2 Arrested with fake exam papers
Proposed amendment to Constitution…Experts say no
Police use teargas in illegal ejection
Sacked Minister dares Rawlings
Akufo Addo in secret talks…Split in NPP on horizon again
2 Arrested with fake exam papers
Two former students of the St. Paul’s Technical Institute at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region, have been arrested for trading in fake examination papers, reports the Ghanaian Times in its top story
The story says Prince Anni and Obed Adjei, both 17, attempted to sell fake Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) papers to students of the Nifa Secondary School at Adukrom also in the Eastern Region. According to the Times, the two, who had some examination papers in English, Science and social Science, claimed that they were examination papers of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
However, when the Council was contacted, it said that the ‘papers were no where near the actual ones’. Prince and Obed are said to have stated that they did not know that it was an offence to sell examination papers of the WAEC.
According to Prince, a man in front of the Ghana Secondary School at Koforidua sold the papers to him for 60,000 cedis. To recoup his money, he said he asked Obed to accompany him to the Nifa Secondary School to sell the examination papers.
The Times says they offered the papers for sale at 150,000 cedis, although they were prepared to take anything offered them. The Times says Reverend John Adotey, of the Test Administration Division of WAEC, told newsmen in Accra that the vigilance of the students and the action by the headmaster, Mr Oppong Kyekyeku, led to the arrest of the culprits.
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Proposed amendment to Constitution…Experts say no
The Daily Graphic reports that legal experts at a round-table discussions, have objected to a proposed amendment of 10 articles in the 1992 Constitution.
The experts are said to have argued that the provisions in the amendment bill, which is yet to be laid before Parliament, are not under threat to warrant any change.
The Graphic, in this lead story, says the experts were contributing to the topic: "The Constitution Amendment Bill", at the round-table discussions organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in Accra.
Retired Supreme Court judges, legal practitioners, parliamentarians and members of district assemblies, attended it. The Graphic says the experts called on Parliament to reject the bill outright when it is placed before the House, explaining that a constitution is amended only when there is the compelling need of a particular section to be reviewed in the interest of the citizens.
According to the paper, some of the provisions to be amended under the bill, include articles on citizenship and gender equality, appeals from interlocutory decisions, and the jurisdiction of the High Court.
The others are Article 142, which seeks to put regional chairmen of tribunals on the same level with High Court Judges, Articles 243 and 244, which relate to the appointment of district chief executives and presiding members, Article 266, which deals with landholding in Ghana by aliens and Article 199, which seeks to reduce the compulsory retirement age from 60 to 55 years.
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Police use teargas in illegal ejection
The Free Press, in a screaming front-page headline story, says in an operation which is significant for its callousness and illegality, a squad of armed policemen from Accra Central Police Station, threw teargas into a disputed house at Okaishie, to drive out the occupants and thereafter, helped a hired gang of civilians to demolish the building.
According to the Free Press, the policemen carried out this ‘infamous’ act regardless of the fact that a bailiff had not served a court order on the occupants to vacate the house, because a ‘motion for a stay of execution’ filed by the defendants was pending before the court.
The paper says Assistant Police Commissioner Nkelebi, second in command of the Greater Accra Regional Police Headquarters, confirmed the police action and said the policemen were assigned to protect the bailiff, who was to serve a court order on the tenants of the house.
But Mr Daniel Yaw Adu, Chief Bailiff of Accra Circuit Court "B", had a different story to tell. He said though the court gave judgement against the defendants in a suit over the house, no order was served on the tenants because they had filed an appeal against the judgement before the lapse of the days allowed for an appeal to be filed.
The Free Press says there was also a motion for the stay of execution of judgement before the court. According to Mr Adu, in view of the appeal and the motion, the need to serve the defendants with the quit order did not arise.
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Sacked Minister dares Rawlings
In a front-page story, the Ghanaian Chronicle says for once, in many years, President Rawlings is facing unexpected challenge by emboldened former appointees, who appear to say enough is enough.
The Chronicle says that on the same day that Mr Kojo Yankah, Ashanti Regional Minister, demoted to a Minister of State and shunted into an obscure office in the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), resigned from the government, Mr Fred Ohene-Kena, the sacked Minister of Mines and Energy, called Rawlings’ bluff, an inconceivable development a few years ago.
The paper says Mr Ohene-Kena called in to a "Radio Universe" programme ‘Viewpoint’ and challenged President Rawlings to stop casting aspersions at him. Mr Ohene-Kena is reported as saying that if the President has evidence of wrongdoing against him, he should be bold and speak out rather than resorting to innuendoes.
According to the Chronicle, the radio programme was discussing President Rawlings’ speech at the banquet in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, in which he sought the assistance of the Commonwealth to curb corruption in Ghana. The paper says during the speech, President Rawlings inexplicably referred to Ghana’s gold industry and its importance to the country.
"We cannot underestimate the challenge of maintaining a healthy democracy when our nation’s precious resources are being siphoned off by unscrupulous individuals and big businessmen, both here and abroad", President Rawlings is quoted as saying during his delivery.
The Chronicle says analysts speculate that the resignation of Mr Yankah and the challenge of Rawlings by Ohene-Kena, appear to signal a realisation in the NDC that with his imminent exit, as well as the harm that the "Statesman" tape had done him, Rawlings’ hold on the party, both on moral and political grounds, is now seriously dented. "Thus, his appointees are now emboldened to throw down the gauntlet", says the paper, quoting the analysts.
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Akufo Addo in secret talks…Split in NPP on horizon again
The Ghana Palaver’s lead story says secret talks involving some over-ambitious opposition politicians, to explore the possibility of forming an electoral alliance with Nana Akufo Addo, MP for Abuakwa, as their presidential candidate, has been on-going in Accra.
According to the Palaver, there is every likelihood that the National Reform Party (NRP), the United Ghana Movement (UGM) and one of the moribund Nkrumaist formations, could strike an electoral pact to contest the general elections, as one party.
The Chronicle says the brains behind the idea are bent on forming a broad coalition, capable of coercing the NPP and its flagbearer, Mr J.A. Kufuor, to submit himself to another Electoral College for consideration alongside Akufo Addo, Goosie Tanoh and Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby.
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