Commissioner of CHRAJ opposes death penalty
Wa (Upper West) 15 March 2002- Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy Secretary General of Trades Union congress in charge of operations has called on the Tripartite Committee to expedite action on the restoration of End-of-Service Benefits (ESB) of workers.
He said ESB is a genuine concern, which would restore the enthusiasm and image of workers in society and should therefore, be given the utmost attention it deserved. Mr Asamoah made this call at Wa on Thursday when he addressed a regional TUC executive meeting and Council of Labour.
The meeting which attracted about 30 participants made up of regional and district representatives of various union afforded them the chance to clear some issues concerning their working conditions in the country.
The Deputy Secretary General said the withdrawal of ESB was creating a classical segregation in the Ghanaian workforce as some workers such as Members of Parliament and Ministers were still receiving it while others were relying on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), which comparatively was peanut.
He said the necessary arrangements had been made for its restoration and called on workers to give their maximum backing and exercise restrain until it was restored. On the national minimum wages, Mr Asamoah expressed dissatisfaction at the government's breach of contract with its partners it signed last year.
He said although the Tripartite Committee agreed in principle that the national minimum wage should be out before the presentation of the national budget, the government went ahead to present the budget without a clear-cut national minimum wage.
Mr Asamoah said the Trade Union Congress intends to decentralise to the district levels to have an impact at the grassroots levels where district secretaries would be appointed to man them.
He rejected the government's plans to privatise water, "as it is going to impoverish the ordinary man in society". Mr Paul Nwine, an executive member said TUC would come out with a resolution that would help cushion the workers at all levels in the country.
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Bimbilla (Northern Region) 15 March 2002- Fighting broke out between supporters of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the Bimbilla Police Station over the arrest of an NDC supporter and his vehicle by the
Police.
The situation was so tense that the Police had to fire warning shots to disperse the crowd, most of whom were NDC supporters, who had stormed the Police station to sympathise with their arrested colleague.
Police Superintendent Mohammed A. Adams, Divisional commander of the Yendi Police, told the Ghana News Agency that some NPP supporters went to the Police station to report that they had seen a Nissan pickup vehicle without any registration number making rounds in the town.
Superintendent Adams said the Police invited the owner with the vehicle to the station. It was realised that the vehicle had a registration number GT 3155 Q only at the front.
He said the owner of the vehicle, Mr Alhassan Sulemana in his statement to the Police said that he had travelled to Bimbilla from Tamale on Thursday and explained that the registration number at the rear might have fallen down.
In a related development one person has been admitted at the Bimbilla Health Centre with head injuries following a fight between supporters of the NPP and NDC at Kpaturi, seven miles from Bimbilla, where there is a polling station.
Briefing the GNA on the incident, Mr Sugri Sulemana Sibri, the Returning Officer, said armed soldiers and police personnel had been despatched to Kpaturi to maintain law and order.
He said some settlers, who had fled the village in the wake of the Northern Conflict in 1994 and were resident at Bimbilla, still had their names on the Kpaturi voters' register and, therefore, had to travelled to the village to cast their vote.
He said when they arrived at the polling station to vote, the polling agents, who suspected them of attempting to vote twice, refused to allow them to cast their vote. Mr Sibri said this resulted in confusion during which supporters of both NPP and NDC used sticks and stones in a fight.
Mr Sibri said one man who was hit on the head and consequently fell to the ground, was rushed to the Bimbilla Health Centre for treatment. When GNA contacted Superintendent Adams, he said the Police had received a report about the incident.
He said when the Police visited the Health Centre to see the victim, the authorities refused to allow them. Meanwhile, several voters, who had transferred their votes to Bimbilla in the 2000 general election, were prevented from voting in the by-election.
In their frustration, they marched to the Nanumba District Electoral Office to lodge a complaint. Mr Mensah Worlanyo Tegah, District Electoral Officer, told them, however, that voters' transfers were nullified in a by-election and as such, they could not cast their vote.
