GRi Press Review 03 - 10 - 2001
NDC's
stand is affront to judicial system - Bar Association
'Help
retrieve stolen monies'
Demolition
exercise starts in Accra
Hope
for the unemployed
Ghanaians
lack democratic culture
No
more mid-week league matches
Tsatsu
Tsikata for court at last
Gov't
moves to retrieve state assets from 31st DWM
Confusion
at Cape Coast Circuit Tribunal
Bartels replies critics
Pastor chains girl, 15, over 2,000.00 cedis
Student held for threatening housemaster
Parents of missing children to be prosecuted
Ministry launches Internet programme for
community sports
NDC's
stand is affront to judicial system - Bar Association
The
President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Ebow Quashie, has described
the statement by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that its former
ministers and appointees will no longer cooperate with probes instituted by the
government as an affront to the judicial system and the rule of law, state
paper, the Daily Graphic reports.
He
said what is even more serious is that the statement came from the political
and legal committee of the party, which is expected to know better, and noted
that "by the pronouncement, the committee has made hollow the NDC's often
trumpeted watchword of probity and accountability".
He
said courtesy enjoins every law-abiding citizen to aid security agencies in
their investigations and, therefore, "to make a blanket statement that the
former ministers and appointees will not cooperate with such probes is
unfortunate".
Mr
Quashie, who was speaking at the opening of this year's conference of the GBA
at Sunyani, stated that the way out of their grievances is not blanket boycott
and non-cooperation with the security agencies.
He
told the NDC that, "there is enough armoury in the law books for dealing
with whatever grievances they might have."
He
expressed regret about the way the NDC has glossed over the fact that the
security agencies, such as Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Bureau of National
Investigations (NIB) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), are
legally constituted organs of state, charged with the responsibility of
investigating allegations in the country.
He
said the NDC cannot cry over investigations, because the invitations are not to
the NDC as a party, but rather individuals who served in the previous
government.
More…/
'Help
retrieve stolen monies'
The
Anglican Bishop of Sekondi, Rt Rev Andrew Okoh, has called on Ghanaians to
assist the government to retrieve all monies lost to the state as a result of
corruption.
He
said it is wrong for anybody to refuse to cooperate with the government in its
efforts to investigate allegations of corruption leveled against public
officials.
Rt
Rev Okoh, who was delivering the sermon at an ordination service at the St.
Anselm Anglican Cathedral at Sunyani on Sunday, said the nation has suffered
from corruption in high places, and that it is important for all Ghanaians to
work towards eliminating this canker.
More…/
Demolition
exercise starts in Accra
The
Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has begun the demolition of unauthorized
structures at "Pig Farm", near Sodom and Gomorrah a suburb of Accra.
The
move is to pave the way for the completion of the Korle-Lagoon dredging project
being undertaken by the government to help curb the perennial flooding in the
Accra Metropolis.
The
Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Solomon Ofei Darko, said in an interview that
pig farmers in the area were notified a couple of months ago to vacate the
site.
He
said the farmers were asked to move because the structures accommodating the
pigs were obstructing work on the project.
Mr
Darko said as a result of the farmers’ presence there the project has come to a
halt and the government was losing millions of cedis everyday for no work done.
The
structures that have been demolished so far do not contain any animals.
The
chief executive expressed concern about the farmers' refusal to leave the place
in order to pave the way for the successful completion of the project.
"We
will have no choice than to take a hard stand if they continue to prove
difficult," the chief executive said.
GRi…/
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Hope
for the unemployed
The
Evening News carries that the government, with effect from this month, will
embark on a national registration exercise of all unemployed youth in the
country in line with its policy to create employment for the youth.
Mr
Kwabena Agyepong, Deputy Government Spokesman who disclosed this to the paper
in Accra on Friday said the exercise dubbed "Action for Employment
Generation" would start at all the regional and district capitals on
October 8, 2001.
The
exercise, he said would be on-going and would record those who are gaining and
losing employment.
