Boycott of Ghana's Gateway corridor looms
Drug trafficker offers $20 bribe
Prophetess forces daughter to divorce man of God
Fast Track Court ruling – A critic and analysis of reasons for
judgement
Accra
(Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - Dominic Nitiwul, the Member of Parliament
(MP-elect) for Bimbilla, may be disqualified from sitting in the House for
falling to do a one-year National Service on completion of his university
course.
That would
call for another by-election to be organised as soon as possible to fill the
vacuum created by Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas in the 200-member House after he had
accepted the post of Executive Secretary of ECOWAS.
According
to Mr Sackey, the Director of Administration at the Attorney-General's
Department, by law, everybody who enjoyed tertiary education has to do National
Service before entering any public service, including parliament. The Electoral
Commission (EC) could not specifically say whether Hon Nitiwul would be
disqualified or not.
The Senior
PRO, Mrs Sylvia Annor, said the law that guides the Commission when accepting
applications from prospective MPs is the Representation of the People's Law (Act
284).
That law in
brief specified citizenship, age, residential and tax requirements that
applicants have to fulfill. So on Nitiwul, the PRO said, "once he
satisfied our requirements and we pronounced him winner, we have finished our
job. But there are other legalities that may apply and can be found out from
the A-G's office."
Nitiwul is
said to be 25 years of age, a holder of first degree acquired last year from
the University College of Education, Winneba. When contacted, the General
Secretary of the NPP, Mr Dan Botwe, said Nitiwul has not yet completed the
degree programme and has, in fact, about a term to finish his sandwiched
course.
Mr Botwe,
however, added that Nitiwul already holds a diploma and conceded that this
requires a national service upon attainment. But when pressed to say clearly
whether his MP had done the service, he declined to comment. He rather asserted
that national service is not a requirement at all for entering Parliament,
since being in the House is "not considered as employment."
In any
case, Botwe went on, one can do national service at anytime and can, therefore,
postpone it to a future date. Again, he declined commenting as to whether
Nitiwul was deferring his service to a future date.
On Monday
when Nitiwul was approached on the issue, he told Chronicle that he taught on
completion of training college from 1995 to 1997, and that fulfills the
national service requirement.
Officials
at the National Service Secretariat in Accra, however, pointed out that
non-graduate service was abolished at the end of the 1996 academic year. Until
the abolition, teaching upon graduating from a training college could be
considered national service, but the duration was two years and not one as it
is today, so explained Mr E.A. Okine, an administrative officer at the
Secretariat. He said the only way to prove that Nitiwul had satisfied the
condition would be for him to show a certificate to that effect.
As would be
recalled, on March 14, Nitiwul made mince meat of four other contestants, including
an independent candidate, who vied with him for the vacant Bimbilla seat. He
polled 14,380 votes to beat his closest rival, Mohammed Ibn Abass of the NDC
who polled 9,091 votes to place a distant second position, while the remaining
votes went nowhere near 2000.
Still
basking in the election victory glory, Nitiwul told a press conference on
Monday that his name means that "it pains" his opponents. But with
his disqualification looming so ominously, will any of his opponents have the
last laugh?
Dr Edward
Mahama, whose PNC has a bitter quarrel with the NPP over the choice of Nitiwul
as a candidate, unfortunately declined to comment on the issue when approached.
He, in fact, disclosed that he would never talk about that man. - The Chronicle
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Boycott of Ghana's Gateway corridor looms
Accra
(Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - Ghana's dream of serving as a Gateway to the
sub-regional trade may soon be likened to biblical Moses leading the oppressed
to Canaan. The landlocked countries that the corridor was opened for, want to
back out and renew marriage to former allies, namely the Ivory Coast, Togo and
Benin.
This threat
came as a result of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS)
introduction of new escort fees, which they view as more of exploitation than
business-like. As a sign of their intention, vessels carrying transit cargoes
for Ghana have been directed to berth at the Togolese port of Lome.
