons from “a
place” at the Industrial Area in Accra, but could not show the police any
documents covering them, nor the exact place he bought them.
Agyare reportedly said that
they were about to leave to Nigeria to sell the guns when they were arrested.
According to Mr P.K.
Acheampong, Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigations
Department (CID), the police believes the weapons were imported into the
country illegally for sale to buyers in Nigeria and the Cote d’Ivoire, where
the illegal arms trade is more lucrative.
GRi…/
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Africans must take up own destiny – Veep
The Ghanaian Times says Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has stressed
the need for Africans to have a better understanding of themselves and overcome
years of separation, mistrust and disconnection.
He told the opening ceremony of
the Fifth Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) at the weekend
that Africa’s development could only be possible when the people take the
destiny of their countries into their own hands.
The weeklong festival under
the theme, ‘The reemergence of African civilization, uniting the African
family, bridging the gap through information technology,’ is aimed at affirming
the common heritage of African people worldwide and defining African’s
contribution to civilization.
Vice President Aliu charged
the people of Africa to protect and develop the best in their cultures and
remove stereotyped images presented about them on the international scene
adding that under no circumstances should Africans lose their cultural
independence, replace or dilute it.
More…/
GEA moves to sabotage ESB
The Ghana Employers Association (GEA) is undermining the Trades Union
Congress (TUC) efforts to have the End-of-Service Benefits (ESB) restored to
workers, reports the ‘Times’.
A confidential letter sighted
by the paper, reference GEA/IR.24/Vol.3/174 dated May 22, 2001 and signed by
the GEA Executive Director, was circulated to all members urging them “to
resist at all cost”, any attempt by the government to consider the TUC request.
Attached to the confidential circular were directives to guide members on the issue, as well as the minutes of a GEA meeting held on April 10, 2001 in Accra attended by executive directors, managing directors and general managers of companies at which the decision was taken.
At the meeting, the members were told that “the position of the GEA is emphatically NO and the GEA should, therefore, bring pressure on the government to continue the freezing of the ESB”. The GEA also resolved to come out with modalities to guide members on discussions of the ESB to suit its agenda and to favour members.
Members were further cautioned that should they be confronted with the issue, they should first consult the association before entering into negotiations with the unions, which have the backings of international labour bodies like the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
More…/
‘Don’t sell out GCB utilities’
The Government has been urged to discard all attempts to privatise the
Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and the
Ghana Water Company Limited.
This is because the
privatisation of powerful and viable institutions such as the ECG, GCB and GWCL
as part of HIPC Initiative conditionalities would have adverse effects on the
living conditions of the ordinary people whose interest the NPP’s
administration seeks to serve.
The Upper West Region chapter
of the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network (TEIN) of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) said this at a press conference at Wa.
TEIN wondered why the NPP
that vehemently opposed the idea of privatisation had suddenly been forced to
accept the HIPC Initiative conditionalities and was feverishly preparing to
privatise state assets that were dear to the hearts of Ghanaians.
It called on the government
to also drop its decision to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 12.5
per cent to 15 per cent arguing that any increase in VAT would affect the
survival of the Ghanaian populace.
More…/
Don’t send pupils home for school fees – Churcher cautions private
school proprietors
The Minister of State responsible for Basic, Secondary and Girl Child
Education, Miss Christine Churcher, has cautioned proprietors of private
schools not to drive away pupils to collect school fees during school hours.
She explained that apart from
the fact that these pupils would miss vital lessons, they might as well not
meet their parents at home, or could be exposed to various dangers.
Some of these pupils could be
knocked down by hit-and-run vehicles, the Minister stated in a speech read for
him at the 38th annual Speech and Prize-Giving Day of Tema Parents
Association School at Tema near Accra on Saturday.
She bemoaned the attitude of
some proprietors taking advantage of the installation of a computer or two in
their schools to charge huge fees and stated that such high premium placed on
money-making at the expense of virtues had led to the erosion of the once
up-held moral fibre of “our society”.
Miss Churcher urged private
schools to comply with the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE)
programme of 1996 by adhering to its reviewed curriculum of instructions.
GRi…/
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Kakra Essamuah turns down NPP job
Burly Kakra Essamuah, a former leading member of the NPP who stunned
the country in the run-off to the 2000 election when he made some positive
observation on Professor John Atta Mills and was subsequently dismissed by the
NPP is purported to have gone back to the NPP.
The Ghanaian Voice says
however that on the contrary, Kakra Essamuah had been invited by Dr Amoako
Tufuor of the President’s office but had turned down the appointment.
He told the paper on Friday,
in reaction to a story that he was staging a comeback, that he was invited to
the Castle by Dr Amoako-Tuffuor and offered a job at the Special Assignments
Bureau.
