GRi Press Review Headlines 24-06-99
Man, 47 Rapes Niece, 9
Ghanaian Student Jailed For Fraud in Liverpool
Ministry, GES lose $12m due to inertia.
The Crusading Guide 24 – 06 - 99
Rawlings Must Apologise To Asantehene
Parliament should avoid shoddiness
42 deported for drug offenses
Man, 47 Rapes Niece, 9
The Daily Graphic carries two shocking headlines on its front pages.
The first reads : "Man, 47 Rapes Niece, 9" and the second: "Ghanaian Student Jailed For Fraud in Liverpool"
In the first story the police are said to have arrested a 47-year-old man who allegedly raped his nine-year-old niece.
Forensic evidence has it that Lamptey Boye, is infected with the STD gonorrhoea. According to the report the suspect who lives at Palm Wine Junction in Accra, allegedly invited the innocent child to his room to pass the night since her mother had gone out and was late in returning.
Lamptey, instead of protecting his niece, as would have been expected of an uncle, rather jumped on her at dawn and assaulted her. After molesting the youngster Lamptey threatened her with death should she disclose what happened to anybody. The victim who was bleeding at the time rushed out of the room to her aunt and narrated her ordeal the paper said.
The victim and her aunt went to the police who arrested Lamptey and handed him over to the Women and Juvenile Unit for further investigations.
Upon interrogation Lamptey with blood stains all over his underpants claimed that when he invited the victim to his room he laid a mat on the floor for her. He however claimed that later in the night, the girl climbed the bed and lay at his side. He said when he started having sex with the girl she was crying initially, but later stopped so he thought she was enjoying the act.
Both Lamptey and the girl were taken to the Police hospital where it was confirmed that he suffers from gonorrhoea. Meanwhile the girl has been refereed to the Trust Hospital for further diagnosis and treatment.
Ghanaian Student Jailed For Fraud in Liverpool
In the other story, the Graphic reports that 25-year old Kwame Obeng-Amoo, one of the main figures in a Liverpool-based gang of fraudsters, has been sentenced to four years imprisonment.
According to the report a Liverpool Crown Court which jailed Obeng-Amoo said he would be allowed to stay in Britain after his sentence because the judge believes, he could make a useful contribution to the society.
The Graphic quoting the British Daily Post of June15, says Obeng-Amoo’s imprisonment is a major coup for a specialist Merseyside Police team set up specially to deal with West African criminals which may have creamed off almost £400,000 from banks, building societies and credit companies.
They are reported to have operated across England and Scotland using numerous false identities to help them carry through the frauds.
The arrest of Obeng-Amoo is believed to have led to the collapse of a highly organised and efficient gang of fruadsters who operate scams across Britain melting almost half a million ponds.
At the Liverpool Crown Courts on June14, reports say Obeng Amoo whose father was a high ranking official at the Ghana High Commission in London, admitted a charge of conspiracy and fraud. Sentencing him, Judge Ian Campbell said, "it seems to me that you must have been an important figure in this conspiracy and it could not have gone on without you".
Ministry, GES lose $12m due to inertia.
The banner headline in the Graphic however reads: "Ministry, GES lose $12m due to inertia." The story has it that the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) lost about $12 million donor funds last year due to the failure of the GES to respond promptly to deadlines.
According to the Graphic the GES was unable to provide certain information requested by the donors which had been agreed upon between the ministry the GES and the donors. It said its investigations have revealed that but for the timely intervention of some members of staff of the Ministry and the GES the service would have lost $40 million from the IDA and the African Development Fun, for similar reasons this year.
A source close to the GES is reported as saying the frequent loss of donor funds, as a result of the inertia of some staff of the GES has become a source of worry to the council as it impacts negatively on the development of education in the country.
The Graphic source said in view of the seriousness of the issue, the sector Minster, Mr. Ekow Spio Gabrah has requested the GES Council to set up a committee to inquire into the periodic losses of donor funds.
GRi…/
The Crusading Guide 24 – 06 - 99
Rawlings Must Apologise To Asantehene
"Rawlings Must Apologise To Asantehene" is the screaming headline across the front of the Crusading Guide.
The report says President Rawlings has been asked to render an unqualified apology to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asanteman Council and all chiefs in the country.
This follows the President’s reportedly discourteous and impolite conduct exhibited to the Asantehene and his entourage when they paid a courtesy call on him at the castle a week ago.
In the forefront of the call for the Presidents apology is said to be Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, leader and presidential aspirant of the United Ghana Movement (UGM) for the 2000 elections.
According to the Graphic, a press release issues by Dr. Wereko –Brobby expressed his resentment at what he called the un-Ghanaian manner in which President Rawlings welcomed the Asantehene and his entourage which was made up of paramount chiefs of Asante states, imputing an intent of the President to slight his royal visitors.
"The brusque manner of the President’s welcome greeting, the incessant wagging of his fingers at the Asantehene and his Chiefs, and the intemperate language used to address the distinguished audience, all combined to create an impression of a deliberate desire to humiliate and belittle the Asantehene and the Asante nation a whole."
Dr. Wereko Brobby is reported to have accused the President of using the excuse of unfair media coverage of the process of succession to the late Otumfuo Opoku Ware II to attempt to berate the Asanteman Council and drive a wedge between Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his cousin Nana Akwasi Agyemang, who is also the Kumasi Metropolitan Mayor.
Dr Wereko is reported to have noted that political power has its limitations as compared to the power that emanates from the willing and voluntary subjugation of a people to the authority of the monarch.
GRi
Parliament should avoid shoddiness
The paper carries on its back page a story titled "Parliament should avoid shoddiness". According to the paper Parliament’s way of passing bills have been described as betrayal of shoddy which in some cases have ‘dubious democratic validity.’
The paper quoting from a lecture by Prof. E. Gyimah-Boadi of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana at a public forum in Accra, criticised
Parliament for its inability to initiate legislation and limiting itself to the prompting by the executives.
It said the functions of the over-sight committee in Parliament is greatly inhibited by votes that go strictly along party lines on nearly all issues.
Prof. Boadi the paper said noted that Parliament also suffers from habits of subservience to executive authority, a situation which reflects the prevailing authoritarian culture in the house.
GRi…/
42 deported for drug offenses
The paper carries on its front page, a story titled "42 deported for drug offenses". According to the story, a total of 42 Ghanaians between he ages of 21 and 51 were deported from Europe and the Americas from 1997 to June 1999 for various drug related cases.
The paper said culprits were arrested and convicted for possessing heroin, cocaine and cannabis. Majority of them were deported from the U.S.A., Brazil, Italy, France, Holland and Las Palmas, with most of them coming from the Ashanti, Central and Greater Accra Regions.
The paper said a total of 112 people including two women have been convicted of drug-related cases between April last year to April this year in the country.
The paper said the highest number people caught indulging in drugs came from Nsawam where 37 men and 1 woman were arrested. Kumasi followed with 34 males and 1 female. Anomabu, 17 males, Tamale, 13 males, Akuse 6 males, Wa 4 males and Tarkwa 1 male respectively.
According to the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) 28 drug peddlers were arrested in Accra and Kumasi, with 18 of them being picked from Kumasi whilst the remaining 10 were arrested in Accra.
GRi…/