Police
arrest suspected terrorist
Fishermen
threaten Tema harbour blockade over 700% licensing hike
No secret security agency - Minister
Media accused of fanning ethnicity
Student before tribunal for unlawful possession
of pistol
Labour disputes scare investors – Allen
Kyeremanteng
Illegal lumber now by rail transport
˘19bn phone bill left at castle
NPP must support state funding of parties
Police
arrest suspected terrorist
The
Chronicle says the Ghana police have arrested a man suspected of being a
terrorist at Bimbilla in the Northern Region. The suspect claims he is a
Lebanase.
The
man, Mohammed Fald Dagher, also known as Dagher Mohammed, Tommy Dagher, and
Ahmed Burgi, was charged with possessing fake French police identity card
number 05606 issued in Paris. He gave his age as 40.
According
to the Chronicle, Mohammed’s plea was not taken when he was arraigned before
court last week and he was whisked off into BNI custody, pending a thorough
investigation into his background.
The
court, presided over by Mrs Anderson-Yeboah, asked the prosecution to contact
the Lebanon Embassy in Ghana to authenticate the nationality claims of the
suspect.
Chief
Inspector Benedicta Akologo prosecuting told the court that the suspect was
arrested at Bimbilla in the Northern Region of Ghana on September 29 on
suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group. Further hearing was fixed for
Monday.
GRi.../
More
Fishermen
threaten Tema harbour blockade over 700% licensing hike
The
Chronicle carries that unless an immediate step is taken to arrest the
situation, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) will wake up to the
truth not long hence that the navigational channel to the Tema ports, both
fishing and main, has been blocked.
The
action reportedly would be done by wooden and industrial fishing vessels in
protest against an astronomical increase of over 700 per cent of annual vessel
ownership license fees.
Investigations
which the Chronicle says it has undertaken revealed that fishermen from Tema,
Winneba, Elmina, Cape Coast and Sekondi-Takoradi have resolved to apply this
method as the last option if the government does not come to their aid and
rather nails the coffin on the dying fishing industry.
The
fishermen's intended action stemmed from a letter the Acting Director of
Fisheries, Miss Emelia R. Annan, sent to all fishing companies.
The
September 28, 2001 letter captioned "New Rates of Fisheries Licence
Fees", stated in part that, "we have been directed by the Honourable
Minister of State for Fisheries to bring to your notice the new rates of
fishing licence fees effective January 1, 2002".
The
new rates span across the various types of vessels from Trawlers, Shrimpers,
Tuna Vessels and Inshore Carriers.
GRi…/
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No secret security agency - Minister
The Government has no intention of establishing
any secret security agency to maintain law and order in the country, the
Minister of the Interior, Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, has said, according to
the Daily Graphic.
He said the government would rather focus on
maintaining the constitutionally approved security organisations, mandated to
carry out security duties and equip them to perform more effectively.
Alhaji Yakubu gave the assurance at Yendi on
Tuesday when he held a meeting with security agencies in the Yendi, Gushegu
karaga and Zabzugu Tatale districts of the Northern Region.
He commended security personnel in the area for
their hard work and dedication in extremely difficult conditions, adding that,
"their operations have brought peace to the conflict areas in the
region".
Alhaji Yakubu, who is also the Member of
Parliament for Yendi, announced that the government is planning seriously to
scrap operation "gong gong", a task force in the Northern Region, in
the eastern corridor of the Yendi area.
To this end, he said chiefs, opinion leaders,
district chief executives and security officers have been tasked to come out
with a comprehensive report on areas where the government should provide a
permanent police post in replacement of operation "gong gong".
Touching on efficiency, the minister said:
"Equipping security personnel for efficiency is not a favour to the
officer concerned but rather the credit comes to the state". He,
therefore, charged the security personnel to uphold the integrity of their
profession by pointing out the bad nuts among them in order not to tarnish
their image.
More…/
Media accused of fanning ethnicity
The media on Wednesday came under intense
criticism when it was accused of fanning ethnicity, promoting sexual
promiscuity and engaging in acts that could possibly undermine national
security.
