GRi Press Review
Ghana 13 - 06 - 2001
Okumkom
Charged for assaulting pregnant woman
'Never
Again Boom' March
Civil
servant warn gov't
Police to
question K. Baako
HIPC shows
positive signs-Foreign Minister
Spanish
Director without permit
Leave Ghana
alone!
MCE Warns KMA Officials
Supreme Court Strikes out 2 writs by Amidu, NDC
The
Ghanaian Times
Okumkom
Charged for assaulting pregnant woman
Okumkom
Nana Akwasi Agyeman, former Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, is to appear
before a Kumasi Circuit Court this week for assaulting a woman resulting in the
miscarriage of her four-month pregnancy, write the Ghanaian Times.
According
to the paper, Police sources told newsmen in Kumasi that Nana Akwasi Agyeman
had formally been charged with the offense.
The sources
said sometime in March last year, Madam Yaa Fosuaah, a trader of Ntonso, near
Mampongteng, sent her sister, Adwoa, to collect some mourning clothes from
Aboaso.
After collecting
the clothes from some traditional cloth producers, Adwoa decided to take them
to Fosuaah at the Kumasi Central Market.
On her
arrival at the Kejetia lorry station area, a task force of the KMA checking
hawking in the area seized the clothes.
When
Fosuaah was informed of the seizure, she went to Kumasi together with her
sister to plead with Nana Agyeman for the release of the items.
According
to the sources, Nana Agyeman allegedly asked of the victims hometown and when
she replied that she was from Ntonso, he said that the inhabitants were very
bad people who tried to kill him some time ago and as such refused to release
the items to them.
When she
persisted, he took offense and alleged assaulted her, resulting in the
miscarriage.
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'Never
Again Boom' March
The Daily
Guide says both the young and the old defied the plea of the Presidential
Affairs Minister, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey to call off the planned demonstration
held yesterday.
According
to the organisers, it was important to send the message across to ex-president
Rawlings that the time for the violent overthrow of governments are over and
that the foundation of democracy must be entrenched in the country.
Led by Ali
Yemoh and Alhaji Iddris Musah Superior, the demonstration held by a coalesced
group calling itself Coalition for the Defence of Democracy (CDD) stated that
the ex-president's reference to two ministers of state as lairs is impolitic
and unsavory. Rawlings made the reference on June 4 at the Arts Center in
commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of the June 4.
The march,
which was generally peaceful, started at 9.00 am at the Kwame Nkrumah gardens
under the watchful eyes of the police dressed in crowd control gears.
The
marchers beat drums and played Gyama music and brass band, while singing and
dancing along the routes.
Their numbers swelled as they went through
Kwame Nkrumah Avenue through Adabraka police stations; ending at the Parliament
House where they laid a petition before the speaker, Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey.
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Civil
servant warn gov't
The
national Executive Council of the Civil Servant Association has warned of a
civil unrest if the government fails to respond to its ultimatum on the
proposed enhanced salary by the end of this month, reports The Ghanaian
Chronicle.
Expressing
its disappointment at the slow pace the government is handling the process of
negotiations the association said it is dissatisfied with the government's
casual attitude towards the issue of salaries in the service.
Alhaji
Ziblim Yakubu, President of the association announcing these reservations at a
press briefing yesterday, stressed that reports being received from the regions
indicate growing discontent with the delay at tackling the issue.
"Reports
from the regions represented here indicate that there is growing discontent and
dissatisfaction with the governments casual attitude towards the issues in the
civil service", he said.
Judging
from the reports from the regions, the national executive council could not
guarantee industrial peace in the civil service if the enhanced salary is not
paid by the end of this month, he said.
More../
'Airlink not licensed to operate'
The
Chronicle in another story says as the Defence Ministry and military
authorities sweat out the details on resuming the operations of Airlink, it can
reveal that the grounded Air Force carrier has still not obtained the necessary
document to carry passengers.
Chronicle
says its investigations corroborated by official Ghana Civil Aviation Authority
(GCAA) sources can confirm that the Flagship of the Ghana Air Force, which was
grounded following last year's June 5th fatal crash does not have an
Air Operators Certificate (AOC), a crucial document that qualifies it to carry
civilian passengers.
Mr Edward
F. Akohene, Director of Flight Safety Operations, GCAA, the unit that carries
thorough, regular periodic examination of aircrafts and crew told the paper in a
no-holds-barred interview last week that his outfit has "never given an
AOC to Airlink."
Neither
does he know where and from whom they procure d that AOC they purport to have,
he emphasised.
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Police to
question K. Baako
Mr. Kweku
Baako Jnr., Editor of the Crusading Guide and other members of the Alliance For
Change (AFC) will soon be invited by the police for questioning in connection
with the Kume preko killings, according to the Weekly Insight.
Other
members of the AFC who are expected to be invited by the police include, Mr.
Victor Newman, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey, Nii Agiri
Blankson, Kweku Poku and Kwasi Pratt, Jnr.
Police
sources say serious effort is being made to establish all the facts leading to
the Kume Preko killings and to prosecute those responsible for it.
Nii Adjei
Boye Sekan, a presidential staffer in the Rawlings regime and a self confessed
organizer of the ACDR demonstration, will also be interrogated.
So far, the
police have managed to arrest only one of the suspects in connection with the
killings, according to the paper.
More../
NPP Follows
in NDC's steps
The New
Patriotic Party (NPP) is increasingly beginning to look like the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) as it unfolds its economic policies, according to
another story in the Weekly Insight.
The paper
says so far, there appears to be no areas of disagreements between the two
parties when it comes to the direction of economic policy.