“Yes I was offered a job. Yes
I turned down the job yes. I was not informed of my particular schedule in the
Special Assignments Bureau.”
Kakra Essamuah intimated that
“Appointees to the present government are in my view either members of the
group known as FOJAK (Friends of J.A. Kufuor) his own relations or his
tribesmen. I am neither of them.”
In the circumstances, he
finds the publication as an attempt to set him up for public ridicule, contempt
and disdain.”
GRi…/
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We would not have come…If it were NDC govt
The Free Press writes that two Ghanaians based in Holland have stated
that if the just-ended Homecoming Summit had been organised under the NDC
regime they would not have spent money in participating because they considered
the Jerry Rawlings government untrustworthy and full of contradictions.
The two, Eric Oppong-Kyeremeh
and Charles Amanfo-Ofori all from the Brong Ahafo region told the paper in an
interview during the summit that their ordeal at the Ghana Ports and Harbours
Authority (GPHA) in clearing their Benz trucks and children’s clothing last
year made them felt that their nation Ghana was not prepared to welcome them
back home.
Mr Oppng-Kyeremeh cited an
incident last year at the Harbour when certain CEPS officials used their
discretion to prevent him from clearing a Mercedes Benz truck he had shipped
into the country to help cart agricultural crops from the farming centres to
the cities.
The truck, manufactured in
1991 according to documents he obtained in Holland could not be cleared because
a CEPS official had used his own imagination to calculate that it was a 1990
model and over ten years. Mr Oppong-Kyeremeh said even though he produced all
the relevant documents to the alleged CEPS official the man stuck to his guns
and asked him to pay penalty if he wanted to clear the vehicle.
Mr Charles Amanfo-Ofori, on
his part, said even though he owned a company (OFAPCO) Susu Collection at
Berekum, which disburses soft loans to low income farmers and help pay for medical
bills of the people the economic measures of the NDC, particularly, its high
interest rates made Ghana a very difficult country to start any small scale
business.
While Mr Oppong-Kyeremeh said
he had seen a marked difference in the NPP’s determination to encourage them to
come back and help than what the NDC claimed, Mr Amanfo-Ofori praised the
present government for stabilising the cedi in the last few months.
More../
5.6m dollars blown
The mystery of where the 5.6 million dollars in cash, which was
invested in the Ambassador Hotel project by SSNIT and other investors went,
continues to baffle the management of SSNIT.
This is because all that
there is to show for the huge investment (about ¢39.2 billion) is the gutted
shell of the Ambassador Hotel, which stands as an eyesore near the immaculate
Novotel Hotel in the heart of Accra.
According to the Free Press,
the mystery is compounded by the various contractors and consultants at one
time associated with the project suing the Ambassador Hotel Limited to recover
various sums of monies they spend on the project.
The hotel’s problems began in
1994 when a shadowy businessman, Gerald Sowah’s company, Grace Investment
floated the idea of rebuilding Ghana’s flagship hotel which had become
dilapidated.
Sowah approached the cash-con
SSNIT, which jumped at the idea and the Ambassador Hotels Ltd company was
formed with Mr Ato Ahwoi as chairman of the Board to undertake the project. The
board included also Mr Eric Adjei, then Deputy Director General of SSNIT and
the promoter, Gerald Sowah together with a Dr Rex Akinbolu of Grace
Investments, Mr Kwaku Owusu and Mr W.K. Alomatu.
The project, estimated to
cost about $43.6 million was to be financed through equities whiles $25.3
million would come from bank loans.
The contract was initially
awarded to Energoproject Ltd. a reputable international construction firm at a
project cost of $27.7 million and the company mobilised funds to start the
preparatory work. They were however compelled to suspend the project at the
insistence of the former Director General of SSNIT, Mr Charles Asare because he
discovered serious discrepancies in some of the representations made to SSNIT
by Geral Sowah.
Mr Eric Adjei is however said
to have continued to approve the release of funds to Grace Investments, despite
the serious doubts about the credibility of the Gerald Sowah and where this
money went is a mystery.
The Ambassador Hotel project
is now at a standstill and the promoter, Sowah, is walking about freely whilst
the other major players in the fiasco, Eric Adjei has recently been relieved of
his post as DDG of SSNIT. The paper asks who is to answer where all that money
went.
GRi…/
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Edumadze to appear in court
The Dispatch carries that Mr Isaac Edumadze, the Central Regional
Minister, who took a reprimand from President Kufuor last week for taking the
law into his own hands over a traffic offence is likely to be arraigned before
the law courts by three employers of CEDECOM, who he dismissed.