The comments came from Prof. Kwasi
Ansu-Kyeremeh, Ms Audrey Gadzekpo, both of the School of Communication Studies,
Legon; Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, Executive Secretary of the National Media
Commission (NMC); and Mr Tim Acquah-Hayford, a former chairman of the NMC, all
speakers at a public forum organized by the National Commission on Civil
Education (NCCE) for top executives of the media and representatives of
political parties.
The speakers deplored the bad and harsh
language in the media stating that such attitude tends to have a negative
impact on the country's development because it fans division in the society.
Professor Ansu Kyeremeh, who set the tone for
the discussion, asked media personnel to tone down the intemperate language
used in their reportage indicating that it is the responsibility of the media
to ensure that its language promote peace and stability. He added that since
the Criminal Libel Law has been repealed nothing should be done to offend the
sensibilities of the people.
He said the School of Communication Studies
will, therefore, provide guidelines for journalists in the country to enable
them to communicate more effectively.
Ms Gadzekpo, on her part, deplored the
excessive use of harsh language, particularly on women, which according to her,
brings women into public ridicule and contempt.
She said since language has connotations and
denotations, users must be careful in selecting words that would not to hurt
the sensibility of others.
The other speakers have all expressed similar
sentiments.
More…/
Student before tribunal for unlawful possession
of pistol
A seventeen-year-old student, Ibrahim Abdulai,
was on Wednesday arraigned before an Accra Circuit Tribunal charged for being
in possession of a pistol and implements intended for criminal activities.
Abdulai, a final year student of City
Engineering College at Kpehe in Accra, allegedly had attempted to enter a house
at Adabraka in Accra at about 1.30 am last Saturday, armed with a locally made
pistol, a sharp machete and a "bazooka" metal suitable for the
forcible opening of car boots.
He pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of
possessing a firearm without authority, and possessing implements adopted for
unlawful purpose.
The tribunal, chaired by Mr Mohamed Nabon,
remanded him in custody at the Osu Boys Remand Home, to appear again on
November 21.
The adjournment is to enable social workers to
examine the juvenile and also investigate his background, and inform the
tribunal accordingly.
Presenting the facts Inspector J. Anneh Kwame,
told the tribunal that at about 1.30 am last Saturday, Mr James K. Ababio, an
electrical engineer at Adabraka, who was returning home, saw the accused at the
entrance of his house carrying a bag.
The prosecution said when the engineer sought
an explanation from the accused, a bitter argument ensured between them,
attracting other inmates of the house and residents in the neighbourhood to the
scene. The prosecution said a resident of the house had already called the
police patrol team on phone.
The prosecution said the patrol team,
immediately on arrival, conducted a search on the accused and found a sharp
machete concealed in his pair of trousers. "A further search revealed that
he was carrying the gun and the "bazooka" metal in the bag", the
prosecution said.
The prosecution said during interrogation, the
accused said the weapons belong to a man whose name he only mentioned as
Ibrahim, a resident at Odawna.
GRi…/
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Labour disputes scare investors – Allen
Kyeremanteng
Labour disputes have been cited as a major
disincentive for foreign investment in the country. The President, Mr J.A.
Kufuor, is said, as a result to be personally helping to settle any difference
between the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and the Textile,
Garments and Leather Workers Union (TEGLEU), according a Ghanaian Times report.
Mr Allen Kyeremanteng, Ghana's Ambassador to
the United States, according to the paper, made these disclosures at Tema on
Tuesday during a day's seminar held for local union executives in the textile
industry by ICU/TEGLEU task force set up by the President.
The seminar was to solicit the views of the 40
participants on how they could work together under the ICU and TEGLEU to
support the President's special initiative for the garment industry.
Mr Kyeremanteng, who also chairs the task
force, explained that the garments and textile industry was being targeted by
the government because the development experience of Asian countries showed
that its entry point for economic development was from that sector.
That initiative, he said, would help address
urban and peri-urban poverty.
More…/
Illegal lumber now by rail transport
Chain-saw operators have now resorted the use
of rail transport to convey illegal timber logs to avoid arrest by Forestry
Commission officials who check their illegal operations on the roads. The
illicit activities are conducted at midnight on the quiet.
