Security personnel squash alleged stolen
electrification project materials at port
Cape Coast Poly students demonstrate for loan
Ghana’s Electoral Commission to enforce
Political Parties Act
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 May 2000
The Serious Fraud Office, (SFO) has directed the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) to submit a copy of the management contract between it and Lonmin, to assist in investigations into allegations of excessive expenditure.
A statement issued in Accra on Wednesday, signed by Mr B. A. Sapati, Acting Executive Director of the SFO, said the directive is to enable the Office, which is currently investigating pertinent issues arising out of the Anyidoho Committee report to ascertain the truth in the allegations against AGC.
According to the statement, the Anyidoho Committee report made allegations of excessive expenditure on administrative and management costs in the AGC and Lonmin deal. The report claimed that even bigger companies in the mining industry incur less expenditure than stated by AGC.
The Anyidoho Committee was set up by the government last year to look into allegations made by workers of the Ashanti Goldfields Limited in Obuasi, during a strike action which saw violent demonstrations and lasted several days.
GRi../
Tema (Greater Accra) 01 June 2000
Security personnel of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) have intercepted large quantities of materials meant for the Self-Help Electrification Project (SHEP) that were being exported to Nigeria.
Even though the project has not been completed, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) waybills covering some of the items described them as obsolete and slow moving materials, which were sold to some companies, including Georgyei Electrical Trading Enterprises and Sight and Sound Enterprise.
The items, which included 25mm aluminium conductors, strain insulators for high-tension cables and metal parts for the installation of pylons, were wrapped in sacks. Documents covering them said they were acquired from the Ring Road Store and Tema Depots of the ECG.
Apart from the 18 sacks containing the items and a drum of cables found by the GPHA Security in a cargo truck, other items valued at billions of cedis are in the Export Shed ready for shipment.
Inscriptions on some of the boxes containing the materials indicated that they were International Development Association (IDA) funded materials which were passed through the National Investment Bank (NIB) and supplied to the ECG.
Ms Doris Esi Dadjo, an official of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), said the items have already been passed for export but are still at the Export Shed because there was no space on the ship, which was supposed to convey them to Nigeria last Monday.
GNA investigations at the Export Shed revealed that large quantities of such electrical materials had left the port within the last few months.
Captain Albert R. Cudjoe, Chief Security Co-ordinator of the Tema Port told the GNA, that the security agencies have directed that the goods should not be allowed to leave the port until full investigations have been conducted.
Capt. Cudjoe told newsmen that some electrical goods, which were covered by similar documents, were exported as scrap three weeks ago but when the port security saw similar documents covering the goods in the truck last Friday, they decided to do thorough investigations only to realise that the items were new.
The Port Security personnel therefore decided to question the agent, Mr Francis Asiedu of Jofance Enterprise, which was shipping the items, about the authenticity of the documents since ECG does not sell such electrical materials.
Capt. Cudjoe said six ECG officials who were invited to identify the items confirmed that they were for the Company and that they had been informed that the materials had been stolen and exported.
The officials, who included the Materials Manager at the ECG headquarters, Shipping Manager, Chief Internal Auditor and Purchasing Manager, said the company had been on the lookout for the thieves.
Capt. Cudjoe said the officials explained that even in cases where the items were supplied to contractors, they were expected to return leftovers to ECG.
Mr Asiedu, however, insisted that the items were genuinely acquired from the ECG Tema Depot and the Ring Road stores in Accra and produced waybills and receipts for the transactions.
One receipt had the face value of 40.3 million cedis for the sale of obsolete stock of SHEP material, which were bought by Georgyei Electrical Trading Enterprise on February 15, this year.
Mr Asiedu said on May 19, this year, his company again bought large quantities of strain insulators, which were simply described on the waybill as a lot, adding that the company was in the process of buying more on Wednesday.
He said the items were meant for a Nigerian called Tony, who was already in Nigeria expecting the goods, adding that, due to the delay, he decided to come down himself.
Mr Asiedu said about three local companies import these items, which could easily be obtained on the market. No arrest has been made yet.
