GRi Press Review
Ghana 12 - 06 - 2001
Facts on
Sahara deal out
2 convict
mums freed by courts
Ruling on
Kwaku Baah's objections June 21
Scrap
Tribunal system
Odinga in
BNI custody
Barbs fly
at grain trial
President's
office flooded
"It's
a curse to be a Ghanaian'
NDC cries
for Rawlings
President's
kids not in Sahara
Big demo
today
Transfer of
Judges - Apaloo and Co. not victims of politics!
Assets of
CPP men also confiscated
Facts on
Sahara deal out
The
Government chose Sahara Energy Resource Limited to lift oil from Nigeria
because it does not only possess the ability to undertake the assignment, but
it also has lower management fees, The Ghanaian Times reports Mr Albert
Kan-Dapaah, Minister of Energy, as saying when he addressed a packed news
conference in Accra on Monday.
The news
conference was aimed at addressing questions raised by the media and the public
concerning the contract signed between the government and Sahara.
Mr
Kan-Dapaah said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
nominated two companies, Vitol and Sahara, to lift the oil and the government
examined proposals from the two companies.
"We
selected Sahara because they possessed the ability to undertake the
assignment. Furthermore, it was clear
from our initial discussions that their management fees would be much lower
than that of Vitol."
The
minister explained that the purpose of competitive tenders was to ensure
competitive prices, "but in the oil business, one can use the industry
benchmarks to determine the competitiveness of prices."
That, he
said, meant that the absence of competitive tendering did not mean a lack of
transparency.
He said
that the arrangement for the supply of crude oil was made under conditions of
the utmost urgency. "The government was pressed for the earliest possible
start date for deliveries."
He said the
lifting of crude oil started within two weeks of the signing of the agreement
on March 16.
At the time
the government assumed office, the stock position of petroleum products was
dangerously unsatisfactory, Mr Kan-Dapaah said.
There was
only one week's supply of crude oil, two weeks supply of gasoline and about
four days of gas oil.
He said
that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) was also so heavily indebted to its banks that
it could not raise funds to pay for crude oil and petroleum products to meet
the country's needs.
The Minister
said that Vitol already had a contract agreement with TOR for oil lifting, but
the contract was signed on December 20,2000, a time when there was no
allocation contract between Ghana and Nigeria.
Responding
to question from newsmen, Mr Kan-Dapaah said that there were a number of
reasons why the GNPC was not chosen to lift the oil.
The
Ministry had discovered, among others, that the GNPC, instead of bringing crude
oil to Ghana directly, had on previous occasions sold the oil to foreign
companies, which in turn sold it back to Ghana.
More…/
2 convict
mums freed by courts
The Times
says its investigations have revealed that two nursing mothers, Akosua Beduwaa
and Adjoa Nkrumah, who were found with their babies in the Sekondi Female
Prison, have been released on the orders of the Sekondi High Court.
It followed
separate court meetings held on February 2 and May 25.
Both women
were pregnant when sentenced, and they delivered their babies in prison.
These were
disclosed to the 'Times' at the Sekondi High Court by Mr. A.K. Agyen, the
circuit court registrar.
It is
re-called that the "Times" on April 10, reported the presence of two
pregnant women and a nursing mother with a three-week-old baby in the Sekondi
Female Prison during an inspection tour by CHRAJ.
The story
also stated that CHRAJ intended going to court to secure the release of the two
pregnant women and the nursing mother.
GRi…/
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Ruling on
Kwaku Baah's objections June 21
The fast
track High Court will on June 21, rule on two applications made by Counsel for
two accused persons in the Quality Grain trial objecting to the continuation of
the trail in view of a writ filed on the case at the Supreme Court and on the
charge of conspiracy.
According
to The Evening News, Mr Kweku Baah, counsel for Mr Kwame Peprah, former
Minister of Finance had argued in court yesterday that given the fact that a
writ challenging the constitutionality of charges preferred against the accused
persons was pending, proceedings should be stayed, until the outcome.
Nana Adjei
Ampofo, Counsel for Nana Ato Dadzie, on his part had questioned the charge of
conspiracy saying, facts so far presented to the court had not produced
evidence to link the accused person as having conspired to commit the crime
preferred against them.
He cited
legal authorities, contending that the charge of conspiracy was undesirable,
unfair and unjust.
Responding,
Nana Akufo-Addo, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, called on the court
to dismiss the motion that a writ was pending before the Supreme Court, for
which proceedings should be stayed, saying the applicant in that case, which
was the NDC, was different from those before the court, except one was being
made to believe that the Chief Directors and
other public officials were members of the NDC.
On the
conspiracy charge, he wondered why the defendants were prematurely challenging
evidence to be adduced by the prosecution.
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Scrap
Tribunal system
A retired
Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice K.E. Amua-Sekyi, has called for the
abolition of the public tribunals because they have become avenues for
corruption in the dispensation of justice in the country, The Daily Graphic
reports.
He made the
call at the 15th Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Accra on Monday whiles
speaking on the topic "Consolidating Democratic Governance in Ghana by
further strengthening institutional capacity". In attendance were members of the bar, the academia, Members of
Parliament and journalists.