After felling the logs, the chain-saw operators
load them on trucks and accompany them to the rail stations to be transported
to various destinations of their choice.
The Assistant Central Regional Manager in
charge of the Forestry Commission, Mr Mike Nzulu, disclosed this to the Times
at Cape Coast.
He mentioned Mbraim, Mempeasem, Wabuabin,
Sobroso and the Wampamu as some towns in the Central Region engaged in the act.
The chain-saw operators in these communities
cart the logs and transport them through the Diaso-Dunkwa rail lines to
Takoradi and Kumasi respectively for off-loading.
Mr Nzulu said that although the Commission made
several complaints to the railway authorities at Diaso-Dunkwa to check the
activities, the situation had remained unchanged. He said that the failure of
the authorities to cooperate with the commission to check the illegal
activities of the chain-saw operators was very disturbing.
He appealed to the Police to assist the
Commission's efforts to clamp down on the activities of the chain-saw operators
in the region.
He however indicated that the Commission's
monitoring task force had intercepted 12 trucks with illegal chain-saw lumber
valued at 15 million cedis in some parts of the Region and the drivers involved
who were arrested would soon be arraigned before court.
GRi…/
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˘19bn phone bill left at castle
The Evening News reports that about 300
telephone lines whose bills were debited to the Office of the President at the
Castle, Osu have accumulated ˘19 billion to be paid for by the state.
The paper says its investigations at the Castle
have revealed that about 200 of the lines were private lines of former
Ministers of the NDC and close associates of former President Rawlings.
Prominent among them was Mr Michael Sousoudis,
a cousin of former President Rawlings whose telephone bill was borne by the
state throughout the period of the PNDC and the NDC rule. This bill is said to
be running into millions of cedis, according to Castle sources.
Also, two Warrant Officers who acted as liaison
officers between the Castle and Ghana Telecom gave out tens of lines to members
of the 64 Battalion Infantry and some bodyguards of ex-President Rawlings.
The two men, according to the source usually
went to Ghana Telecom claiming the then President or his wife, Nana Konadu
Agyeman Rawlings has instructed that lines should be given out to certain
people and the bills credited to the Office of the President.
The source said the Office of the President
woke up from its slumber when the bills were presented by Ghana Telecom when
the NPP government took over the reigns of government.
On receiving the bills, the source said
suspicion arose, following the substantial amount involved and therefore
decided to cross check on the actual users of the lines involved.
It said all the 300 lines were disconnected
after which the users were contacted individually. The source said those from
the 64 Battalion Infantry when confronted with the situation made it clear that
they were not ready to pay any bill.
It said, the Police, Military and the Prisons
Service also had accumulated bills, all debited to the accounts of the Office
of the President.
Some of the lines, according to the source had
International Direct Dial (IDD) on them, making it possible for the
"illegal" to abuse their use.
More…/
NPP must support state funding of parties
The government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
will risk dipping its hands into the national coffers if it does not give heed
to calls to finance registered political parties in the country.
Mr Kosi Kedem, the NDC MP for Hohoe South made
this observation on Wednesday when he presented a statement to Parliament on
"zero tolerance for corruption and state funding of registered political
parties."
He said President Kufuor has declared his
intention to enforce his policy of zero tolerance for corruption, noting that
"there is +no way he can implement this laudable policy successfully
without the state giving some financial assistance to the political parties.
Mr Kedem said, "the governing party itself
need money to run its operation and if it had not got money, it might be
tempted to dip its long hands into the national coffers."
He said that would surely defeat the zero
tolerance for corruption concept.
Mr Kedem said the opposition parties need
financial assistance to function properly or even survive and if the nation was
to ensure good governance, there should be the need for an active, virile
opposition.
The MP maintained that the partial funding of
registered political parties would minimize the incidence of corruption in politics
and also strengthen democratic governance.
GRi…/
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Ashanti NDC executive calls for probe
A section of supporters of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kumasi are earnestly appealing to the national
headquarters of the NDC to probe the current executive body of the party
including the retired chairman, Mr P.E.K. Antwi.
