GRi Press Review Ghana 26 - 06

Ghana is to allocate 15 per cent of its annual budget to the health sector to combat the AIDS pandemic. This would, however, be insufficient without a sustained and concerted international assistance directed at both the prevention of the disease and the mitigation of its impact on sufferers and society.

According to a Daily Graphic report, the President, Mr J.A. Kufuor announced this when he addressed the 26^th Special Session of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS in New York on Monday.

President Kufuor said poverty, underdevelopment and illiteracy have been identified as the major challenges to an effective HIV/AIDS response in developing countries.

He, therefore, called on the Special Session to resolve to assist developing countries to implement internationally agreed strategies to eradicate the handicaps.

President Kufuor further asked for international cooperation and solidarity with Africa in the combat against HIV/AIDS.

The President reiterated his call for debt relief, acceleration of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the reversal of the declining levels of official development assistance.

President Kufuor expressed the hope that the Session will address the issue of accessibility and affordability of essential drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa and the promotion and the protection of their rights.

"The international community should further ensure that global trade policies are used more effectively to increase access to care and treatment and should also encourage increase investment in research on the development of vaccines," the President urged.

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Court dismisses Mallam Isa's appeals

The Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal on Monday dismissed two separate appeals brought by counsel for Mallam Ali Yusuf Isa, the dismissed Minister of Youth and Sports, who is being tried by the Fast Track High Court in Accra for stealing $46,000 belonging to the State, reports The Daily Graphic.

Mr Ambrose Dery, counsel for Mallam Isa, had sought the order of the court, presided over by Mr Justice J.S. Brobbey, to grant an application for a stay of proceedings at the Fast Track High Court.

Counsel also filed a motion against the dismissal of a submission of no case he argued before the trial court, presided over by Mr Justice Julius Ansah, an Appeal Court judge, who sat as an additional High Court judge.

Mallam Isa stands accused on two counts of stealing and fraudulently causing financial loss to the State.

He has pleaded not guilty to both charges and has been granted bail in the sum of ¢500 million with a surety to be justified.

Mr Dery argued before the Appeal Court that the trial judge erred in arriving at the conclusion that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the accused person and that he should open his defence.

In his reply, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Osafo Sampong, stated that the prosecution did not understand why the accused went to the Court of Appeal and what he was there for.

Mr Sampong explained that the trial judge at the lower court took pains to go through the matter before coming to the conclusion that the accused person had a case to answer.

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No food crisis

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has stated that there is no looming food crisis in the country and that on the contrary, there is enough stock of food this season to meet the country's requirement.

The deputy Minister of Agriculture in-charge of Crops, Dr Majeed Haroun, in an interview in Accra on Monday, explained that the apparent shortage of food on the market and its resultant high prices is the result of the stockpile in the northern part of the country, particularly around Damongo, Bimbila, Tumu, Nkwanta and Kete Krachi.

Dr Haroun, however, gave the assurance that the government has put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure a balance in the country's food distribution.

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The Ghanaian Times

Leebda is fake

A prosecution witness in the 1.2 million dollar court computerization case involving a former Deputy Minister of Finance, Victor Selormey, on Monday told the court that Leebda Corporation of Texas does not exist in the United States, reports The Ghanaian Times.

The witness, ASP Jeff Edwards Musore, who investigated the court computerization project, said that findings from various sources in the United States, including the Texas Secretary of State and others in Chicago, indicated that Leebda was not known by law in the USA.

He said investigations revealed that Leebda meant Law, Economics, Engineering, Business and Development Associates.

Detective Musore said that several attempts to contact Leebda Corporation by the telephone number stated on its documents since the beginning of his investigations had failed. Up till "this very morning", phone calls never went through, he stated.

ASP Musore admitted the possibility of a change in the telephone number of the company before his assignment began, but explained that he made enquiries in the US through the Ghana Embassy there, and collected information on Leebda Corporation.

