GRi Press Review
Ghana 04 - 06 - 2001
Jake sues
Bagbin
Coffee
farmers threaten to destroy plantations
Bagbin
admits 'Revo' failed
Osei Tutu
Prempeh to refund ¢10m
Top NDC man
to be arrested
June 4 made
mistakes - Rawlings
Konadu,
Mills ex-MPs cited in fraud
Pastor ties
woman to tree
Kufuor paid
for work on his house
June 4
lives on
Lawsuit
delays Council of State formation
Bankers
offer counter - Proposals for debt conversion
Chamber of
Mines to resist unrealistic tariffs
Jake sues
Bagbin
The
Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, has filed a writ at
the Accra High Court, claiming aggravated damages from Mr. Alban Bagbin,
Minority Leader in Parliament for slander, reports the Daily Graphic.
The court
action follows certain statements attributed to the Minority leader in
connection with the renovation of the Osu Castle, which the Chief of Staff
claims have brought his name into public scandal, odium and contempt.
Mr Bagbin
is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli North in the Upper West Region.
A statement
of claim, filed on behalf of Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey by M.A.F. Ribeiro and
Associates an Accra legal firm, said it was reported in the Daily Graphic of
April 23, 2001 that the defendant who was addressing a meeting of the Wa
Central Constituency of the NDC made it known that the government had awarded a
¢1.9 billion contract for the renovation of the Castle to an unregistered
company owned by Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey, without passing it through tender.
The
statement said upon the publication, the plaintiff vehemently protested to the
perceived slanderer and libelers and as a result, the Ghana News Agency and the
Daily Graphic both retracted the stories and apologized on April 30 and May 4
respectively.
It said in
a letter issued by his solicitor on his instructions the defendant rejected and
denied the allegations as factually and contextually incorrect and maintained
that he had spoken in Dagaari and might have been misunderstood and
misrepresented.
It said
based on this, Mr Bagbin did not offer an apology.
According
to the statement, on May 3, 2001, the defendant was interviewed on JOY FM's
'Ghana Speaks' programme during which he slandered the plaintiff by saying that
"the government awarded the contract for the renovation and refurbishment
of the Castle to a company affiliated to Lintas and Jake was at one time the
managing director of Lintas and that the contract sum was ¢1.9 billion. Jake
has an interest in the company, that is, he is a shareholder".
It said the
words complained of are not true and were calculated to, and they did,
disparage the plaintiff in the eyes of his ministerial colleagues and the
Ghanaian public at large.
More…/
Coffee
farmers threaten to destroy plantations
Some coffee
farmers in the country have threatened to destroy their plantations and go into
the cultivation of other cash crops.
According
to them, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which used to buy their produce, has
stopped doing so leaving them at the mercy of foreign companies who dictate the
prices to their disadvantage.
The farmers
said they invest huge sums of money in the cultivation of coffee just like
cocoa farmers do with cocoa, but get little returns on their produce.
Speaking in
an interview in Accra at the weekend, Nana Kwaku Asiedu-Donkor, Chief Executive
of Asiko Coffee Limited, a coffee farming and exporting company, who spoke on
behalf of the farmers, said the low prices offered for their produce is killing
the morale of farmers in the industry and asked the government to intervene
without further delay.
Nana
Asiedu-Donkor said the current price on the world market is $50 per tonne,
which is far below the cost of producing the same quantity in the country and
farmers, as a result, are compelled to stockpile their produce until prices
become favourable.
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Bagbin
admits 'Revo' failed
The
Minority Leader in Parliament and a leading member of the National Democratic
Congress (NDC), Hon. Alban Bagbin, has admitted that the former government did
not do enough to combat corruption and ensure transparency, The Ghanaian
Chronicle writes.
He said
that apart form the draconian measures adopted to deal with specific instances
of corruption, the previous government did not devise any systematic mechanisms
for dealing with the scourge of corruption.
Referring
to the revolutionary days, he said: "Those days the recommended measures
were the use of decrees and draconian measures. There were no systematic ways
of dealing with the scourge. The actions were basically erratic."
Hon. Bagbin
made his frank observations in an interview with the paper last Friday on his
way back from a global conference on "Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding
Integrity," organized and hosted by The Netherlands Government in The
Hague.