Various
regional centers he said had been identified using the existing 110 district
labour offices and other local government structures for the exercise.
Mr
Agyepong explained that the registration would provide the profiles of the
unemployed youth and would be utilized to provide a basic enterprise training
programme to enable them join the employed field or be placed on vocational
institutions to enhance their skills and go into self-employment.
It
would be under the auspices of the Ministries of Employment and Manpower
Development and the Economic Planning and Regional Integration.
The
Deputy Government Spokesman said the objective of the registration exercise is
to provide a means for the government and other interested parties to know the
unemployment figures at every point in time.
Mr
Agyepong said the exercise further seeks to provide facilities of a clearing
house to match the unemployed with job opportunities and to direct the energies
and time of the youth to productive ventures.
More…/
Ghanaians
lack democratic culture
Mr
Laary Bimi, Chairman of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), has
stated that political instability in the country is the result of lack of the
democratic culture among Ghanaians.
He
said democracy can be promoted by a deliberate programme of inculcating in the
youth right from kindergarten its principles and tenets.
Mr
Bimi was speaking at a day's workshop organized by CIVITAS Ghana, a
non-governmental organization in conjunction with the Public Affairs section of
the US Embassy in Accra t the weekend.
He
said the lack of logistics to institutions tasked with education on human
rights had not helped in any way.
Mr
Bimi noted that it was important to build a liberal society where rule of law
is the norm, and also to develop the culture of being responsible participants
in "our nation's democratic processes".
"This
will not only ensure that an equitable society is built, but will make every
Ghanaian embrace freedom, justice, probity, accountability as adopted
values," he said.
More…/
No
more mid-week league matches
The
Ghana Football Association (GFA) has directed that there should be no mid-week
matches in the remaining matches of the Star Premier League.
The
directive supersedes all previous arrangements announced by the Ghana FA, which
sought to organize a few mid-week matches alongside the weekend ones in the
league.
According
to the FA Secretariat, the exit of Obuasi Goldfield from their CAF Cup campaign
is a major reason for this new development.
The
FA found itself in a tight corner, having to contend with a whole bunch of
issues including the early completion of the league and the FA Cup in order to
declare the country's representatives to the various CAF organized
competitions, as well as the preparations of the Black Stars for CAN 2002
kicking of in January next year.
Although
unfortunate that Goldfields were kicked out of the CAF Cup this month, the FA
heaved a sigh of relief to this and under developments that have ensured that
there would be no foreign interference in the way the league goes anymore.
GRi…/
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Tsatsu
Tsikata for court at last
The
Ghanaian Chronicle says the legendary financial whiz kid, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata,
who blew over ˘500 billion and still remained in office without a reprimand
from his sector Minister, Board or the President of the day, is finally going
to make an appearance in court within days.
At
lease three charges have been preferred against Mr Tsikata, erstwhile Chief
Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) including the
criminal charge of causing financial loss to the state though no official would
go on record to specify what should be emanating from the Attorney-General's
office.
“It
is likely that one of the latest developments in Tsikata's series of reckless
financial adventures may be captured in the list of charges”, says Chronicle.
Mr
Tsikata is in the country, but it appears that officials are careful about how they
grapple with him. “It is like approaching a Bengal tiger with bare hands,” the
paper adds.
The
ex-GNPC boss has exposed a private local financial institution to a huge
financial headache. The Consolidated Discount House (CDH) doled out billions of
cedis to GNPC but the debt-laden corporation went into default almost
immediately the first repayment slot became due.
Frantic
efforts from CDH to recover the money did not materialize until a legal action
was instituted. By June, this year, the cash and interest had hit ˘13.7
billion.
Counsel
for GNPC, Mr Abankwa challenged the amount and contested liability.
The
matter was stalled for a short while but resumed in earnest last month when
Abankwa admitted liability, changing his affidavits, but the delay cost.
By
the beginning of the week, the total indebtedness had shot up to ˘16.5 billion.