Within two
months of assuming office, the NPP embraced the Enhanced Structural Adjustment
Programme (ESAP), whose conditionalities are the same as the Structural
Adjustment Programme, which was implemented by the NDC.
The
conditionalities include the privatisation of such state enterprises as the
Tema Oil Refinery, the Ghana Commercial Bank, the Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation, the Graphic Corporation and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.
The paper
says under the ESAP, the Kufuor administration is also expected to withdraw all
subsidies on social services including health and education.
All these
conditions are inconsistent with the electoral promises of the NPP, according
to the Insight.
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HIPC shows
positive signs-Foreign Minister
The Foreign
Minister, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, has stated that the government's decision to
opt for the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative has began to show
results.
According
to a Daily Graphic story, he said even though the major objective was debt
relief, to enable the country to embark on developmental projects, and focus on
poverty alleviation programmes, there has been significant initiative by some
creditors to totally cancel Ghana's debt.
Mr
Owusu-Agyemang said this when he interacted with the Italian Ambassador, Mr
Giancarlo Izzo, who paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra
yesterday.
The visit
was to assure the Government of Ghana of the continued cordial relationship
between the new Italian administration and that of Ghana.
He said
some countries like Britain and Italy, are working on modalities to forgive
Ghana's debt.
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Spanish
Director without permit
The
Dispatch reports that a week after a West African journalist was repatriated
from Ghana for working without a valid residence and work permit, its
investigations have revealed that a Spaniard citizen whose illegal status is
known to some officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), is living and working in the country.
The
Dispatch says it can reveal that officials of the GIS from Tema visited the
premises of Speedline Stevedooring Company at Tema a couple of weeks ago on
routine inspection where they discovered the presence of one Antonio Castro
Barcon, who admitted the expiration of his permit as far back as 1998, working
as Managing Director.
The paper
says further investigations at the Ministry of Interior have also confirmed
that there is a file on Antonio Castro Barcon with the Quata Committee which
indicates that a permit issued him in 1995 as an engineer of Oborwire Fishing
Company expired in 1998 and has since not been renewed.
More../
Rawlings
Spends ˘435 Billion on the military
A 1999
Annual Report on military expenditure submitted to the US Congress and put on
the Internet has revealed that the government of ex-president Jerry John
Rawlings spent a total of $62.24 million (about ˘435.6 billion) on the military
that year, reveals the Dispatch.
The cedi
equivalent, at Bank of Ghana average exchange rate at the time was about
˘164.81 billion. This, according to the Report, represent 0.845% of Ghana's GDP
and 2.71% of the 1999 budget.
The 1999
budget statement provided ˘768.9 billion (about $290.37 million at 1999 Bank of
Ghana average exchange rates) for education, ˘325 billion ($122.73 million) was
provided for the health sector. The tourism sector was allocated ˘5.1 billion
($1.92 million) under the 1999 budget.
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Leave Ghana
alone!
A coalition
of democratic organisations yesterday went on a peace march in Accra to present
a resolution to the Speaker of Parliament against a speech delivered by the NDC
leader, ex-President Jerry John Rawlings on June 4 2001.
According
to the Accra Mail, the march started from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and ended
behind the Accra Sports Stadium in a mini rally after which representatives of
the coalition went to Parliament, less than a kilometer away, to present a
resolution.
A last
minute attempt by the Chief of Staff, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, to stop the march
was flatly rejected by the huge crowd, which had assembled.
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MCE Warns KMA Officials
The new Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Maxwell Jumah, has warned officials of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), who had been secretly issuing building permits to people to put a stop or they will be made to face the law when caught, writes the Free Press.
Speaking to newsmen and some assembly members after a four-hour tour of parts of the metropolis, Mr. Jumah said most of the people who owned unauthorised structures in the metropolis had argued that they had building permits from some agents from KMA which was not appropriate. He said no one had the right to issue a building permit in his individual capacity.
He said most of the problems the metropolis found it self in was committed by some officials of the KMA who had been taking bribe from members of the public. “Those people who collect bribes from people and give them bogus permits are part of the problem and they will not be spared when caught”.
The MCE urged members of the assembly to lead exemplary lives for the public to emulate. He also called on resident in the metropolis to keep their surroundings clean all the time.
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Supreme Court Strikes out 2 writs by Amidu, NDC
The Evening News says the Supreme Court yesterday struck out a writ filed by Mr. Martin Amidu, former Deputy Attorney-General against the inclusion of Mr. Justice E. K. Wiredu, acting Chief Justice, on a panel to hear the case in which he challenged the constitutional powers of President Kufuor to appoint three people as Presidential Staffers.
This followed a notice of discontinuance filed in the case by Mr. Amidu, who later intimated to the press that he intends taking up the matter as a human rights issue at the High Court by the close day.
Following the nomination by President Kufuor in January of Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Miss Elizabeth Ohene and Mr. Joshua Hamidu as Chief of Staff, Presidential Staffer in charge of Media Relations and Security Affairs respectively, Mr. Amidu filed an exparte application at the Supreme Court contending the conduct of the President in making these appointments without consultation with the Council of State and subsequent approval by Parliament.
That he claimed was in breach of the constitution.
He had argued that instead of fixing a date for a prompt hearing of the matter, Mr Justice Wiredu, acting Chief Justice directed him to serve notice to other parties in the case.
Mr Amidu said the action by Mr Justice Wiredu occasioned a delay during which the conduct of the President about which he complained of, was overtaken by time there by denying him justice and undermining his right to pursue the action.
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