Manager, wife in 1.3b fraud
Family sues KATH for 200m
Govt orders investigation … into Prison Officers' unrest
No specialist doctors at district hospitals
UGM to remove price fixing cartels
Contest Keta seat
NDC's tribal politics backfires
Vote out NDC
Cedi to be devalued
Pay rise for Soldiers
Panic in Mills camp
Manager, wife in 1.3b fraud
The Daily Graphic under a front-page banner headline reports that the Western Regional Tribunal has convicted the former Chief Manager of the Mansoman Rural Bank (MRB), Mr. Bright Abotsi Damoah, and his wife, Mrs. Margaret Damoah, for allegedly stealing an amount of 1.3 billion cedis belonging to the bank.
The Graphic story however says that the tribunal, chaired by Mr. Justice E.F. Dzakpasu deferred sentence to June 30, 2000 to enable the Land Valuation Board to submit valuation report on the property of the accused persons.
Mr. Damoah was charged with 16 counts of stealing, whiles his wife was charged with abatement of crime.
Prosecuting, Mr. S.P. Akuffo, Assistant State Attorney, told the tribunal that in February 1999, Messrs Osei Bonsu and Samuel Darfour from the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), assisted by the Police, arrested the first accused, following reports that the Bank was unable to honour promptly, withdrawal demands of customers.
The prosecution, according to the Graphic, said during investigations, it was detected that the first accused had embezzled 750 million cedis.
The report says Mr. Damoah had acquired some properties, because of dishonest appropriation of the bank's funds. The properties include buildings at Tarkwa, Kumasi and Manso Amenfi as well as two vehicles.
Upon his arrest, Damoah is reported to have issued two cheques out of which some monies were recovered, according to the story.
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Family sues KATH for 200m
On its back-page, the Graphic writes that the family of ex-Sergeant William Yeboah of the 2nd Infantry Brigde, who died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) when an oxygen cylinder fell on him, has sued the hospital for 200 million cedis for general and specific damages.
The Graphic says the plaintiffs, Mr. Kwdwo Yeboah and Okyeame Kwadwo Frimpong, filed the writ at a Sunyani High Court, joining KATH, the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General in the suit.
In their statement of claim filed by a Sunyani-based lawyer, Mr. Kwame Gyan-Kontoh, plaintiffs said ex-Sergeant Yeboah, at the time of his death was a businessman earning a lot of income and a responsible family man with seven children.
Sgt. Yeboah, they said was admitted to KATH in May/June 1997 and because he needed a special medical attention, was made to sleep on the floor. On June 8, 1997, while medical officers were administering oxygen on another patient who slept on a bed, a cylinder filled with oxygen fell on Yeboah as a result of the negligence of the officials.
The plaintiffs are reported to have said that because the hospital was at fault, the officials hid the body of Sgt. Yeboah for days without telling the deceased's relatives of his whereabouts and his condition but rather resorted to flimsy excuses and fabrications to shield them.
The paper says it was when the hospital could no longer withstand the anger of Yeboah's relatives that they told the truth which finally resulted in the ordering of a probe into the cause of his death, which was certified by a medical doctor to be a severe head injury.
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Govt orders investigation … into Prison Officers' unrest
The Ghanaian Times says in a front-page story that the National Security Council has directed the Ministry of Interior to set up a committee of enquiry into the circumstances leading to the unrest and misconduct within the service following demonstration by the Prison officers over their grievances.
The paper says an official statement signed by Mr. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, Minister in charge of National Security, said that at its meeting on Tuesday, the National Security Council reviewed the unrest among a section of the staff of the Ghana Prisons Service.
"The meeting deplored the conduct of those officers, which contravened the Service Regulations as spelt out in NRC Decree 46 of 1972", the Times reported.
The Council is also reported to have noted that the dissatisfaction of the staff over their placement on the Ghana Universal Salary structure was already receiving attention.
It was said to have further noted that as members of the security service, the Prison Officers were enjoined to respect and abide by their service regulations and channel their grievances through the established channels and chain of command.