The
Minority Leader observed that the summary executions and arrests of people were
not the right formulae for combating corruption, adding that, "if you
start executing and arresting people who have engaged in corruption, the rest
will run away only to come when you are no more President."
Hon Bagbin
noted that ex-President Rawlings' coup was embraced by some sections of the
society because of the solemn promise to combat corruption and ensure
transparency in government. "JJ was an answer to societal call and that is
why he was called Junior Jesus," he added.
Commenting
on the excesses during the revolution, Hon Bagbin said that there was pressure
on Rawlings from the press and the society, adding that some people in the
current government contributed to the excesses.
"During
the days of the revolution when Elizabeth Ohene was the editor of the Daily
Graphic she used to run banner headline stories saying 'Let the blood flow,
Gen. Hamidu was the then Liaison Officer for AFRC, Captain Fordjour was the
liaison officer for students and lecturers in the universities and they
insisted that more people should be killed. All these people contributed to the
excesses", he said.
Continuing,
Hon Bagbin recounted that at some point when Rawlings resisted the mass
killings, the other ranks wanted to execute him because they said he was a
stumbling block on their way.
GRi…/
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Osei Tutu
Prempeh to refund ¢10m
The Ghanaian
Voice says that Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh, the former Auditor General, whose
wrongful arrest in a Church recently created furore and anger, has been asked
to refund an amount of ¢10,412,455 being a conversion to cash of his leave.
A letter
dated on Friday May 23, 2001 to Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh said it was discovered
that the former Auditor General had not gone on leave during his years contract
period. The number of earned days which
was expected to end on 31st October 2001 was quantified to be 144
days.
But before
the announcement that he should proceed on leave on 21st April 2001,
he had converted his days into cash amounting to ¢10,412,455.00.
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Top NDC man
to be arrested
The Free
Press reports that all is now set for the arrest of yet another National
Democratic Congress (NDC) kingpin as soon as he sets foot on Ghanaian soil by
the security agencies to answer for financial malfeasance during the last
regime.
Documents
available to the paper indicate that the Honourable Osafo-Maafo's Ministry of
Finance is bedeviled with financial improprieties issuing out of the SSNIT
fall-out so much that the Minister is now prepared to show that he could kick
and kick well at where it hurts most.
A document
in the possession of the Free Press indicates that auditors of SSNIT
contributions towards the Ghana Healthcare Company Limited are at a loss as to
how foreign travels by officials could outweigh even monies used for purchase
of fixed assets.
Reports
given by officials to the auditors indicate that Mr Kwame Addo, a top NDC man
and one-time chairman of the SSNIT Board, took as much as ¢45,900,000
(Forty-five million, nine hundred thousand cedis) as free money to travel all
the way to Philadelphia to virtually holiday there.
In an
interview, sources close to both the Ministry of Finance and SSNIT disclosed
that Mr Kwame Addo is neither a staff member of the Ghana Healthcare Company
Limited nor was he on the board but managed to scuttle away to Philadelphia
with monies from the Healthcare coffers.
A
government source indicates that Kwame Addo has a lot of skeletons in his
cupboard and a well-placed source pointed out that he would be made to account
for the huge sum of money he took for the journey as well as for his mission to
Philadelphia.
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June 4 made
mistakes - Rawlings
The
Dispatch says as the nation remembers what happened 22 years ago - June 4,
1979, the day ceases to be a statutory public holiday. Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings
reportedly, gave his verdict on June 4 years ago, which the paper recaps.
Addressing
a press conference in Accra on June 4, 1981 to mark the second anniversary, the
Flt. Lt. said the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) could not achieve
its goals and admitted that the Council made mistakes.
A Daily
Graphic report, which also quoted Rawlings, described as a leading member of
the June 4 Movement, said "it was the monkey's refusal to pick one nut at
a time out of the gourd that led to his downfall" adding that "those
who make a peaceful revolution impossible make a violent revolution
inevitable."
The Flt.
Lt. who was Chairman of the AFRC then explained that the Council could not
achieve "the wholly new society", it cherished within the three and
half months that it was in power. He also admitted that the council also made
mistakes and the task it set itself could not be fully accomplished, that
"but at least we provided some corrective measures to earlier abuses of
military rule."