The
Chronicle adds that mounds of incriminating information are also unfolding at
GNPC, including a case involving Valley Farms, whose location was even unknown
to Tsatsu who engineered the 'business, another non-core effort. A caller to
the Chronicle disclosed that the farm is located around Enchi in the Western
Region.
It
is alleged that some $1 million was on-lent to the company which is owned by a
long-time Ghanaian resident in American, Mr Jim Wilson, a very close friend of
former President Jerry Rawlings whose relation, now strained, predates his
presidency.
The
forensic inquiries and auditing by Price WaterHouse Cooper of the corporation,
officials say are yet to be concluded.
More…/
Gov't
moves to retrieve state assets from 31st DWM
The
31st December Women's Movement (DWM) headed by Nana Konadu Agyeman
Rawlings has come under siege as government initiates firm but fair moves to
retrieve all state properties annexed by the movement or handed it by the NDC
government on a silver platter.
In
the Eastern Region where an estimated 40 structures are being taken back with
the movement’s executives fighting a losing battle, either by pleading with the
Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, or dispatching series of letters to
his office to claim ownership of some of the property.
A
reliable source at the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (ERCC), however,
has stressed that all properties belonging to the state shall be retrieved
without any compromise whatsoever."
Of
paramount interest is a big building, which previously served as canteen and
rest stop for the estimated 5,000 employees in the regional capital, Koforidua.
The
Workers Canteen was handed over to the 31st DWM in 1993 by the NDC
government with the excuse that the workers management could not run the place
as efficiently as the movement would.
More…/
Confusion
at Cape Coast Circuit Tribunal
Confusion
erupted at a Cape Coast Circuit Tribunal last Monday, September 24, when the
trial of a former NDC assistant Propaganda Secretary, Emmanuel Edumadze
Essuman, was mentioned for hearing.
As
soon as the accused was called into the box, a Cape Coast barrister, Mr A.C. Coleman
stood up to announce his representation of the accused, even though his own
counsel Mr Harry Halifax Hayford, was sitting down quietly in court.
Coleman
intimated that he had come from the chambers of Messrs Barton Odro and Partners
to represent the accused.
The
Tribunal Chairman, Justice Asare Duah, not happy about the incident asked
whether Hayford who is also the Member of Parliament for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese
had withdrawn his representation from the case. Quickly, Coleman retorted that
he did not realise the presence of Hayford in court even though the two of them
sat so close to each other in the courtroom.
That
brought Hayford to his feet to state that he has not withdrawn his service to
the accused and that he is prepared to team up with his learned friend to fight
a common cause of ensuring amicable settlement of the case out of court.
The
accused himself who had pleaded not guilty is a former New Patriotic Party
(NPP) Propaganda Secretary who defected in the heat of the 2000 elections to join
the NDC only to turn round to subject his former party members to brutalities.
He was arrested and charged with pulling a knife with the intent to put fear of
death into one Mr Kobena Musah, an NPP Youth Organiser, on October 8, last
year.
GRi…/
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Bartels replies critics
The government agrees and supports the People's
National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People's Party (CPP) in opposing
water privatisation in the country, says Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Works
and Housing.
The Ghanaian Times, carrying the story, quotes
the Minister as saying however, that what is going on is a partnership between
the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and a private operation to increase
production and expand the distribution network of water systems.
He was reacting to the stance of the two
parties against water privatisation in the country in an interview with the paper
in Accra on Tuesday.
"There will be absolutely no
privatisation, we agree with CPP and PNC. What has been put in place is a
programme for tapping funding to increase the volume of water produced and to
expand the distribution to places, which do not have water at all, " He
said.
He explained that the government would also
help to improve the quality of services rendered by GWCL to reduce "the
unacccounted for water" estimated at 50 per cent, and to be able to
recover tariffs.
Mr Bartels said that the programme would enable
GWCL to tap expertise of others who had been in the system for some time now.
More.../
Pastor chains girl, 15, over 2,000.00 cedis
The Ashaiman Police have rescued a 15-year-old
girl whose legs were chained with lead iron overnight for allegedly stealing
2,000 cedis.