Asked how he got the full meaning of Leebda, during cross-examination, Mr Musore said that in the course of his investigations, he came across letters written by Dr Frederick Owusu-Boadu, and the full name of Leebda was clearly stated on them.

He insisted that his enquiries on Leebda revealed that it was not known in the US as far as records of corporate bodies were concerned.

According to the investigator, he was handed a special audit report to investigate and therefore he could not tell whether the accused’s comments were sought before the audit report was made.

ASP Musore, told the court that he only handled the court computerization aspect of the audit report which was very comprehensive.

Asked whether there was any reference to Selormey in the report, the investigator said the report, dated April 25, 2001, covering the period April 1997 to March 2001, did not directly make reference to the accused person.

According to him, it stated that two separate payments totaling 1,2977,500 dollars had been transferred to Dr Owusu-Boadu of USA for services provided under the court computerization project made from the foreign currencies purchased between December 8, 1998 and October 2, 2000 through ECOBANK Ghana.

Mr Musore told the court that his investigations extended to ECOBANK where he obtained letters signed by Selormey authorizing such payments to Dr Owusu-Boadu.

"This is the aspect of the report that links the accused person," he said.

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Woman expels coke at KIA

Fatima Kanda, 28, a Malian trader, is battling hard to expel 18 out of the 50 oval shaped pellets believed to be cocaine, which she swallowed in order to save her life.

Kande was arrested at the weekend by a customs officer at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, shortly after her arrival on a flight from Europe.

Fatima had earlier refused to undergo an x-ray examination at the 37 Military Hospital insisting that she was four months pregnant.

She was, therefore, kept overnight at the Airport until Monday when she broke down and made the confession.

By mid-day on Monday, Kande had expelled 32 out of the 50 pellets she claimed to have swallowed.

Kande had arrived on a flight from Europe.

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The Crusading Guide

Coco Palm evades ¢10bn tax

The Crusading Guide says last year when Mr. E.N. Noi, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, CEPS now on leave, gave COCO PALM Limited a 14-day ultimatum to settle over ¢10 billion tax the company had evaded, many thought that was the end to the shady deals of the company alleged to have links to the ex-First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

The paper says its investigations have however revealed that despite the billions COCO PALM was making in the sale of their plush and luxuriant houses at Cantoments in Accra, it had not paid a dime to the State.

According to a reliable source, each of the houses costs $300,000 (¢2.1 billion at the current exchange rate).

A demand invoice for the payment of duties and penalties on misapplied exempted goods issued by CEPS and signed by Mr E. Noi, on 3^rd July 2000 stated that "You (COCO PALM) are to pay fully the amount of ¢5,247,801,600.00 being the Customs duties evaded plus a pecuniary penalty of ¢5,247,801,600.00 representing 100% of the total duties to mark the offence".

The notice also added that, "The above amounts are expected to be paid within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of this demand notice".

COCO PALM Limited, Managed by Mr Gena Shalom, a foreigner, and Ricci (alias Chairman) who is said to be a close friend of the late Mr. J.O. T. Agyeman, father of the ex-First Lady, has to date (about a year after the 14-day ultimatum) not made any payment to CEPS.

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The Daily Guide

Kwame Addo takes cover in Togo

The Daily Guide reports that Mr Augustus Kwame Addo, a former Board Member of SSNIT who is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for allegedly causing huge financial loss to the state, is reported to be hibernating in the Republic of Togo.

Mr Kwame Addo alongside two others, his wife, Mrs Benigna Audrey Addo and Mr Isaac Nana Wiredu, the Managing Director of Worae Farms Limited, are being hunted by the SFO not only to assist in some specific issues but also to answer preliminary charges of conflict of interest, fraudulent breach of the trust and fraudulently causing the loss of ¢4.9 billion belonging to the state.

Two months ago, Kwame Addo, and his wife disappeared into thin air when the police swooped on an arms depot they owned to look for illegal stockpile of arms and ammunition.