By a letter
reference H/TRANS/I dated March 18, 2002 and signed by the Commissioner of
CEPS, Isaac K. Opoku-Ntiamoah, captioned Commissioner's Order No.6 of 2002
Transit and Escort Fees, the CEPS released what the landlocked countries
considered too harsh.
According
to the letter following the coming into effect of CEPS Management Amendment
Act, 2002 the attention of officers is hereby drawn to the transit and escort
fees prescribed there under. Henceforth transit fees of the equivalent in cedis
of 200 US dollars shall be paid to the Commissioner for each consignment in
transit through Ghana.
Also escort
fees shall be paid at a daily rate, the equivalent in cedis of 65 US dollars
per escort to the Commissioner for goods entered for transshipment or in
transit through Ghana.
However,
like in any of the neighbouring francophone countries, goods from the
landlocked countries entered for transshipment or transit through the Ports of
Tema, Takoradi and Kotoka International Airport (KIA), will be exempted from
payment of the transit fees.
The
landlocked countries, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, whose cargo through Ghana's
ports between 1997 and 2000 was about 500,000 metric tones at introductory
stage, in 2001, had a fantastic business especially as indicated by the Port of
Tema. Representatives of these countries the Chronicle spoke to did not conceal
the fact that Ghana spent and continues to spend several thousands of dollars
campaigning in their countries to woo them from fellow francophone countries
only to be stabbed in the thigh.
At the
moment, they said, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is running
adverts on both radio and television stations in these countries, still saying
that the Ghanaian ports are better. The escort fee charged in Togo is $6.00 per
officer for a day whereas Ghana is charging $65.00 for the same description.
According
to their representative, who spoke under strict anonymity, before the
introduction of the new escort fees CEPS officers on escort duties bargain with
agents and sometimes after extorting huge sums of monies from them vanish,
locking up their cargoes. Now that they are paying $65.00 to the Commissioner,
officers undertaking the trip continue to demand pocket monies from agents
before embarking on trips.
He said
that Ghana stands advantageous, considering the distance between Ouagadougou
and Tema, which is 980 km. Lome to Ouagadougou is 1,100 km, whereas Abidjan
ranks the most distant, a 1,350 km journey.
They
suggested that apart from bonds that are paid which alone can police the goods
to the Ghanaian border towns up north, certain days in the week can be set
aside for movement of transit cargoes. This, if implemented, will reduce the
risk of officers sitting on some of the trucks and reduce the number of
personnel making the trip, as vehicles will be in a convoy.
The CEPS
officials will only be in their escort vehicles to monitor the convoy to ensure
that no diversion takes place within Ghana. The above suggestion was because on
a few occasions, escorting officers got injured in accidents while on the
trucks.
Official
sources at the GPHA registered their anger at the poor treatment meted out to
port users from the landlocked countries. Ironically, at the period emissaries
were sent to these countries to canvas for the use of our ports, CEPS attitude
is rather retarding any effort they make.
Chronicle’s
investigations at the Port of Tema revealed that as at Wednesday evening, close
to 250 trucks from these countries have been loaded and parked since Monday,
last week when the new order was enforced. The importers say they cannot pay
the exorbitant fee and even though some paid and left, the message left behind
is that they are no more coming down to our ports, hence the diversion to Lome.
- The Chronicle.
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
‘Fast Track or not we shall deal with them’
– Effah-Dartey
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - With the controversy surrounding the constitutionality of the Fast Track High court still raging on after the 5-4 split decision, a Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Capt (rtd) Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, has stated that the absence of the court does not mean that ex-government officials who embezzled funds would go scot-free.
“Whether Fast Track or no Fast Track, we shall deal with them. All those who have embezzled money would be tried,” he declared. The Deputy Minister, who was speaking at the inauguration of the Abeka-Lapaz (a suburb of Accra) branch of the NPP Youth Wing in the Okaikoi North Constituency in Accra over the weekend, said public officials must be ready to account for their stewardship.
In this era of zero tolerance for corruption, Effah-Dartey said, people should be honest to serve the country. He urged concern citizens not to be disturbed by the Supreme Court ruling saying that the yesterday men of integrity and transparency are running away from accountability.