GRi../
Electoral Commission assures Ghanaians of
free and fair elections
Winneba (Central Region) 02 June 2000
Mr David Adeenze-Kangah, Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission, has re-assured Ghanaians that the commission will continue to be neutral in the nation's electoral process at all times.
He said the commission is aware of its responsibility to ensure free, fair and successful Presidential and Parliamentary elections in December saying "nothing will prevent us from achieving this objective."
"What the commission expects from politicians and indeed all Ghanaians is a high degree of comportment between now until the elections are over."
The Deputy Chairman was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on his expectations in the impending general elections after he had delivered a paper on "The role of the national service person in the consolidation of democracy in Ghana" at a seminar at the National Sports College (NSC), Winneba.
The seminar, organised by the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) formed part of its four-day biannnual Congress currently under way at the college.
Mr Adeenze-Kangah asked Ghanaians to discard the perception that the ruling government could influence the commission or manipulate the elections.
GRi../
Akropong (Eastern Region) 01 June 2000
A group of youths describing themselves as "members of the Akropong youth wing of the NDC" on Saturday staged a demonstration in front of the Okuapemhene's palace against the nomination of Mr Anthony Gyampoh, Akuapem North district chief executive, as the NDC parliamentary candidate for Akropong constituency.
The group later presented a copy of a resolution addressed to the vice-president Professor John Atta Mills who is also the NDC presidential candidate, to the Okuapenhene, Oseadeeyo Addo Dankwa, III.
In the resolution, the group, which said they preferred Mr Alex Akuffo, Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, accused Mr Gyampoh of discrimination against Akropong in the citing of development projects and offices of decentralised government organisations which should have been at Akropong, the district capital.
It mentioned the establishment of the district offices of the Ghana National Fire Service and the District Health Service office at Mampong, as examples and threatened not to vote for Mr Gyampoh "even though we shall all vote for Professor Mills to be president."
Reacting to the allegations against him, Mr Gyampoh said all the projects mentioned in the resolution of the protestors were in place before he became the district chief executive of Akuapem North, except the offices of the District Health Services.
He said that the district assembly initially acquired a plot of land for the construction of the Health offices at Akropong but the District Director of Health Services protested on the grounds that the place had no electricity, and that could affect the storage of vaccines and other sensitive material.
Mr Gyampoh said the issue was referred to the Akuapem North district assembly which decided that the office be cited at Mampong, near the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital.
Mr Victor Doku, NDC secretary of the Akropong constituency, expressed his displeasure at the attempt by the group to impose their views on the party in the constituency and said before the national leadership of the party came out with the formula for the selection of a parliamentary candidate the constituency organised an outreach programme where 13 wards out of the 14 proposed Mr Gyampoh to contest the constituency seat.
Mr Doku said the Akropong ward requested to be given some time to think about the issue but following support shown for Mr Gyampoh by the other wards, the party formally approached him to stand as the constituency's parliamentary candidate in this year's elections.
Mr Doku said Mr Gyampoh accepted the offer on the grounds that the entire party would support him. He said later at a meeting, all delegates, except those from the Akropong ward, assured Mr Gyampoh of their support.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 01 June 2000
The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana, on Wednesday called on governmental and non-governmental organisations to promote the welfare of women and children because the well-being of the home and society depends on their strength.
This calls for the review of legislations and traditional practices that negate the development and aspirations of the vulnerable particularly women and children.
Miss Gloria Ofori-Boadu, Executive Director of FIDA speaking in an interview with the GNA in Accra, said the federation has been actively involved in creating awareness among Ghanaians on the menace of violence in the home, which tends to threaten the foundation of society.
She expressed regret that women and children have been brought up and socialised to accept the domination, power and control of men.
"In our mentality, there is no equality among the sexes but rather on the socio-cultural, religious and economic ladder the men rank first followed by women and children."
Miss Ofori-Boadu, therefore, called for a change of attitude and situations through law reforms and laid down rules and regulations that can define and modify social attitudes and behaviours. In addition, there must be adequate sensitisation of law enforcement institutions and officers, including the police, prosecutors and the courts.