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No specialist doctors at district hospitals
Specialist medical services in most of the district hospitals are provided by general doctors who have not had adequate training to handle such cases, Professor Kwaku Danso Boafo, Minister of Health is reported by the Times in a front-page coverage as saying.
The situation, according to Prof. Boafo, has arisen due to the acute shortage of specialist grade doctors in the country.
The Minister, according to the Times, says there was neither a paediatrician nor a physician in the northern half of the country, while there was only one obstetrician gynaegologist in Sunyani.
Apart from this great need, specialists were trained at "such slow pace that the impact is not felt", Times quoted Prof. Boafo to have said.
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UGM to remove price fixing cartels
The presidential candidate of the United Ghana Movement, (UGM) Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby is reported by the Evening News to have stated that his party will eliminate the operation of price fixing cartels when it assumes office as the next government of Ghana in January 2001.
Dr Wreko-Brobby at a rally at Nsawam in the Akwipim-South constituency on Saturday deplored the fact that manufacturers and other producers collude to charge the same price for their products, thus depriving consumers of the opportunity to obtain better and more competitive prices.
He cited beer and flour pricing as two most notorious examples of price fixing cartel operation in Ghana, adding that the case of the latter does not make reason considering that there are four different flour manufacturers in the country.
"The further evidence of price collusion comes from the fact that the producers have connived to make sure that even where price differences exist between different occasions, the same price is charged in particular locations, irrespective of the manufacturers", the Times quoted Dr Wreko-Brobby as saying.
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Contest Keta seat
The Ghana Palaver in its front-page story says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has laid a trap to deflate the over-bloated ego of the National Organiser of the party, Major (Rtd.) Courage Quarshigah.
According to the paper, the party gurus have decided to force Quarshigah to contest the Keta constituency seat on the NPP ticket, where he is expected to lose miserably to the NDC and thereby prepare the grounds to tactically shove him out of the Executive Council of the party.
Palaver says party insiders it spoke to hinted that the NPP's decision to urge Quarshigah to contest the seat is an indirect way of telling the former soldier that he is no longer in reckoning for the running mate to the party's beleaguered flagbearer, "Okotoo' J.A. Kufuor.
The paper says its scouts have not yet confirmed whether Major (Rtd.) Quarshigah has swallowed the bait, which effectively offers him a lose-lose situation.
"If Quarshigah fails to accept the party's order to contests the Keta seat, that would be used to formally strike his name off the list of potential running mates. And if he takes up the challenge to contest the seat, he will end with lotto numbers which will deflate his ego as a popular executive member of the party", Palaver said.
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NDC's tribal politics backfires
The Free Press says in a front-page story that the apparent tribal politics being played by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by using its flagbearer, Prof. Atta Mills to whip up "Fanti" sentiments in the Central Region against other political parties in the country has backfired.
This, according to the paper, follows the election of Prof. George Panyin Hagan, also from the Central region as the flagbearer of the Convention People's Party (CPP) last Saturday.
The Free Press says investigations it conducted show that the NDC's slogan "Adzewo ofie a, oye", in Fanti which literally means "when something is in the house, it is good", apparently referring to Prof. Mills has been weakened by the emergence of Prof. Hagan in the presidential race because the votes will now be split in the event of the people voting on tribal lines.
Vote out NDC
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr. J A Kufour has called on Ghanaians to soberly reflect on the current dire economic straits in which they find themselves and massively vote out the NDC government from power, reports the Guide.
According to the paper, Kufour on an 8-day tour of the Upper West Region last week said Ghanaians would be leaving a legacy for posterity and their children yet unborn if they should kick out this seemingly insensitive government.
The paper states that Kufour revealed that his party had the where-withal, capacity and what it takes to sweep the board, come the 2000 elections.
He lambasted the NDC government for brainwashing unsuspecting and totally gullible Ghanaians with populist and revolutionary rhetoric’s that to him (Kufour) had brought the economy to its wobbling knees.
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Cedi to be devalued
The Guide in another story says from 1986 to 1997, the cedi has depreciated by 1,500 percent. The result has been the uncontrollable inflation in the country.