The Local Government Deputy Minister said his recent tour of the country has revealed apparent rape of the country by the NDC through unexecuted contracts. He disclosed that where contracts for asphalted roads were awarded, the contractors constructed feeder-roads. He gave a road in Asante Bekwai as a classic example as one of such big frauds.
The NDC, he said, employed deception to rule the country, hence the shoddy execution of projects, all over the place in the past 20 years. Effah-Dartey urged NPP supporters to take active interest in the forthcoming District Assembly elections to assist in the development elections to assist in the development of their communities, saying that District Assemblies are the basis for development.
He also appealed to the party members for their support, and stressed that government would do its best to save the nation. The MP for the constituency, Joseph Darko-Mensah, said development of the nation is paramount to the government. He announced that some 3,000 schools have been slated for rehabilitation, saying that education is a top priority of the government and everything would be done to reverse the rot in the education system.
Darko-Mensah, therefore appealed to supporters of the NPP in his constituency to rally behind the government to executive its agenda. Owusu-Afriyie, the Constituency Chairman, said the falling prices of goods are an indication that the NPP is capable of delivering on is promises. – The Statesman
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - On Tuesday, he was described by The Statesman as the hand behind the conspiracy to scare critics of his boss, the former President into submission. Now, he claims there is a clear “conspiracy to criminalise me”.
Hoping and skipping from one radio station to another since The Statesman exposed him, the ducking and diving have now taken a new turn with a bizarre allegation from Victor Smith that the “illiterate” man he drafted the letter for may be an NDC turn coat set to destroy him.
In a rejoinder sent to this newspaper on Wednesday night, he said “on the 19th of March, 2001 I was approached by one A.K. Mensah (A purported NDC supporter from Kumasi) to help him write an (SIC) letter to protest to journalists who have been insulting former President Rawlings in their publications.”
Victor Smith then went on to admit drafting “some points for him.” But the spokesman who concedes he cannot remember exactly what he wrote for A.K. Mensah is increasingly appearing to show signs of acute amnesia.
In an earlier exchange with the editor of The Statesman, Asare Otchere-Darko on Robert Clegg’s show on Radio Gold, Victor Smith described the person(s) he drafted the warning letter for as member(s) of the Action Forum, a militant wing of the National Democratic Congress party in Kumasi, contrary to his subsequent assertion of “a purported NDC supporter from Kumasi.”
The draft document which ends with the words that Kweku Baako Jnr., the Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide and a lecturer at the School of Communications, University of Ghana, Mrs Amoakohene, “be warned” has been described by the draftsman, Victor Smith, as containing no “threat or plot to harm.” This forced Asare Otchere-Darko to ask him whether a man of his political standing and social responsibility should have agreed willy-nilly to assist an “illiterate” to draft such a letter. His response was equivocal, implying he did what he did innocently.
He was at it again on Joy FM’s 6.00 pm news, on the same day after drafting a rejoinder that the alleged unschooled A.K. Mensah could have doctored the draft document, which was in Victor Smith’s handwriting!
On Joy FM, Smith said he only assisted an illiterate member of the NDC who was bent on issuing out a warning letter to the media practitioners, presumably, the same A.K. Mensah. According to him what he did amounted not to a letter writing but rather he structured the letter for the illiterate members.
However, Smith could not even recall a single sentence from what he drafted. He denied ever harbouring a sinister motive in drafting the letter. This does not augur well for his own discerning ability on what is proper and what isn’t. This also raises serious concern of the ethics calibre of the people that the former President has rounded himself. - The Statesman
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - On Radio Gold on Tuesday Victor Smith revealed that the so-called threatening letter to Kweku Baako Jnr. and Mrs Amoakohene was drafted by himself after he was approached by the Action Forum, a resolutely opaque wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) known to issue controversial statements.
Notably, the Action Forum has been behind an intra-party campaign to smear Dr Obed Asamoah, whose intention to become chairman of Ghana’s largest opposition party is known to be fiercely resisted by the former President, Jerry Rawlings.