The agencies must be assisted to appreciate the principles and procedures for implementing the legislation so that they would be able to enforce the legislative provisions adequately, "because the intended effect of the best laws can be nullified if they are not enforced," she added.
She appealed to parliament and the Attorney General's Department to expeditiously work and pass the proposed Domestic Violence Bill into a law since it will be a major step towards attaining the goals of eliminating all forms of gender discrimination in the country by 2020.
"The proposed Bill is not against men but perpetrators of all forms of violence aimed at the vulnerable, be it men against men, women against women, men against women or women against men and even society against children."
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 03 June 2000
The Strike action by members of the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) entered its third day on Wednesday with shops remaining closed to the public.
A press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning at which the Ministry and GUTA were expected to make a joint declaration on their negotiations was postponed at the last minute.
The leadership of GUTA said the talks have reached a stalemate and the traders have vowed to continue with the strike.
According to the GNA, some traders it spoke to said, unguarded statements being made by some public officials will only jeopardise the situation. They said the strike has no political undertones and attempts should therefore not be made to create unnecessary tension in the country.
"We are ready to open our shops if we are in favour of the decisions arrived at the meeting with our executives," Mr Kofi Ansong, Public Relations Officer said in an interview, adding that “ The decision to reopen the shops depends entirely on the outcome of the meeting with members. If they accept the issues discussed then we will open the shops, if not they will think of their next line of action."
Members of GUTA last Monday embarked on a week-long strike in protest against the free fall of the cedi against major currencies and the imposition of 20.5 per cent special tax on certain goods.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry
said on Wednesday that it is still consulting the Ghana Union Traders
Association (GUTA) and other stakeholders on finding solutions to concerns
expressed by the traders.
GRi../
Agona Swedru (Cnetral Region) 01 June 2000
Mr Ishmael Kofi Turkson, Central Regional Chairman of the National Reform Party (NRP), has denied that some members of the party have defected to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Addressing newsmen at Agona Swedru on Tuesday, he denied that Alhaji Baba Rockson, a parliamentary candidate for the Peoples' National Convention in the last election and now a member of the NRP, has joined the NDC as claimed by the National Executive of the Atta Mills Fan Club.
Mr Turkson stated that it is rather NDC members, who are joining the NRP, and urged supporters and members of the party to remain calm and ignore a publication in an Accra daily that NRP members are defecting to the NDC.
Alhaji Rockson, who also spoke at the press briefing, said he lives in the same community with Mr Iddrisu Abass, National
Chairman of the Atta Mills Fan Club, but said he is not a member of the Club and neither has he joined the NDC.
GRi../
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 01 June
2000
Arab Contractors, who are undertaking
the 6.8 kilometre Subin Valley Project in Kumasi, have said that they require about
nine billion cedis more to complete the work.
and Mr Nelson Offei Osae, UESP
Co-ordinator, told e, when they inspected the project on Wednesday.
The project, which began in
October 1998 and expected to be completed by the end of the year, was estimated
at 14.8 billion cedis, but officials of the company told Mr Samuel
Nuamah-Donkor, Ashanti Regional Minister and Nana Akwasi Agyeman, Kumasi
Metropolitan Chief Executive, that this was impossible without the additional
funds.
Mr Charles A. Ashong, Resident
Engineer of the Project said about 75 per cent of the project has been
completed but would be forced to cut down on the length of the road if funds
were not forthcoming. The World Bank is sponsoring the project under the Urban
Environmental Sanitation Project (UESP).
GRi../
Asantehene
ends three-week visit to Britain
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 01 June
2000
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene
is expected back in Accra on Saturday, after a three-week visit to Britain, a
release issued by Manhyia Palace in Kumasi and signed by Oheneba Agyeman Abeyie
II, Somehene and Acting Private Secretary to the Asantehene said on Wednesday.
