GRi Press Review 17 - 11 - 2001
New mining law bill before Parliament soon
Ministry moves to eliminate ghost names
Chamber of Commerce lauds President
Don't ever sleep with your wife again
Thugs rape queenmum
Police hunt for fake visa dealer
New mining law bill before Parliament soon
The Daily Graphic reports that a bill that seeks to review the legal, fiscal and environmental framework within which mining activities are carried out in the country will soon be placed before Parliament.
The new bill addresses environmental and financial issues as well as renew interest in active exploration of minerals, industrial and base metals according to Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of Mines, who announced this at a seminar on Airborne Geophysical Survey in Accra on Saturday.
The move, he said, forms part of the government’s efforts to eliminate environmental degradation engendered by bad mining practices. He said the review will also ensure that mineral resources are developed with due regard to the environment. It will also address the concerns of mining communities.
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Ministry moves to eliminate ghost names
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has initiated moves to eliminate “ghost names from the payrolls of all district assemblies.
The measures, which include spot checks, head counts, monitoring and overhaul, will also involve the possible transfer of personnel, some of whom have served in particular offices and capacities for more than 20 years, without annual nor sick leave.
The sector Minister, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra, said “ghost names featured regularly on the payrolls of many of the district assemblies, constituting a drain on the economy and retarding development at all levels”.
Even though the minister did not give much detail on the move, because of strategic reasons, investigation has revealed that some officials at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly have served in their present capacity for between 20 to 28 years without leave or transfer within the metropolis or outside.
He said a special team has been trained to ensure that the “ghost” names are removed and significant resources in terms of finance saved for the speedy development and investment infrastructure for the improvement of the well being of the people.
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Chamber of Commerce lauds President
Mr S. Abam Quartey, President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that President Kufuor's pledge of promoting golden age of business in Ghana is not a vain glorious assertion since concrete steps are being taken to see the realization of this pledge.
To this end, prudent economic measures are being pursued to create the needed macro-stability for both local and foreign business entities to flourish.
Additionally, this is believed to encourage sound trade and investment decision to be made by the private sector for the ultimate creation of jobs, generation of additional revenue to government for onward public sector investment and national development and economic growth.
Mr Abam Quartey said this at the National Launching of the first ever trade show dubbed "Made in U.S.A. West Africa trade show 2002" which is scheduled for next year, September 17 - 20 at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre, La, Accra.
The show, which is being supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Commercial Service, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and the Ghana Trade Fair Company is under the theme "USA-West Africa, partnership for business growth.
It is expected to promote trade and investment between the two countries and also promote linkage between Ghanaian and American investors.
Mr Quartey believed that once the economic fundamentals and enabling environment are right, the private sector will respond by increasing its trade and investment in the sub-region and therefore the likelihood of this imparting positively on the standard of living of the people cannot be over-emphasized.
He viewed the show as an opportune one especially regarding the possibility of attracting substantial green field investments into our export processing zones under the gateway project.
"It is time for Americans to start serious business with the sub-region especially Ghana. The psychological distance between America and the sub-region will be bridged by the show", he added.
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Don't ever sleep with your wife again
The good intention of a family to help one of its female members out of a promiscuous lifestyle has ended in her marriage to a river god, reports The Spectator.
Though the woman, Freda Aboagye, 23, is already married with two children, the river god is claiming the children to be his. Freda's husband also lays claim to them and to Freda however, the river god is the father of her children.
Even more bizarre is the fact that the river god once appeared physically to Freda's husband and threatened him with death if he refuses to relinquish his hold on the woman.
Freda's father narrated these strange developments to newsmen in Kumasi recently but pleaded anonymity on the grounds that he was a leading member of a church in one of the major towns in the region and the exposure would affect his position in the church.
He told newsmen that when Freda was five years old, he took her to stay with her elder brother in Kumasi to continue her schooling but as she was growing up, she adopted a flirtatious lifestyle, which worried her relatives. Fearing that Freda was under the influence of an evil spirit, the family took her to the Afrikan Faith Tabernacle Church (Nakaba) at Berekese to be exorcised.
There, the priest in charge of the church led Freda into a river half-naked, and as he splashed water from the river on her amidst prayers, a member of the church also poured schnapps into the river.
After completing school, Freda moved to Agogo in the Asante-Akim District and got into a relationship with a teacher. Freda's brother, also a teacher once received a letter from this teacher.