Mr Justice
Amua-Sekyi strongly objected to the continued existence of the regional and
district public tribunals saying: The state cannot spend money and other
resources on them, when the members have become corrupt in the discharge of the
responsibilities assigned to them.
"Mr.
Speaker, it is my wish that the tribunal system is abolished because it is
waste of public resources," the retired judge said.
More…/
Odinga in
BNI custody
The
Belizean, Albert Hamid Odinga, who was picked up by security personnel early on
Saturday morning, was on Monday remanded in BNI custody by the Osu Community
Tribunal, pending further investigations into his activities in the country.
He is to
reappear on Thursday June 14 before the tribunal chaired by Mrs Ivy
Heward-Mills. His plea was not taken.
Odinga was
arrested by security personnel in a special operation at Ridge, Accra, for
alleged counter-intelligence activities.
He is
alleged to have told investigators that he was deported from Ghana in 1980, for
reasons that were not explained to him.
He alleged
that he returned to the country in 1989 and was allocated his present residence
by Capt. Kojo Tsikata, former PNDC member responsible for National Security.
Odinga said
on his return to the country, he was given a 10-year residence permit in 1991,
which is valid until October 2001.
He claimed
Capt. Tsikata employed him at the Castle Annex to collect information from the
"grassroots" about PNDC functionaries and leading cadres.
He told
investigators that he was also engaged in teaching selected cadres throughout
the country the techniques of counter-intelligence.
Odinga
indicated that he gained the experience from observing activities of the
British Counter Intelligence Unit while he was in London as a political
activist from Belize.
He told
investigators that he was receiving a paltry sum of ¢70,000 a month from the
Castle Annex, which continued till, the change of government on January 7,
2001.
He was
allocated a car for which he was drawing free fuel unit January 7, this year,
he added.
Until his
arrest, he was still using the car and was buying fuel from his own resources.
Odinga said
he intended leaving for Belize but had to wait because he had no money to pay
for his flight.
GRi…/
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Barbs fly
at grain trial
The
Chronicle says sparks flew on Monday in the fast track court trying some former
ministers and top officials in the NDC government for various offences when Mr
Kwaku Baah, counsel for one of the accused persons prayed the court to stay
proceedings because of a similar suit pending before the Supreme Court, and also
because the case was a special one and
unprecedented.
However,
Nana Akufo-Addo, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, opposed Mr Kwaku
Baah's motion, saying it was strange in law, and an attempt to delay proceeding
of the trial.
Nana Akuffo
Addo, said that the submission made by Mr Kwaku Baah that the accused persons
were very special people were subversive and discriminating to the ordinary
man. The Attorney-General said that there were no special courts in criminal
case for one group of special people and another for the ordinary man, saying
that the criminal law is no respecter of persons.
Counsel
further submitted that the ongoing trial of Mr Kwame Peprah, former Minister of
Finance, Mr Ibrahim Adam, ex-Minister of Agriculture, Dr Samuel Dapaah, Chief
Director for Ministry of Agriculture, Dr George Yankey, legal adviser at the
Ministry of Agriculture and Nana Ato Dadzie and Kwasi Ahwoi Chief of Staff and
Chief Executive of Ghana Investment
Centre, respectively, was special and unprecedented.
They have
all pleaded not guilty to various charges of conspiracy, causing financial loss
to the state.
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President's
office flooded
The Accra
Mail says the President's office at the State House in Accra was rendered
inhabitable for a while on Monday.
According
to the paper, the suite used by the President as his office, together with
adjoining suites and corridors were flooded and at around 11:00a.m., when the
president is usually either at his desk or meeting visitors, workers were still
frantically trying to drain the water and vacuum the place dry.
For a
while, it seemed like a losing battle because as they drained, the water kept
dripping from the roof.
The
flooding was caused by a faulty water tank on the building, which released
hundreds of litres of water into the presidential office suite complex.
The water
dripped all the way down to the ground floor reception where the President
normally receives big delegations. When The Accra Mail arrived on the scene,
plastic buckets, and kitchenware were all over the floor just like in any
ordinary impoverished household with a leaking roof, catching the rainwater.
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"It's
a curse to be a Ghanaian'
Four years
ago, John Mensah Colerangle beamed with a broad smile as he stepped into town
with a common mission-to put expertise acquired in banking in the United States
at the disposal of his motherland, writes The Independent.
The paper
says it was an emergency response by a patriot who had been touched by the call
from the former Ghanaian leader to all
Ghanaians living abroad to come help in the national reconstruction.
Aside the
patriotic gesture, Mensah Colerangle had thought of working in the new Ghana
where business had become an obsession in the national psyche.
As a banker
with twenty-three years at the CITIBANK in the United States, it was the best
of opportunities.
It was also
a way of parting with the rough terrain that the foreigner blazed in the
foreign land.
But till
today, the dream of the returnee remains a mirage. Poor Colerangle, a former
student of Saint Augustine's college, Cape Coast is holed up in his modest
Kissehman home frustrated, cursing the day that he took that decision to come
and invest in the banking sector.
"It's
a curse to be Ghanaian", he lamented, after going through a hellish
experience in his attempt to get license to operate a bank.