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The Odinga trial

For the third time running, Mr Albert Hamid Odinga, a 59-year-old Belize national who is standing trial before an Accra Community Tribunal was denied bail by Mrs Ivy Heward Mills.

Odinga who is already in prison custody failed to appear on Monday and is expected to appear on July 2, 2001.

Mr Odinga also known as Hamid Lumumba Odinga Heydorah, was arrested on June 9, 2001 by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for allegedly overstaying his permit and was later arraigned before the Osu Community Tribunal for trial on espionage charges.

He has been charged under Section 185(1) of the Criminal Code, Act 29 and was put on remand by Mrs Ivy Heward Mills' Community Tribunal the last time, even though he failed to appear in person before the Tribunal at Monday's sitting.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being defended by Mr Walid Bampouri Iddrisu.

When the trial resumed on Monday, his counsel pleaded for bail for the accused arguing that his continued stay in detention is against his human rights but this was rejected by the chairperson of the Tribunal on grounds that the tribunal was within its constitutional limit to remand the accused person in prison custody till the determination of the case.

GRi…/

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The Chronicle

Armed Forces to extradite runaway officer

The Chronicle says broad hints that it has picked up indicate that Group Captain Richard Forjoe, the Air Force Officer who fled the country after abruptly resigning from the Armed Forces, may soon be brought back to answer charges of professional misconduct and impropriety.

Sources at military headquarters, Burma Camp, confirmed this week that Forjoe, a close pal of ex-President Jerry Rawlings and co-architect in the two coups staged by Rawlings, is being investigated over his alleged role in acts of malfeasance.

On top of the pile are several contracts he awarded during his over 10 years stewardship at the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and his involvement in the illegal deportation of nationals of other countries, which earned the Armed Forces a bad name among the international community.

Even though no formal charges have been preferred against him, the Chronicle says it can reveal that prima facie evidence of conflict of interest and corruption is coming up against him and he may be hauled down from his UK base to answer some charges.

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The Statesman

Fined for dodging communal labour

Seven persons at Nankese in the Eastern Region, who were unhappy with ¢20,000 fines imposed on them for dodging communal labour, have now been slapped with fines more than seven times as large, reports The Statesman.

Kwaku Ngua, Yaw Sarpong, Kwaku Philip, Emmanuel Darko, Kofi Kortem, Adwo Apeku and Elizabeth Wekuta had been fined by their community for failing to take part in communal labour.

But, dissatisfied, they wrote to the Inspector General of Police, the District Police Commander and the District Chief Executive at Suhum, complaining that the Nankese Police had ganged up with the community to extort money from them.

The case was taken to the Suhum community Tribunal presided over by Mr. John Bentil, where they were charged with failing to attend communal labour. Each of them was found guilty and fined ¢150,000, or in default six months in prison.

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The Accra Mail

Baby boom in Gomoa West

The spate of teenage pregnancy in the Gomoa West constituency of the Central Region has added to the social problems facing the area, according to the Accra Mail.

It is common to see teenaged girls whose ages range between thirteen and sixteen with one or two children with misery written on their faces.

The child mothers can be found in all the Gomoas - Gomoa Techiman, Gomoa Tarkwa, Gomoa Eshiem and Gomoa Mankessim and when they can no longer contain the situation, they resort to begging for alms in tattered clothes.

An elderly citizen from Gomoa Techiman, in a chat with the paper expressed surprise at the rising number of teenaged mothers in the area. He said the phenomenon could be rightly attributed to ignorance on the part of the girls about protective measures like condoms, and illiteracy.

He has therefore called on the government to intensify its education programme on the subject in the area in particular and the region in general.

With the fathers not owning up to the pregnancies the responsibility of caring for the babies and their mothers rests on their parents.

There is also the tendency in the area for those bearing children to deride their colleagues who have no children, daring them to go and get pregnant if they are females.

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