The contents of the letter indicate that an evil spirit was possessing Freda. According to the letter, the teacher claimed that while in his room one day he observed strange occurrences where the floor of the room turned into a pool of water from, which a giant man emerged and warned him to stop flirting with Freda or face death because she was being married to the "Bare" river god.
The incident made the teacher break up the relationship with Freda. Freda's father said since then, the family had been making frantic efforts to get Freda exorcised of the spirit.
He said they consulted many church leaders for help, but all to no avail. He said Freda later married one Stephen Amoako about five years ago and were blessed with two beautiful girls, aged five and one-and-a-half.
Freda maintains that the children belong to the river god. Freda herself confessed in a testimony at a church service that the river god comes to her in physical form to have sex with her when her husband is fast asleep. She admitted during interrogation that her husband knows that the children are his.
To safeguard the relationship between husband and wife, Freda's father took her to the Ebenezer Miracle Centre in Kumasi to be exorcised. Freda's father said, the very day members of the church prayed for his daughter to end the relationship, something strange happened in the couples' matrimonial home.
At about 2 pm while relaxing in their home, there was a severe windstorm in their bedroom when nothing was happening outside. The storm was said to have torn apart curtains in the room and broken glasses, an incident Freda's husband confirmed.
Freda later confessed that it was the river god who in his anger to break their relationship went into the room to remove a ring he had given to her as a symbol of their marriage, hence the storm.
During the prayers, it was revealed that the river god had given Freda a ring to signify their relationship, which she had concealed in her bedside drawer.
It was also revealed that unless the ring was retrieved and destroyed the river god would still continue to be in a relationship with her unless God intervenes. According to Freda, in the night on her return from the church service, the river god (husband) gave her severe thrashing.
She however concealed this from her husband, claiming it would scare him more. Freda's father and other relatives were emphatic that what happened at the Ebenezer Miracle Centre, saved Freda from the devilish dominion of the "Bare" river god.
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Thugs rape queenmum
The Mirror carries that a 43-year-old queenmother who stood her grounds and resisted the usurpation of a royal stool has been allegedly raped by two members of a gang of hired thugs.
The thugs who carried out the indecent act were allegedly under the instructions of one Kwao Bediako, who saw the queenmother as an obstacle to his ambition. The queenmother had been living in exile since the dastardly act until last weekend when she returned to the town.
A police source, which disclosed this to the paper, said there had been a long standing grudge between Bediako and the queenmother because she had refused to give her consent to his intentions to be installed as a chief on one of the royal stools at Awutu Bawjiase.
The source said on Saturday, October 13, shortly after the queenmother had emerged from the bathroom with only a cover cloth on, the hired thugs, numbering about 17, attacked and started assaulting her.
The source said the group, armed with axes, clubs, and locally-made pistols, told her they were working under the instructions of Bediako who had hired them to kill her.
The source said the queenmother was dragged out of her room naked and forced into one of the cars, which were used in the operation and driven away to an undisclosed destination.
The police source said about 12 kilometres from the town, at Abodwese Nkwanta near Krodua on the Bawjiase-Kasoa road, the gang stopped and dragged the queenmother out of the car and alleged raped her.
She was only saved by an on-coming vehicle, which made the gang to flee into the bush leaving the queenmother to her fate.
The source said some good-spirited persons went to her aid and assisted her to make a report to the Bawjiase Police who gave her a medical form to see a doctor. The case has been slated for hearing at the Agona Swedru Circuit Tribunal on November 21.
When The Mirror met the queenmother last weekend, she confirmed her ordeal and said all the members of the 17-man gang could not have their turns "because they were overwhelmed and started struggling among themselves over who should have his turn first. In the process only two of them managed to rape me until I was saved by an on-coming vehicle."
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Police hunt for fake visa dealer
The Greater Accra Regional Police have mounted a search for a man at Sukura in Accra for allegedly issuing fake visas. The suspect, Charles Rogers Oppong, aged 39, is alleged to have been issuing fake visas of various countries to prospective travelers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dr K.K. Manfo, who commands the region, said in an interview that the police received information that Oppong was issuing fake visas at Sukura.
He said upon a tip-off, the police traced Oppong to Sukura where he operates, but on seeing the police, he took to his heels living behind his Opel Kadett car.
A search on he vehicle revealed 33 Ghanaian, four Beninois, two Burkinabi, one Swazi and one Cote d'Ivoire passports with three stamps, four ink pads, visa stickers and passport-sized pictures also on the car. The car was therefore impounded by the police and sent to the police station.
DCP Manfo advised Ghanaians to apply for visas from the right source in order not to fall victim to visa contractors.
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