The culprit, Emmanuel Ofori Tetteh, a pastor,
is in police custody and would be arraigned before court soon.
A source at the Ashaiman Police told the Times
at Tema that the victim was a househelp living with Madam Margaret Koranteng,
Head Pastor of the Divine Healers Church at Bethlehem, Ashaiman.
Source said at about 3 pm on September 26, the
girl was sent to buy a bowl of gari for which she was given 8,000 cedis.
Suspecting that the girl had stolen 2,000 being
what was left of the 8,000 cedis, Ofori chained her legs until 7.30 a.m. the
following morning when a neighbour reported her plight to the police, leading
to their intervention to secure her freedom.
Ofori was arrested and according to the police,
he would be put before court charged with assault and unlawful umprisonment.
Meanwhile, the girl has been handed over to
Madam Koranteng since the pastor is the only relative' she knows.
More.../
Student held for threatening housemaster
A 21-year-old student of the Bolgatanga
Secondary School (BOSS), who was withdrawn for his poor academic performance,
has been placed in police custody for threatening the Senior Housemaster with
death.
The suspect, Ibrahim Noel, should have been in SSS
3 but did not understand why the school's Academic Board should withdraw him
for performing poorly in the End-of-Term promotion examinations.
He took offence and went to confront the Senior
Housemaster, Mr James Bugbila, in his bungalow. When he did not meet Mr
Bugbila, the suspect left a note and one round of ammunition on a table in the
Senior Housemaster's hall and left.
Source however said that the suspect returned
with two of his friends to Mr Bugbila who was then on his corn farm with his
son and ordered him to write a letter rescinding the academic board decision on
his withdrawal.
Whilst there, one of his friends called the
Senior Housemaster's son aside and hinted him that the suspect was armed with a
pistol and advised that his father should handle him with caution.
The Senior Housemaster after receiving the
information, from his son, asked the suspect to wait for him in his bungalow so
that he would come and write the letter, which the suspect obliged.
A report was immediately made to the police
leading to the arrest of the suspect in the bungalow. When the police conducted
a search on Noel, they found three rounds of ammunition.
More.../
Parents of missing children to be prosecuted
The Police Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) will,
henceforth, prosecute parents and guardians whose children are found missing or
loitering aimlessly.
This measure is to curb the increasing rate of
cases of lost and found children.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in Charge of
WAJU, Mrs Gifty Anin-Botwe, told the Times in Accra that between June and
September this year, the unit recorded 28 of such cases.
She explained that WAJU bore the cost of
looking after these children until they were sent to specialised homes before
sometimes their parents and guardians were found.
Out of 28 cases recorded, the parents and
guardians of 12 of the children were found, and were released. The remaining 16
are still in specialised homes.
Mrs Anin-Botwe said that most of these children
were lured into the cities with promises made to their parents to give them
good education and help to learn certain vocations.
"They however end up on the streets of
Accra selling, while others wash plates at chop bars, pound fufu at bars and
some, breaking stones, she lamented.
More.../
Ministry launches Internet programme for
community sports
The Minster of Youth and Sports, Papa
Owusu-Ankomah, has launched the Internet Training Programme for members of the
Community Sports Programme (CSP) in Accra.
Sponsored by the British Council it would offer
training in sports and computer skills to the participants with the view to
empower them to develop leadership skills.
It would also enable them to communicate with
other sports enthusiasts their soccer heroes in the UK and the rest at the world.
Launching the programme, the Minister stressed
the need to equip the youth with the necessary skills that would enable them to
be competitive in the global world.
To this end, he said, government was committed
to providing the requisite structures and resources to facilitate the
development of the youth in the country.
He said the ministry had also acquired youth leadership training centres, which were equipped with computers and appealed to the British Council to extend their training programmes to those places to empower the youth there.
The Minister thanked the Council for the
opportunity given to the young people to develop their talents and hoped that
the programme would be extended to cover the deprived areas in the country.
GRi.../
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