During the visit, Asantehene was
the guest of Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace. He visited the
British Parliament, Windsor Castle, the British Council and some educational
and health institutions in London.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu met with
representatives of the Cocoa Association of London, Standard Chartered Bank and
Taylor
Woodrow Construction Limited.
The Asantehene also held meetings
with investors and met the Ghanaian Community to explain the Otumfuo Education
Fund to them. The visit was at the invitation of the British government.
GRi../
Cape Coast (Central Region) 03
June 2000
Work within the Social Security
and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) building at Cape Coast came to a halt
between 11:00 hours 13:00 hours on Wednesday when first year students of the
Cape Coast Polytechnic stormed the area to demand payment of their loan.
The main entrance to the building,
which also houses the Social Security Bank, the Consumer Credit Limited and
PANAFEST, Secretariat were barred to prevent the students, some of whom were dressed
in red shirts, red head and arm bands from entering the offices of SSNIT.
The students were reported to have
gone on a hunger strike and boycotted lectures to converge at the premises of
SSNIT to compel officials of SSNIT to expedite action on the processing of
their loans.
A spokesman for the students Mr. Victor
Yankson, who was later granted audience by the District Manager Mrs. Hagar
Agbeko, claimed that out of the about 2,000 first year students, only 129 have
received their loans for the first semester although the second semester has
started.
He said life on campus has become
unbearable since most of them have no one to fall on for financial assistance
and asked the officials to quicken the processing of the loan forms to ease
their plight.
Mrs Agbeko attributed the delay to
wrong entries on the application forms submitted by the students, adding that
the mistakes range from wrong social security numbers to false guarantors,
while most of the forms were also submitted late. She appealed to students to
give accurate information on their forms to forestall any such delays.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 01 June 2000
The Electoral Commission on Thursday said it is to embark on a nation-wide assessment of the status of political parties to bring their operations in conformity with the constitutional provisions and the Political Parties Law (Act 574).
The Act states, among others, that all political parties shall establish branches in all the regions and have organisational structures in not less than two-thirds of the districts in each region.
Mr David Adeenze Kangah, Deputy Chairman in-charge of operations, in an interview with the (GNA) in Accra said the exercise would be carried out from the constituency, district, regional and national levels.
The commission is empowered to cancel the registration of a political party on the grounds that it has refused, neglected or failed to establish or maintain national, regional and district offices.
There are 10 registered political parties in the country, but GNA has found out that some exist only on paper and do not satisfy the requirements of the law.
GNA investigations have found out that while some of the parties are growing others are shrinking and only exist in name. The district and regional branches of shrinking parties are dormant, some have changed their office locations, and postal addresses without the necessary notification to the public. In some cases their telephones are out of order.
The registered political parties are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and EGLE Party.
The rest are Peoples National Convention (PNC), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), United Ghana Movement (UGM), Ghana Democratic Republican Party (GDRP), and the National Reform Party (NRP).
The law also specifies that a political party shall within six months from December 31st of each year file, with the Electoral Commission, a return indicating the state of its accounts, the source of its funds and membership dues paid.
Others include contributions or donations in cash or kind, the properties of the party, the time of acquisition and audited accounts for the year, supported by a statutory declaration by the national treasurer and the national or general secretary of the party.
Mr Kanga said without prejudice to any other penalty prescribed by the Act or any other enactment, where a political party refuses or neglects to comply with the provision or submits a declaration that is false in any material, the commission may cancel its registration.
On funding of political parties, Mr Kangah said only a Ghanaian citizen may contribute in cash or in kind to the funds, adding that there is no limitation to what a citizen may contribute.
He said any person or company who contravenes the constitutional provision on funding of political parties shall forfeit to the state any amount, whether in cash or in kind. The political party or individual in whose custody the amount is for the time being held, shall pay it to the state.
A non-citizen found guilty of contravention of the provision shall be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant and liable to deportation under the Aliens Act.
Mr Kangah, however, noted that the provisions do not preclude a government of any country or a non-governmental organisation from providing assistance in cash or in kind to the EC for the collective benefit of registered political parties.
GRi../