GRi Press Review 22-06-99

"Rawlings Chastises Otumfuo for failure to reprimand media" is the banner headline on the front page of the Independent Newspaper.

According to the report on Friday June 18, President Rawlings brought his brash tongue to bear on the revered Ghanaian chieftancy Institution.

The report has it that the new Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and his delegation of 26 paramount chiefs from the Asanteman council, who paid a courtesy call on the President at the Castle, Osu were shocked by some of his utterances.

The visit was to thank the President for his assistance to Asanteman during the period when the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was sick, after his death and the subsequent funeral and Otumfuo Osei Tutu's coronation.

President Rawlings is said to have assumed, at this meeting, the role of a commander berating his troops for not carrying out his wishes. According to the report, the President visible anger stemmed from the government’s inability to get its favoured candidate, Nana Akwasi Agyemang, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive to ascend the Golden Stool.

He is reported to have taken the entire Asanteman Council including Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to task for not defending Nana Akwasi Agyemang when the media was writing "nonsense about him".

The media in the run up to the selection of a successor to the Stool presented profiles of all those vying for the position of Asantehene, where Akwasi Agyemang also one of the contestants, was said to have exposed his adversities during the early stages of the revolution.

In the words of the President, Akwasi Agyemang as a royal has a rare privilege of dressing in full regalia just as other royals do. The President added that Akwasi Agyemang did not do that and rather carried on the duty of chief sanitary Inspector, an action the President said was misconstrued by the media.

The paper reports that the President also castigated Otumfuo and his paramount chiefs for not commenting on the recent row between the churches and the Ga traditional rulers during which some callers on an Accra FM station had said Gas cannot compare themselves with the Asantes.

The President whose speech was marked with references like ‘your chief’ ‘Osei Tutu’ with out recourse to the Asantehene’s title of ‘Otumfuo’ also showed a lot of disdain towards Asanteman, the paper reports.

The banner story of the Daily Graphic quotes Dr. Robert Dodoo, Head of Civil Service as saying the times when civil servants denied information to the media because of the Civil Service Secrecy Act are over.

Under the heading: ‘Open up to Media’, the Graphic story reports Dr. Dodoo saying that there is nothing to hide from the press and for that matter the general public, particularly so when people are now very conscious of their rights.

Answering questions at a news conference in Accra yesterday to launch activities marking this year's celebration of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service said at a time that the Civil Service is undergoing reforms, its objectives would not be achieved if people are not rightly informed of its services.

"When you cultivate them (the media), talking to them and giving them the information, your problems are solved", Dr. Dodoo was quoted to have said.

The Graphic quotes Dr. Dodoo as saying further that his office sees media criticisms as a way of urging civil servants on to improve upon their services and therefore welcomes the criticisms.

In another front-page story, the Graphic reports a decline in inflation according to Government statistician, Dr. Oti Boateng.

According to the story, inflation went down from 10.2 in April to 9.4 per cent in May 1999 and Dr. Oti Boateng says it is the lowest since October 1985.

Dr. Oti Boateng, the paper says, attributed the fall to improved food supply in the country.

According to the story, analysts believe greater attention should be given to the agricultural sector to help keep inflation at single digit but they admitted that recent fuel price increases will impact adversely on inflation.

The Crusading Guide says its investigations have revealed that former Head of Police Commandos, Jack Bebli, might soon be charged to face trial concerning the 2.4b cedis robbery.

According to the story, a police source disclose to its investigators that the decision to try Bebli stemmed out of incessant media publication.

The paper said another source hinted also that it is a decision with a ploy to throw dust into the eyes of the public.

The bi-weekly paper said the source indicated that after Bebli has been charged, the docket would be sent to the Attorney-General for study where the "dilly-dallying game will be played" until the momentum that has generated around the case wanes - dying a natural death.

The paper reports that a Radio Gold presenters of its programme "Rejoinder" went to Jack Bebli’s New Achimota residence after discussing the theft case, only to find that it had been cordoned off by armed policemen.

The Ghanaian Palaver reports that a leading member of the United Kingdom branch of the Convention Party, Mr. Alex Asabre, was on June 3, convicted on eight counts of fraud at the Inner London Crown Court, presided over by Mr. Justice Walter.

According to the report, Mr. George Osei Tutu Agyemang, a businessman who was jointly charged with the accused was acquitted for lack of evidence.

The case for the prosecution was that sometime in 1994, he UK government mandated London Transport to undertake an extension of the Jubilee Underground Train Line. In order to implement the programme, a compulsory purchase order was issued by the authorities against properties affected by the project.

When Mr. Asabre got wind of the excersice he is said to have put in a claim for over half a million pounds sterling on the grounds that the compulsory purchase order had jeopardised has business and had led to his suffering significant financial loss.

An investigation by London Transport aimed at establishing the reality or otherwise of the claim revealed that Mr. Asabre the co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Welfare Immigration Advisorry Centre (CWIAC) and also a leading member of the anti- government coalition in the UK, had falsely used letter head sheets of non-existent Ghanaian firms, allegedly, his partners, to justify the claim.

It was also detected that the letters supposedly written by his partners had in fact all been typed on the same typewriters located in his office.

In his defence, Mr. Asabre alleged that he was being hunted by the government of Ghana for his alleged report on government functionaries.

He added that the alleged firms were in existence and that his application for compensation was legitimate.

In its ruling, however, the report says, the jury dismissed the defence submission and convicted Asabre on eight of the twelve counts of fraud.

In summing up the trail, the Judge said Mr. Asabre was the sole perpetrator of the crime with the intent to deceive the UK authorities to obtain money by fraudulent means.

The Judge is also said to have decided that since there was a risk of Mr. Asabre escaping from the United Kingdom to avoid justice, if granted bail, he should be remanded in custody pending sentence on Thursday, July 1, 1999.

The Statesman reports the Chairman of the Busia Foundation, Mr B.J. da Rocha, as saying that threats to human rights exist in all sectors of the Ghanaian society.

According to the story, Mr da Rocha, presenting a paper on "The threats to human rights in present day Ghana" at a forum organised by the Busia Foundation in Accra, said abuses of human rights have occurred at all levels of society by individuals, communities and government, and it must not therefore, be assumed that the guarantee of human rights in the Constitution will automatically put an end to abuses.

Primarily is the overthrow of the Constitution. "If the Constitution is subverted and overthrown…..everything guaranteed by it disappears, Mr da Rocha was quoted as saying.

Gifty, an 18 month-old toddler of unknown parents, was saved from imminent danger by a farmer at Korle-Lagoon bridge in Accra last Thursday, reports the Ghanaian Times.

The paper says, drenched by a heavy downpour that day, a shivering Gifty was spotted by Mr Kofi Nuamah, of Assin Nyakrom in the Central Region, who by divine providence, was on a taxi cab going home from Accra New Town.

Wondering what the toddler might be doing there at that late hour, he beckoned the cabbie to stop and there was Gifty, looking so devastated.

The Report says Mr. Nuamah took the girl on the cabbie and went to the Korle-bu Police Station but the Policeman on duty refused to accept her saying, "Korle Lagoon Bridge is not in the jurisdiction of the station".

From Korle Bu station, he went to James Town Police but there was no help, he was directed to Central Police station. He finally ended up in the Ministries Police where he was asked to report to the Juvenile Unit of the station.

Mr Nuamah, the report says had taken the girl to the Korle-Bu Hospital where her age was put at 18 months. His rendezvous which started about midnight on Thursday ended yesterday, when the girl was handed over to the Osu Children's Home, the paper said.