In a telephone conversation with Dr Obed Asamoah last night, the Statesman suggested to him that recent events appear to suggest that the Action Forum is little more than a set-up to propagate the former President’s dirty campaign.
“That’s interesting,” he replied, adding “that is the conclusion a lot of people say.” But he steadfastly refused to be drawn any further into the speculation game, preferring to wait. “I suspect that the findings of the investigation will be published sometime on the campaign against me. I’m just watching to see how things unfold.”
The former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice said the NDC congress would take place as rescheduled on the April 27. “As of now, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t come on,” he noted, aware of the troubles, which led to the original date being pushed back from December 27. “We are working towards it,” he said.
On his future, he re-affirmed, “I’ll certainly offer myself for the chairmanship and let’s see what people think of it.” Earlier, Victor Smith dismissed with laughter as “ridiculous,” the suggestion that the Action Forum is a mere smokescreen for the former President’s dirty campaign. - The Statesman
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Drug trafficker offers $20 bribe
Accra
(Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - A narcotic drug trafficker, Theophilus Kwaku
Djaben, who attempted to bribe a Customs Officer with 20 dollars at the
Airport, in order to pass through customs checks with the stuff he was carrying
has been arrested and placed in custody.
Djaben, who
arrived in Accra from Addis-Ababa, where he was in transit from Bangkok,
Thailand, had two Ghanaian Passports on him when he was nabbed. The first
passport, bearing the name, Robert Afadu Aidoo, issued on 3 November 1977 with
the number HO 193490 had the date of birth as 2 November 1967.
The second
bore the name Theophilus Kwaku Djaben with the date of birth as 16 May 1973 and
issued on 25 November 1997. According to a credible source, when Djaben
arrived, he attempted to slip through “Nothing to Declare Zone" but a
vigilant customs officer invited him for examination.
When he was
asked to produce his traveling documents, he claimed that since he had a
one-way ticket, the Airline officials had collected it from him. It was at this
stage that he pulled out the 20 dollar bill and told the Officer that he should
take it and allow him to go since he was tired after his long journey.
This raised
the officer's suspicion and he referred him to his superior officer. Upon
further examination, a powdery substance, suspected to be a narcotic drug, had
been glued and concealed at the base of a false compartment of his traveling
bag. – The Ghanaian Times
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Prophetess forces daughter to divorce man of God
Sunyani
(Brong Ahafo Region) - A two-member panel of the Police Women and Juvenile Unit
(WAJU) at Sunyani was thrown into a state of disbelief when a 24-year-old
woman, Esther Frimpong, narrated how her mother, a prophetess, was exerting
undue pressure on her to break up her three-year-old marriage with a pastor.
Prophetess
Naomi Kumi Frimpong, also known as Naomi Kumi Nyarko, founder and leader of
Resurrections Life Power, at Fiapre near Sunyani, was said to have played a
major role in the marriage of her daughter but has now kicked against it. She
is said to have banned her daughter from entering into her house for refusing
to break up the marriage. She is also demanding all the items she gave to her
in the course of the marriage. They include a set of furniture, a refrigerator,
gas cooker, buckets and pieces of wax-prints.
Fed up with
the pressure and determined to stick to her husband named Pastor Frank
Frimpong, head pastor of Jordan Prayer Ministry, in Sunyani, Esther on January
31, sought the intervention of the WAJU. The panel members, comprising
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alex Yartey Tawiah, head of WAJU and
Inspector Setina Aboagye, were told that Pastor Frimpong was organsing
fellowship together with the Prophetess in her church in 1999 as a leading
pastor.
Due to some
problems, Pastor Frimpong decided to quit and rather concentrate on his own
ministry in the latter part of the year. This did not go down well with the
Prophetess who began to pressurise her daughter to end the marriage. According
to Esther, her mother believes she knows everything about her church's
activities and thinking she might reveal her secrets to her husband, she
constantly put pressure on her daughter to end the marriage.
But when
Prophetess Kumi Frimpong was invited by WAJU on 1 February 2002, drama unfolded
when she quoted Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 17 which says, "Thou shalt not
uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter." Sending the panel
members into uncontrollable laughter, Prophetess Kumi Frimpong alleged that
Pastor Frank Frimpong on 9 August 2000, raped her in her own room.