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Konadu,
Mills ex-MPs cited in fraud
The
Independent reports of trouble brewing in the Assin District of the Central
Region over the misappropriation and alleged embezzlement of part of the
Assembly's Common Fund detected by the Auditor General's Department.
According
to an auditor's report covering the Assembly's financial operations, the
Assembly cannot account for ¢106 million.
The report
stated that ¢28 million out of the amount was spent on the former Vice
President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills when he undertook a campaign trip to
the district during the 2000 elections.
The report
also disclosed that ¢22 million of the amount was spent on the former first
lady when she visited the district to commission an oil producing factory.
The audit
report further hinted that the former Members of Parliament (MPs) for Assin
North and South, Alhassan Kweku Dadzie and Florence Kumi, had taken a total
amount of ¢45 million from their share of the common fund but the two have not
been able to justify what the money was used for.
It further
stated that the Assembly's records show that on February 11, 2000 an amount of
¢11 million was withdrawn from the Assembly's coffers without supporting
documents. Consequently the audit
report covering the period from March 1999 to April 2000 has recommended the
refund of all monies withdrawn from the Assembly coffers without authority else
those involved would face the full rigours of the law.
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Pastor ties
woman to tree
Rev
Ebenezer Adarkwa-Yiadom 29, a renowned pastor in Kumasi who allegedly caused
the death of a member of his congregation for pleading with him not to sell
Olive Oil to members of his own church, has been arraigned before a Kumasi
Circuit Tribunal on a murder charge.
In the dock
with him are two other members of the pastor's Ebenezer Worship Centre, a
charismatic church based in South Suntreso, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
The pastor
was said to have offered one Olive oil for sale to members of his church at
¢50,000 each which led Madam Afua Tutuwaa, 38, to intervene in a bid to
persuade him not to sell it to the congregation for so much. Unknown to her,
however, the harmless plea on her part was to lead to her death later.
When people
heard that the pastor was to be put before court for trial, several people flocked
to a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal last Friday to hear the alleged murder case linked
to Reverend Ebenezer and the two others, Kofi Boadi and Afia Akyaa, both 26 and
ushers of the Ebenezer Worship Centre.
They are
alleged to have tied the deceased, Madam Afua Tutuwa to a tree charging that
she was a witch and later assaulted her on Wednesday April 11, 2001.
She died 45
days later.
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Kufuor paid
for work on his house
The New
Patriotic Party's mouthpiece, the NPP News carries that His Excellency,
President J.A. Kufuor personally undertook and paid for renovation works done
at his private residence at the Airport Residential Area, Accra.
Hon.
Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Works and Housing reportedly, made this known in
parliament last Tuesday in answer to a question over who was responsible for
the recent renovation works carried out at the President's residence.
He,
however, explained that funds from the security vote were used for the external
security lights, maingate, the leveling of a car park and the installation of
barbed wire on the walls of the building to provide additional security for His
Excellency the President.
Since the
President was still using his private residence because the state could not
provide any decent accommodation for him and his family on assumption of office
on January 7, this year, the Hon. Minister contended that it was proper and
justified to use funds from the security votes for the external works because
of security reasons.
Moreover,
the president undertook the works within the building and paid for it himself,
he stressed.
When the
Hon. Minister was asked to provide the names of the contractors, he explained
that it would not be appropriate to disclose them to the public because of
security reasons.
He,
however, said he would make the names and copies of the expenditure available
to members of parliament.
The Public
Works Department (PWD) supervised the work at the President's residence whiles
Messes Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) are supervising
consultants for the castle renovations, he disclosed.
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June 4
lives on
Monday is
June 4, the 22nd anniversary of the action by a section of the
military that was to lead to the building of a stable and peaceful polity and
the enthronement of democracy in Ghana on January 7, 1993.
On June 4,
1979, young military officers led by Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings virtually changed
the course of Ghana's history by intervening to stop the rot that had engulfed
the military.
In the
process the Supreme Military Council (SMC) II headed by General F.W.K. Akufo
was removed from office at a time the SMC II had drawn up a programme to return
Ghana to constitutional rule after seven years of military rule.