He explained that the EC had educated all the contesting political parties in the by-election that transfers of votes was not allowed in a by-election. He, therefore, expressed surprise at the incident, saying: "the whole of Ghanaian voters would have been at Bimbilla if we had allowed such transfers."
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Bimbilla (Northern Region) 15 March 2002- Police officers this morning chased off an unidentified adult who attempted to vote a second time at the Bimbilla L/A Primary School Polling Station, after voting elsewhere earlier on in the on-going Bimbilla bye-elections.
Mr Abdallah Kufuor, Presiding officer at the station, told the Ghana News Agency that at about 07.30 hours, the man joined the queue to vote, but was identified by other voters as having voted elsewhere because of the indelible ink on his thumb nail.
He said the attention of the Police was drawn but before they could effect his arrest he took to his heels. The Police chased him but could not arrest him. Meanwhile, 68 voters out of the 643 registered voters at that polling station, including the Vonaa-Abakpara, Regent of Bimbilla had cast their votes by 08.00 hours.
At the Nunumba Traditional Council and the Magistrate Court A and B polling stations, long queues were formed very early in the morning by voters and voting was running smoothly. There is calm in Bimbilla Township, which has 23 polling stations.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 March 2002- Mr Isaac Abbey, Chairman of the Ofankor branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday called on Ghanaians to vote the NDC back into power in the 2004 elections, saying that the ruling New
Patriotic Party (NPP) had failed.
Speaking at a meeting in Ofankor with party members drawn from Amamoley, Asofan and Omandwo, he said the NDC had a better understanding of the problems such as lack of electricity and water, unemployment and other problems currently facing the country.
The meeting was essentially to foster unity between the NDC and the 31st December Women's Movement in the area to ensure that they worked together as a team in all political and socio-economic ventures.
"With eight years in government, the NDC has gathered a wealth of experience which would be brought to bear when the party comes back into power in 2004," he said.
Mr Abbey said the NPP had failed to deliver on its campaign promise that it would provide over 100,000 jobs within its first year in power, adding that the NDC in year 2004 would prove that it could have done better if it had won the 2000 elections.
"NDC over the years, prepared the ground for a socio-economic transformation from 2000, but lost power to the NPP, which had interrupted the expected take-off of the Ghanaian economy," he said. "Time would vindicate the NDC. There is still hope if NDC is given the chance in 2004."
He said it would be a great mistake on the part of Ghanaians to allow the NPP to stay on for another four years after 2004, given the ruling party's poor performance within its first year in government.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 March 2002-Mr. Yaw Barimah, Minister of Works and Housing, has appealed to the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) to take advantage of the ECOWAS Protocol and break into the West African market.
This, he said, could help it to solve some of its financial problems, reminding the company that one of the key reasons for its conversion from a corporation was to open up alternatives to government financing.
The minister's challenge was contained in an address read for him at the opening of a management conference of the AESL at the Cicero Guest House in Kumasi on Thursday.
The conference, attended by members of the Board of Directors and the management staff was designed to provide a forum for critical review of the company's performance and formulate strategies to enhance its operations.
Mr Barimah said for the company to access foreign and donor- sponsored jobs, it was necessary for it to keep pace with current technological innovations. AESL, he said, should also become more dynamic and adopt market forms of operation by placing emphasis on quality assurance and quality control to give clients value for money.
The Minister suggested that it widened its scope of operation to include land surveying and planning, pointing out that this could help the company win consultancy services from the various ministries.
Mr Kwadwo Ofori-Kuragu, member of the Board of Directors, announced that the board had decided to change its name from AESL to Architectural Engineering Services Company Limited (AESCL).
He reminded workers of the company that it no longer enjoyed the status of sole government consultant and for that matter, it was important for them to work harder to get jobs and ensure efficient execution of jobs obtained.
Oheneba Kwame Kyeretwie, Apagyahene of Kumasi, asked the company to adopt new work ethics and attitudes to prove equal to the demands posed by the government's declared Golden Age of Business.
He said high premium should be placed on profit-making and client satisfaction to survive competition. Earlier, Alhaji Mashud Ibn Musah, the Managing Director, proposed an Employee Share Ownership of the company to help attract and retain highly motivated staff.