The three are Mrs Nicole Ama
Abraham, Messrs John Akowuah and Cecil Abakah-Otoo.
Solicitors for the three,
Gaisie, Zwennes, Hyghes & Co., sent a letter, dated July 12, 2001 giving
him 14 days to withdraw the letters of dismissal. The letter was among others,
copied to the CEDECOM Board of Directors and the Chief of Staff and Minister
for Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.
In a letter to Mr Edumadze
from the solicitors, they said the purported dismissal of their clients has no
basis in law and SINS against the contract of employment between their clients
and their employer, CEDECOM and argued that it is the CEDECOM Board and not its
Chairman who can dismiss employees upon the commission of any of the offences
which fall under section 5.2 of CEDECOM employment manual.
The solicitors therefore
sought to proceed to the law courts to vindicate the rights of their clients
should the Minister fail or refuse to accede to this request in 14 days.
More…/
Road accidents cause nation over $300 million
The statistics also show that
about 48 per cent of road accidents deaths are children below the age of 16 and
at least six people die everyday through accidents.
The Chief Executive of the
NRSC, Mr Noble Appiah, made these revelations at a two-day seminar on Defensive
Driving organised by Toptech Driving Consult Ltd in Accra.
Mr Appiah identified the
Accra-Aflao, Accra-Elubo, Aflao-Elubo, Bonsu-Koforidua and
Kumasi-Sunyani-Tanokrom roads as the most accident-prone routes in the country.
According to the Chief
Executive, 80 per cent of people involved in accidents die before they reach
hospital. He also blamed most of the traffic accidents on human error and announced
that very soon the NRSC will embark on a five-year nationwide campaign against
reckless driving, drunk driving and over-speeding.
GRi…/
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Rawlings, staff face delayed ‘Allowa’
The Ghanaian Chronicle says it has learnt that former President Jerry
Rawlings has not received his gratuity as an ex-President since he left office
on January 7, this year.
Staff of the former President
have also not received their salaries over the same period but two of his
four-member staff, on secondment from the Ghana Police Service, however,
continue to draw their pay from the police, where they were posted from. The
two, Ms Aisha Soadah and Ms Edith Senyah, close confidants of the ex-President
were however recalled about three weeks ago.
Close aides of ex-President
Rawlings say he has been depending on the controversial ¢120 million End of
Service (ESB) his government awarded him before exiting office on January 7.
Others have expressed
concerns over his gratuity, though they admit that his job as a United Nations
Eminent Person keeps him going financially as well.
Article 68 (4) of the
Constitution of Ghana states that a former President is entitled to a gratuity
equivalent to his salary and other allowances and facilities prescribed by
Parliament.
The Minister in charge of
Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, told the Chronicle late last
week that he was unaware that the former President had not been receiving his
gratuity or salary.
“I’m not aware of this. I’ll
call the Controller and Accountant-General to find out,” he said.
More…/
BNI, SFO probe SIC
The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has started a full-scale
investigation into the affairs of the State Insurance Company Ltd (SIC)
according to The Chronicle.
So far, the BNI has invited
the former Managing Director, Mr Ebenezer Allotey, and his two deputies, Messrs
E.C. de Graft and Francis Nsiah Afriyie to answer charges of corruption and
explain allegations of mismanagement levelled against them during their term of
administration.
Also in the BNI net is Mr
Victor Kusi-Yeboah, the substantive Managing Director, who until last week was
acting in that capacity in the nation’s insurance flagship. Mr Yeboah, sources say, is being queried over an
alleged BMW saloon car he received in a bribery scandal, which has been a
subject of several of Chronicle’s stories.
There have been other
allegations of malfeasance against him. The paper recently held a closed door
meeting with Mr Yeboah, where he was cross-examined by the Publisher over the
various allegations levelled against him, with Mr Mark Ampadu, the head of
Motor Department in attendance.
GRi…/
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Lawyer demands ¢500m …From Pastor Yiadom
The Daily Guide says whether by accident or design, the Ghanaian legal
system has probably never witnessed what is commonly referred to as ‘Dual Suit,
or Double Suit,’ as was the case in the famous O.J. Simpson’s case in far away
America.
The paper says it can reveal
that the double-suit, which used to be anachronistic to Ghana, has now landed,
with a Kumasi based legal practitioner, scoring full credit for it.
According to information
trickling in, Lawyer K. Ampen Darko Esq., acting as solicitor for the mother of
the late Madam Afua Tutuwaa, 38, on Thursday July 12, 2001, filed a counter
writ in a civil suit demanding a hefty compensation of an amount of five
hundred thousand cedis from Reve Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom, founder and leader of
the Ebenezer Worship Centre based at South Suntreso, Kumasi, for allegedly
causing the death of Tutuwaa, who was a member of his church.