Naturally,
Ghanaians were disappointed of another military intervention but the
explanation given by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) that there
would not be a change in the programme to constitutional rule was welcomed.
The AFRC
said that their action was a house cleaning exercise that would enable
civilians to have a smooth takeover.
The June
Four Movement (JFM), in commemoration of the occasion had drawn an official
programme last week that would culminate in activities marking the occasion.
There were
supposed to be radio talkshows and other media encounters as from last Tuesday,
May 29 while a communal labour was to take place at parts of Ashaiman near
Accra.
Vigils and
community meetings were held on Sunday night at various locations in Tema,
Madina, Ashaiman, Nungua, Ayawaso, Ablekuma and Fadama.
The
celebration would be rounded off by a public lecture at the Arts Centre on
Monday.
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Lawsuit
delays Council of State formation
Mr Kwadwo
Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Thursday
said a lawsuit filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is delaying the
formation of the Council of State, reports the Public Agenda.
The NDC is
seeking a perpetual injunction to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC) from
conducting elections for regional representatives of the council.
Baah-Wiredu
said with the completion of the selection of the two representatives of the 110
District Assemblies to form the Regional Electoral colleges, the Electoral
Commission is mandated to conduct the elections to elect the regional
representatives to the Council of State to complement the president's nominees.
The Supreme
Court will rule on the suit on June 13 but until the final determination of the
suit the EC cannot hold the elections, he explained.
The NDC
said in its suit that at the time the EC gave notice for the elections, the
district assemblies were not properly constituted to elect people to the
Electoral College.
It said
letters written by the Minister of Local Government had terminated the
appointments of all district chief executives at the time of the notice of the
elections. Under the Constitution, the
Council of State shall consist of a former Chief Justice, a former Chief of
Defence Staff, a former Inspector-General of Police and the president of the
National House of Chiefs.
There shall
also be one representative from each region elected by an Electoral College,
made up of representatives of each district assembly and 11 other members
appointed by the President.
The
election was to have been conducted on March 20 in accordance with Article 89
of the 1992 constitution.
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Bankers
offer counter - Proposals for debt conversion
The High
Street Journal carries that a latest negotiations twist between the Government
of Ghana and its commercial and Merchant bank creditors, has the Ghana
Association of Bankers (GAB) suggesting to the government to do a major rethink
of the structure proposed for the bonds which would emerge out of conversion of
some short term debt into medium term ones.
While the
government is pushing for some ¢3 trillion (out of ¢9 trillion) in short term
(mostly treasury bill) debt to be converted by commercial banks creditors into
three year bonds at a fixed rate of 35% per annum, the banks themselves argue
that this will not be in their best interest, since most of their deposits are
very short term. Indeed, the proportion of their deposits that are of three
years term or more is insignificant.
This, the
banks, under the auspices of GAB are suggesting that government issue the bonds
with tenors of one year, two years and three years respectively, in equal
amounts, thereby giving the banks instruments of varying maturity to allow them
some level of portfolio diversification.
Government,
on its part, expects a vibrant secondary market for trading its proposed
three-year bonds and therefore does not envisage that the bond issue would
create liquidity problems for the banks.
However,
banking chieftains point out that it may prove presumptuous to assume there
will be secondary market demand for the bonds, especially since there will
still be several billions of cedis in short term treasury bills in circulation.
GRi…/
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Chamber of
Mines to resist unrealistic tariffs
The Ghana
Chamber of Mines says it will resist any attempt to pay tariffs, which are not
realistic, writes The Ghanaian Times.
In this
regard, the Chamber advocates a bulk supply tariff of three to four cents per
kilowatt hour, and a distribution service charge of one to two cents per
kilowatt-hour.
The Chamber
believes that these rates are not only realistic based on the power producers'
submission to the public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), but are also
competitive with what is charged to mining companies in other countries.
Mr James
Anaman, president of the Ghana Chamber of Mines said these in his presidential
address at the 73rd annual general meeting of the Chamber in Accra.
He said in
as much as the Chamber would pay its fair share of as competitive and realistic
rate, it was not right for power operators to pass through any perceived
inefficiencies onto customers by way of high tariffs.
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