The staff, he said, should be considered to provide an alternative financing by owning shares in the company. Alhaji Musah noted that through this, there could be more personal commitment of staff towards enhancing the productivity and profitability of the company.
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Techiman (Brong Ahofo) 15 March 2002- Four per cent of blood donated to the Techiman Holy Family Hospital last year was HIV positive. Dr George Bonsu, Techiman District Director of Health Services, announced this at the inauguration of a five-member technical committee of the Techiman District Response Initiative (DRI) on HIV/AIDS.
The committee, which would draw an action plan and set up objectives covering HIV/AIDS activities in the district, has Dr Bonsu as chairman. Other members are Mr Takyui Acheampong, AIDS Co-ordinator of the Techiman Holy Family Hospital, Mr Wilfred M. N. Soborne, School Health Co-Ordinator, Mr K. Adu Sarkodie, National Youth Council and Mr Thomas Adutwum Frimpong of the Centre for Human Development.
Dr Bonsu said between 1992-2002, a total of 1,780 HIV cases had been recorded in the district. He said out of 361 HIV/AIDS cases reported last year, 45 deaths had been recorded so far. The District Director charged members of the committee to be committed to the cause of eradicating AIDS from the district.
Mr Isaac Osei-Antwi, Techiman District Chief Executive (DCE), said the disease posed a great danger to humanity and urged the Committee members to sacrifice towards achieving the district's initiatives on HIV/AIDS.
He noted that though the disease could not be eradicated, the rate of infection could be reduced through the sensitisation of the people on the dangers it posed to humanity.
Mr David Yaro, District Co-ordinating Director, charged the committee to start picking the priority areas for the action plan and also to involve religious bodies for the success of the programme.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 March 2002- An Accra Circuit Tribunal on Thursday sentenced two persons, who operated an illegal communication centre, to three years' imprisonment each.
Enoch Nii Tackie Tetteh and Bismark Addy were convicted for making illegal telephone connections and causing financial loss to a public body, Ghana Telecom. The accused persons, who pleaded not guilty, were also ordered to pay the amount involved to Ghana Telecom or serve an additional one-year jail term with hard labour.
Inspector Anneh Kwame told the tribunal chaired by Mr Mohammed Nabon that in November 1999 the complainant, Mr John Kermah, Executive Director of Kermah Enterprises Limited received an itemised bill of 62 million cedis from Ghana
Telecom. Mr Kermah, whose telephone line was disconnected, challenged Ghana Telecom over the huge bill.
During investigations into the disputed bill, it was discovered that Tetteh, whose bedroom was at Cow Lane in Accra and behind Mr Kermah's telephone line conspired with Addy and two others at large to tap the telephone line into his bedroom and used it as a secret communication centre. Their investigations also revealed that Addy and the two others at large installed the phone in Tetteh's room and he was paying them 30,000 cedis every two weeks.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 March 2002- The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Task Force on Thursday faced a hectic time when they began a process to clear hawkers and squatters from pavements in the city.
When the Metro Guards, popularly called "Abaa ee", reached the pavement in front of the Rent Control Office, near Tema Station, an angry hawker, who claimed he was assaulted, bolted with the ignition key of a Nissan pickup belonging to Ayawaso Sub-Metro.
A large crowd poured into the area as the drama unfolded. The guards were stranded and the vehicle with registration number GW 7165 R was stuck in the middle of the road. Some of the Metro Guards went back to their office for a spare key, which enabled them to move the vehicle from the middle of the road.
The hawker was said to have bolted with the key after the guards allegedly assaulted him for selling on the pavement. While some of the angry hawkers rained insults and hooted at the AMA guards for taking their items away, others called for the destruction of the vehicle.
The hawkers complained about the action of the Metro Guards saying it was denying them their daily bread. The AMA announced on Wednesday that it would undertake an exercise to rid the pavements and streets in the metropolis of hawkers and squatters.