The paper states that Mr Frederick Arkhurst, Ghana’s former ambassador to the United Nations made the revelation in a paper presented at a round table discussion organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
According to Mr Arkhurst, the cedi in1978 was at par with the dollar but has now taken a run away lead, due to the constant and persistent devaluation of the cedi.
He said the dollar today is being exchanged for over 4,600 cedis at the forex bureau and over 4,350 at the commercial banks”.
The paper continues that devaluation has always been an inefficient long-term policy, particularly for primary producing countries” He said the skewing away of the Ghanaian economy from local production towards food imports has been another associate effect of the structural adjustments.
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The Weekly Insight reveals that Samuel H Wyman who worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA for 31 years is in the country putting his roots into the soil of one Mankata street, Airport residential area.
According to the paper, he describes himself as “Vice President, Government Relations” of an intelligence gathering company called Net Africa.
The paper discloses that Wyman’s intelligence record is by all standards impressive. He worked as an operations officer of the CIA for 31 years in the Near East, Western Europe and Africa.
Countries from which he helped the CIA set up a network of international operations usually detrimental to the host including, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Spain.
The paper states that upon his formal exit from the ranks of CIA, Wyman was awarded the distinguished intelligence medal by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The paper questions what an experienced intelligence officer is doing in Ghana at this time, is he here to collect secrets which will enable his masters to shore up the Rawlings regime or he is just gathering Ghana’s secrets for sale to foreign interest.
The paper indicates that documents showed that Wyman is working for the governments of South Korea and Croatia. He is also the Executive President of a company called Jefferson Waterman International (JWI).
However, JWI admits in a document, which is available to the “ Weekly Insight” that it operates across national boundaries and inside centres of power to help clients achieve objectives.
The paper states that in evaluating what Wyman and his organisations are doing in Ghana, Ghanaians need to remind themselves that the Central Intelligence Agency of the US masterminded the overthrow of the Nkrumah’s government and the assassination of the Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
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Pay rise for Soldiers
The Weekly Insight in another story reports that sources close to the Ghana Armed Forces say soldiers have been given 50 percent pay rise to insulate them from the current economic difficulties.
According to the paper, over the last six months, prices of goods and services have gone up by an estimated 70 percent.
The paper added that soldiers continue to face acute accommodation problems and agitation over allowances paid to them on UN peacekeeping operations.
The other factor, which cannot be ignored, is that soldiers are part of the Ghanaian society and the problems affecting the civilian population, affects them too.
However, the paper suggested that whatever it is, soldiers are bound to see through this pay rise as an attempt to buy loyalty at the time when the government’s incompetence is glaring.
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Panic in Mills camp
The Ghanaian Chronicle reports that the initial reaction of Professor Mills to the decision of Prof Hagan to contest the CPP flagbearship was one of indifference because after all, the former Director of the Institute of African Studies of University of Ghana, is generally perceived to be low in liquidity and could therefore pose no threat to Mills who had the entire state apparatus behind him.
To Mills supporters, therefore, Prof Hagan was going to be one of the also runs who only add to the number and lose his non-refundable deposit of 15 million cedis.
But some Mills supporters are beginning to scratch their heads on realising the potential of the CPP flagbearer.
According to the paper, if Fantis are to go strictly to the NDC slogan of “adze wo fie a oye” which urges Fantis to support their own man, might now work in favour of the CPP flagbearer, since he has more legitimate claim.
The paper reveals that the CPP flagbearer is not only a Cape Coaster, but comes from one of the respectable families in Cape Coast. His father was a civil servant of good standing, where as Mills caught a flack from Komenda Eguabafo area where his teacher father lived.
The paper states that both Hagan and Mills are both issues oriented and decent on platform. They have both lived on Campus of the University of Ghana for years and known each other well.
According to the paper, on the cash front, Mills is assured of the bottomless financial resources at the disposal of his major financier and friend in whose house he swims every morning at Cantonments, Edward Annan.
However the paper discloses that the cash strapped CPP front is also counting on the euphoria to line up cash from the ranks of the few well-heeled party men.
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