The pastor has up to Tuesday
July 31, 2001 to pay the compensation.
The deceased is said to have
been branded a witch, and thereupon chained, and allegedly physically assaulted
by other members of the church at the instigation of the pastor. Tutuwaa, the
paper learnt, had pleaded with the pastor not to offer an olive oil for sale to
members of his congregation.
Lawyer Ampem Darko reportedly
instituted the writ claiming the ¢500 million compensation from the church, to
run alongside the ongoing criminal court proceedings against the man-of-God.
The plaintiff’s counsel has
meanwhile accused the Pastor of not only causing the death of a member of his
congregation but also inflicting hardship on the deceased person’s surviving
mother.
GRi…/
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Politics is dirty game - Akwasi Agyemang
The former Mayor of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Nana Akwasi
Agyemang says politics is tiresome and a dirty game, which allows even lunatics
to castigate noblemen like him.
Therefore, with the exit of
the National Democratic Congress (NDC) from power, he would no longer dabble in
politics. He is however, prepared to serve the nation.
Nana Akwasi Agyemang, until
the defeat of the NDC, a special government envoy said he was quitting politics
after 23 years of dabbling in the game, having served under the National
Liberation Council (NLC) I, NLC II, People’s National Party (PNC), People’s National
Defence Council (PNDC) and the NDC.
Nana Agyemang said in spite
of his rich experience coupled with efforts that have seen a speedy growth in
Kumasi, people always used political issues to discredit him and pointed out
that during the tenure of office as a Mayor, he lost weight because of official
pressure and tension that were put on him. “Now I am free and living
peacefully, devoid of attacks and other insinuations, Agyemang said.
GRi…/
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Government records ¢512.1 billion budget surplus …1st qtr of 2001
The Kufuor Administration has got off to a good start in terms of
fiscal management, delivering a commendable performance for the first quarter
of this year, reports the High Street Journal (HSJ).
The primary budget balance,
which is a measure of the government’s fiscal effort, showed a surplus of
¢512.1 billion in the first quarter of 2001 compared with a deficit of ¢91.2
billion in the fourth quarter of 2000.
A surplus of ¢234.3 billion
was recorded for the first quarter of 2000, but even this was little more than
half of the surplus made by the Kufuor Administration in its first three months
in office.
The improved surplus is in
part due to the measures taken by the new government to realign the prices of
some of the commodities and utilities to reflect their true economic levels;
thereby reducing government’s indirect subsidies on them.
Despite the exercise of
fiscal restraint by the government, the high domestic debt servicing
requirement led to high government borrowing during the first half of this
year.
Total government borrowing, through
treasury bills, for the first six months of 2001 added up to about ¢4.8
trillion.
Total interest payments on
domestic debt for the first quarter of the year alone amounted to ¢476.3
billion, equivalent to 22.8 per cent of total revenue received for the period.
Lending rates have remained
high at between 43 per cent and 58 per cent during the first half of 2001.
GRi…/
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Heads to roll in Police Service
The NPP News carries that dismissals, prosecutions and reprimands are
expected in the Police Service following the submission of the Stadium Disaster
Commission Report to the President, Mr J.A. Kufuor on Friday.
The Chairman of the
Commission, Mr Sam Okudzeto did not mince words when he made it point blank
that some policemen who were on duty on May 11, when disaster occurred should
be punished for their behaviour and dishonesty and also lying through their
teeth.
“On May 9, teargas, thunder
shorts and rubber bullets were fired at the Stadium,” said the report, adding
that “we could not get any honest answer from the officers and men who were all
present at the scene to tell us who did what.”
It lamented further “The
armory record Book which the Standing Orders 98 requires to be kept and arms
issued and returned to be recorded were haphazardly kept, ammunitions are not
properly recorded in the said books which poses a danger to security, how do we
know who has what arms and ammunitions and for what purpose,” it revealed.
GRi…/
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Take Homecoming seriously
- Joe Boateng
Ghanaians living abroad who arrived in the country for the Homecoming
Summit have been advised to take the Summit seriously in order to avail
themselves of the investment opportunities that abound in the country.
They should also get involved
in the development process in the country and get committed to the economic
renewal efforts currently in progress.
Mr Joseph Boateng, the
Managing Director of Checkpoint Ghana Limited, an ultra modern printing press
in Accra who himself spent years in London gave the advice last week, according
to The Ghanaian Democrat.
He said the climate was
excellent for private investment and therefore, urged the participants to
explore the many critical investment opportunities in Ghana and enter into
meaningful partnership for business promotions.
GRi…/