The pastor
was said to have laced a coca-cola drink with a sedative and given it to her.
She became dazed after taking the drink whereupon the pastor capitalised on her
comatose state and raped her. The case, she said, was even pending before a
Sunyani High Court.
She
explained that it was at that crime which made her sack the pastor from her
church contrary to what her daughter said. "I could not harbour him
anymore, and the only way to free myself from the ordeal was to ensure that I
take back my daughter," she stressed. ASP Yartey Tawiah, however, asked
the Prophetess to exercise restraint and not to exert too much pressure as the
case would be dealt with.
"The
Spectator" in its 29 December 2001 to 5 January 2002 issue carried the
story under the headline "Did the Pastor rape his in-law? High Court to
decide." In the story, the Sunyani High Court was to determine whether the
head pastor of Jordan Prayer Ministry did rape his mother-in-law or not.
Pastor
Frank Frimpong, 29, was said to have offered a soft drink laced with a sedative
to the 61-year-old mother-in-law. She got dazed after taking the drink and, in
this condition, he reportedly raped her.
The accused
had gone to visit his mother-in-law, Madam Naomi Kumi at About 11.30 pm on
December 11. After they exchanged greetings, the accused sent one of the
children in the house to buy soft drinks for the two of them. A few minutes
later, the girl returned with the drinks. The woman then went out to look for
an opener to serve the drinks. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alex
Yartey Tawiah, told the tribunal that the incident happened in August 2000, in
the room of the victim. - The Spectator
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 - Ghana's highlife supreme, Abrantee Amakye Dede,
is in town to deliver his latest long-in-coming album, ‘Seniwa’ and also
perform live at selected venues during the long Easter weekend. "Except
something different," a cheerful Amakye Dede told Showbiz last Tuesday.
“Seniwa is
a collection of a number of approaches to highlife which are still rooted in
traditional highlife as we know it," Amakye Dede said. Amakye Dede's new
album, which carry titles such as Broken Promises, delivered in English;
Mensuro, Nsuo Amuna, Handkerchief and Mabre follow the very successful Adukro
Mu Nsuo which was released in 1998.
"I am
particularly happy about the technical quality of this album because it took us
a lot of time to master it in the US which is the reason why I have been away
for the last four months," he said. He promised patrons that he would
perform some of the new songs live with his band on Good Friday at Abrantee
Night Club in Accra.
While he
was away in the US, the local rumour machine was churning out a sad tale about
him. It was rumoured that Amakye Dede had been arrested in the US for a
drug-related offence.
"I
heard it too," Amakye Dede told Showbiz when the issue of the rumour was
raised. "It was my director Mr Marfo who called me up one early morning. I
had returned home late from the studio the previous night. He called me on
phone and said "Kofi, I'm going to tell you something but you should not
worry about it. Initially I thought that something serious had happened to a
member of my family or something."
When
finally Mr Marfo told him about the rumour, Amakye Dede said that his first
response was to exclaim "AGAIN"? He said he did not take it any
seriously because the rumour was false but was sad that someone or some people
were intentionally driving his name and the little success he had achieved into
the mud.
Amakye Dede
said that the rumour was about the third since 1990 to have been spread
whenever he was away form Ghana to record or to go on tour. Similar unfortunate
rumours have also been spun around other prominent musicians in the past.
"What
do such people want from me?" he asked. "Musicians are working hard
to shed the 'useless man' image that have been associated with the profession
in the past. Today, we are able to build modest houses, buy cars, look after
our families and live decent lives like every hardworking person. So why should
anyone wish to see our downfall?" he asked.
"I
wish to thank all those who stood by me and debunked the rumour that I had been
arrested for drugs. I promise them that I won't ever disgrace them." Last
December, Amakye Dede was honoured as the Overall Best Farmer for the Ejisu
Juaben District in Ashanti. The occasion was the celebration of the 17th
National Farmers Day when Amakye Dede was honoured for cultivating large farms
of yam and cocoyam and rearing sheep and grasscutters. - Graphic Showbiz
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Fast Track Court ruling – A critic and analysis of reasons for judgement
Accra
(Greater Accra) 28 March 2002 -
1.