The exercise is in accordance with the assembly's byelaws that prohibit selling on the streets. Metro guards have been detailed to various areas such as the Accra Central, Kojo Thompson and Kinbu Roads and the Independence Avenue to stop traders from selling at those places.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 March 2002- A Nigerian was on Thursday arraigned at an Accra Circuit Tribunal for allegedly defrauding two Ghanaian traders of over 500 million cedis under the pretext of importing surgical products from Nigeria to Ghana for sale.
Rufus Okechukwu Prince pleaded not guilty to conspiring with two others to defraud Mr Kwasi Botwe and Mr Micheal Obeng Addo and was given bail in the sum of 600 million cedis to reappear later this month. One of his accomplices, Frank Agyeman, who was arrested in July last year, is already before the tribunal.
DSP Elizabeth Alomatu told the tribunal chaired by Mr Mohammed Nabon that in May last year, the accused, who then gave his name as Ike, called from Nigeria to inform the traders that he and others had surgical products that they would want to sell to them on wholesale basis.
The traders went to pick him at the airport where they were shown documents on the products, which the accused claimed, were at the Tema Port. Rufus introduced Agyeman and one Martin, who is at large, as his counterparts, who would be helping to clear the goods.
Rufus and his counterparts collected a total of 547 million cedis from the complainants as money required to take delivery of the goods. DSP Alomatu said when the complainants followed up to take delivery of the goods, Rufus and his accomplices told them they rather had fake dollar notes, which they wanted the complainants to distribute.
The traders declined to distribute the fake dollars and the accused persons then went into hiding. Rufus, who was arrested a few days ago, also denied any knowledge of the charges.
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Wa (Upper West) 15 March 2002- About 300 orthodox Muslim students of Wa Secondary School have packed bag and baggage and left the school in solidarity with their 14 colleagues, who had been arrested for allegedly burning down a tutor's bungalow and vandalising school property.
The students have also threatened to maltreat other Muslim students still staying in the school and would vandalise more school property if their colleagues were not released.
Mr Moses Donneyong, Headmaster of the school, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Wa on Thursday that classes were, however, going on for the remaining students.
"The school has been thrown into a state of insecurity as the tutors have also started packing their belonging to relatives in the Wa town for fear of vandalism." Mr Donneyong, therefore, called on the Police and other security agencies to step up their patrolling activities at the campus.
Mr Donneyong said students, who had voluntarily left the school were misinforming people in town that the school authorities were discriminating against Muslim students. "How can we work against Islam when a chunk of our staff are Muslims" the Headmaster asked.
He said he was consulting the Regional Director of Education and other relevant authorities to find out the next line of action. He, however, emphasised that the arrest of the boys was purely based on indiscipline and not on religious grounds as being peddled by a section of the students.
The 14 students were arrested on Monday for allegedly burning down a tutor's bungalow and a motorbike. They were also alleged to have vandalised the administration block and a wooden truck. Later in an interview, Mr Jacob Bangonluri, Regional Director of Education, said officials were working round the clock to bring calm to the school.
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Akim Swedru (Eastern Region) 15 March 2002- The Commissioner on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Justice Emile Short has said he is opposed to the death penalty no matter the offence committed.
He said evidence showed that killing people like armed robbers do not deter others from committing the same offence. Mr Short was reacting to a question during the 28th February annual lectures organised by the Akim Swedru Secondary School on: "Forty-five years of political independence, the way forward."
He said another reason why he opposed the death penalty was that the criminal justice system was imperfect. "Innocent persons can be convicted for murder. When that happens the person cannot be brought back to life."
On crime and violence, Mr Short said the Ghanaian society seemed to have lost its decency, adding that the upsurge of rape and sexual abuse of girls had traumatized the society.
"The international trade in girls, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are on the increase, the practice of ritual servitude and other cultural practices are still deeply rooted in the fabric of the Ghanaian society."
Mr Short said although appropriate legislation had been passed to criminalize some of these practices, little had been done to enforce these laws. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Solomons Djaba-Mensah said schools should join the campaign on violence against women and children. He called on students to disapprove of and avoid violent behaviour and rather help to promote human rights.
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