The Central
Bank, Bank of Ghana, has simply refused to give a license to the Ghanaian
investor although he has provided credible papers and written documents, which
have indeed convinced the power brokers in the banking sector about his
capabilities to manage a private bank in the country.
The history
of private ownership of banks is one, which could convince even the uninitiated
mind that one has to be a former governor to be able to own one, the paper
claims.
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NDC cries
for Rawlings
Fallouts
from an intelligence work carried out on the evening of Friday, June 8
ostensibly to flush out a Belize national, for his alleged counter intelligence
activities in the country seem to have been misinterpreted, according to The
Daily Guide.
While the
police are saying it was a routine intelligence work by the Security Services
including the BNI, the NDC led by Tony Aidoo and Mr. Victor Smith believe that
the operation was targeted at ex-President Rawlings.
Dr. Tony
Aidoo is the Research Director of the NDC while Mr Victor Smith is an Aide to
the ex-President.
In a later
development five bus-loads of NDC members and supporters on Monday converged at
the residence of former President, J.J. Rawlings.
The
supporters, were seen-beating drums and singing in front of the resident of the
former President.
According
to them they were there to express their support and solidarity to him and to
assure him that he still has friends who will stand by him "through the
storm".
More…/
President's
kids not in Sahara
The Daily
Guide reports Energy Minister Kan Dapaah as stating that the recent media
speculation that the children of President Olesugun Obasanjo of Nigeria are
involved in the Sahara Oil lifting deal is untrue.
At a press
conference held on Monday in Accra to throw more light on what has been
described as the Sahara 'bruhaha', the Minister explained that Sahara Energy
Resources Limited a Nigerian Oil Company has a five member board consisting of
Usman Ibn-Mohammed (Nigerian) as its Chairman.
Tonye Cole (Nigerian), member, Tonye Adeniji (Nigerian) also a member.
The rest
are Titi Adeniji (Nigerian) and Paulo Vace a Brazilian, also a member. The local representative of Sahara is Dr
Kwame Nyantakyi-Owusu, and none of the above named persons have any
relationship with the President of Nigeria, the minister inferred.
The Sahara
issue has come under persistent media scrutiny since the beginning of the year
when the new government took an extended 90-day contract with the government of
Nigeria for the supply of crude oil.
GRi…/
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Big demo
today
The
coalition for the Defence of Democracy (CDD) is going on a peaceful
demonstration in Accra today, to protest against the subversive outbursts of
ex-President Jerry John Rawlings in Accra last week.
The
Statesman reports the spokesman for the CDD, Lord Commey, as having said that
today's demonstration would provide the democratic avenue to express their
concerns, criticisms and anger at what is, undoubtedly, the biggest threat to
Ghana's democracy.
He said CDD
would deploy at least 100 marshals from its ranks to complement the efforts of
the police in protecting the marchers, and warned that any trouble-maker would
be handed over to the police.
The slogan
for the peace march is "Never Again"!
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Transfer of
Judges - Apaloo and Co. not victims of politics!
The
Crusading Guide says official Judicial sources have insisted that the pending
transfer of some twelve senior judges of the bench have no political
undertones.
The sources
challenged the paper's earlier report suggesting political motives as the basis
for the transfer of four of the judges, namely - Justices R.K. Apaloo,
Gyamera-Tawiah, V. Ofoe and P.K. Gyaesayor.
"The
gentleman of the bench as constitutionally required are supposed to be politically
neutral, therefore the least evidence of a political bias by any member of the
bench would be enough for him/her to be discharged of his or her role as a
judge of any court”, stressed a prominent member of the judiciary.
For that
matter, said the prominent member of the judiciary, the aforementioned judges
could not have been transferred for political reasons.
"That
is not possible. The transfer was simply an administrative exercise". He
underscored.
Meanwhile,
Justice V. Ofoe of Accra, who was slated for Ho is now being transferred to
Tema, and Gyamera-Tawiah, originally slated for Ho goes to Sunyani.
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Assets of
CPP men also confiscated
The
confiscation of assets of public figures and private citizens as a way of
punishment for 'wrong-doers' did not start from June 4.
According
to The Ghana Palaver that mode of punishment was actually introduced after the
overthrow of the Nkrumah Government by the National Redemption Council (NRC),
acting upon the advice of a reactionary clique, led by Dr K.A. Busia, according
to our researches.
Furthermore,
while assets, seized by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) were
those belonging to economic criminals, including tax evaders and state-fund
thieves, those confiscated in the NRC era, belonged to politicians, whose
'crime' mostly, was that of following Kwame Nkrumah.
One such
example was the case of the house built at a cost ¢34,800 by Mr J.E. Hagan, a
Regional Commissioner in the Nkrumah Government.
The late Mr
Hagan had to be dragged to face the Annie Jiagge Commission, where he was
bullied and humiliated for putting up the "mansion".
The house
was later confiscated, that was in sharp contrast to cases which emerged during
the AFRC regime, in which some so called top businessmen were caught in
frightful huge tax evasion deals, comparable to nothing but emission from a
stinking and rotten waste material.
GRi…/
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