Establishment of Court
The view of
the majority as published in the "Daily Graphic" and other media, is
that nowhere in the Constitution is power given to anyone to establish courts
except Parliament.
a)
Power
given to Parliament is restricted to the establishment of lower courts and
tribunals under Arl.126.
b)
The
High Court is a Superior court and therefore even Parliament has no power to
establish any such court.
c)
The
Chief Justice has not established any court. He has merely established a
Division of the Court under Article 139(3).
2.
Executive Instrument (EI), Legislative Instrument (LI), Constitutional
Instrument (CI) or Act of Parliament
a)
Those
among the majority who concede that the Chief Justice can establish Divisions
of the Court, insist that he should have done so by a CI. That is wrong and the
error lies in this;
i.
Article
139(3) states simply that… "There shall be in the High Court such divisions
consisting of such number of Justices respectively as the Chief Justice may
determine".
ii.
The
article does not in any way refer to how the Divisions should be established.
If that were the intention, it would have stated whether it should be
established by El, Lt. CI or an Act.
The fallacy
in that argument lies in how they arrived at the decision that it should be by
CI and not EI, LI or an Act. They have no authority to insert in the
Constitution words which are not intended to be inserted by the Constitution
itself. This is a basic canon in the construction of Statutes.
iii.
Because
Article 139(3) does not direct how the Division should be set up, the Chief
Justice is left with the exercise of his discretion in deciding how to set up
the Divisions.
iv.
Discretion
has been defined in Article 296. That article sets out the circumstances under
which a CI may be used
v.
Article
296(c) expressly provides that where the exercise of the discretion is by a
Judge, there is no need to back it up with a CI. It states that "where in
this Constitution or in any other law discretionary power is vested in any
person or authority…" and as Clause (c) of same Article underscores
"where the person or authority is not a judge or other judicial officer,
there shall be published by Constitutional Instrument or Statutory Instrument,
regulations that are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution
or that other law to govern the exercise of the discretionary power".
vi.
The
Chief Justice is the Chief Judge. He therefore needs no CI as contended by the
majority decision.
vii.
As for
the argument based on the ancient laws of the Courts Ordinance, they should not
be taken seriously for the simple reason that Ordinance was long repealed. What
is in force now is the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459) and the Judge knows that he
was bound by the provision of the current law, not the repealed law.
3. "Rules" In Court Procedure:
viii.
It
appears that there has been misinterpretation or misapplication of the word
"Rules" in the context of the arguments by those supporting the
majority view.
ix.
There
are several rules in this world of ours, but they do not qualify to be called
Rules of Court unless they have passed through certain procedures and
processes. In the case of the Rules of Court, they are expected to go through
the Rules of Court Committee as stated in Article 157.
x.
The
Guidelines are not Rules of Court because the argument of the minority is that
they were based on the Rules.
xi.
Guidelines
are never treated like the Rules of Court and all the members of the majority
know this very well.
xii.
In
1984, Guidelines on the grant or refusal of injunctions were issued by Justice
Apaloo
xiii.
The
same Guideless were re-issued in 1997 by Justice Abban.
xiv.
In
2001, they were re-issued by Justice Wiredu Chief Justice Apaloo expressly
described them as general guidelines. "I have no desire to intrude on the
exercise of the equitable discretion given courts by the rules cited above. But
in the light of experience gained in this country, I propose the following
general guidelines," underscored Chief Justice Apaloo.
xv.
No EI,
LI or CI has ever been issued to back the guidelines up. If Chief Justice
Apaloo's action was in the time of the Revolution. Chief Justice Abban's was
under the current constitutional order.
xvi.
Are
the majority telling Ghanaians that their (the circular/guidelines by Apaloo)
constitutionality has not been raised before them or that if Apaloo issued it,
it was in order but if Wiredu issued it, it needed to be backed by a CI? - The
Crusading Guide
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com