Speaking to a section of journalists in Kumasi,
the spokesman of the group, Kofi Manu of the Ashanti New Town (a Kumasi suburb)
branch of NDC bemoaned that since the party lost to NPP in the 2000 elections
the party's functions seem to come to a halt. Manu said when they inquired at
the Regional office at Tarzan House, Adum, another Kumasi suburb, no one
attended to them.
According to Mr Manu, he was surprised to hear
that there was not even one car at the party's office for administrative
duties. Again, he said, the party's telephone lines have been disconnected
because they could not pay phone bills. Besides, the workers at the party’s
regional office have been paid their salaries for the past three months.
The group said it was more worried because
despite the fact that the party has not even one office car, some unknown NDC
activists are always seen driving those cars allotted to the region on their
own errands.
The group further observed that immediately the
party lost in the elections, newspapers reported that the regional executives
including Mr P.E.K. Antwi and Mr. Antwi Fordjour both Chairman and vice
Chairman respectively had allegedly stolen billions of cedis into their private
pockets but the allegations was shelved, giving room for Mr P.E.K. Antwi to
resign and go scot-free without being probed.
"Now that we want to rebuild a solid and
untainted NDC in Kumasi we call on the national party head office to direct a
probe into the Ashanti NDC to bring to light the whereabouts of the cars and
the alleged billions of cedis blown within the party in Kumasi," the group
concluded.
GRi…/
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The Crusading Guide quotes Bishop Charles
Palmer Buckle, Catholic Bishop of Koforidua and a Member of the Ghana Catholic
Bishops' Conference as saying that investigations for National Reconciliation
should not be restricted to the era of Flt. Lt. (Rtd) Jerry John Rawlings'
administration.
Speaking to a BBC Correspondent on the ‘Focus
on Africa’ programme, Bishop Buckle expressed the view that there are many
Ghanaians who definitely feel also hurt by the first Government of Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah, others by the National Liberation Council (NLC) Government that
followed that of Nkrumah and those who harbour similar feelings about the Busia
regime and the rest of them.
In this vein therefore, he opined, "I
think it should go as far back as 1957".
He said as a Church body, what the Catholic
Bishops' Conference is asking for is that National Reconciliation should go
further than the Rawlings era.
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An Accra High Court has granted an order of
interim injunction restraining the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) from
electing new board members to run the affairs of the society.
A story in the Graphic Showbiz says the order
followed an ex-parte application filed by three members of the society seeking
an order on COSGA to render accounts on its activities to its members. The
applicants are Carlos Sakyi, Khodjo Aquai and Charles Amoah.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Yao
Appau, said the order remains valid for 14 days unless otherwise ordered.
The court action brings to a temporary halt an
arrangement brokered by the Attorney General Nana Akufo-Addo to enable COSGA to
hold an election last Tuesday to elect a president for the society.
At a meeting with COSGA on September 18, Nana
Akufo-Addo advised the members to have a register of members published,
nominations for positions field and elections held by October 16.
Soon after that meeting, the Ghana Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers (GHASCAP) petitioned the Attorney General to
probe the activities of COSGA.
The petition, signed by Messrs Carlos Sakyi,
Charles Amoah and Khojo Aquai said: “Since COSGA’s inception, the only real
beneficiaries have been its officers. The real and true owners, that is,
songwriters and music publishers, have been deprived of income, which accrues
from their creative efforts, and activities, which are financed at a great cost
to them.
More…/
An art exhibition to raise funds in support of
victims of the September 11 terrorist attack on the US has been organised at
the National Theatre in Accra under the theme, “Statue of Liberty - I’m still
standing”.
The one-day exhibition organised by the
American Chamber of Commerce and the National Theatre of Ghana with support
from some media organisations brought together nineteen artists including
Louise Clarke, Larry Otoo, Glen Turner, Papa Essel and Hacajaka. Also in
attendance were Anane Asare, Owusu Dartey, Amoonoo, Nestor Hernandez and
collections from the Asafo Galeriy.
Even though the occasion was meant for the
artists, it benefited from a dazzling performance by the National Dance Company
who in a moving choreography by F. Nii Yartey, paid tribute to those who
perished in the US tragedy. The dance, “Lamentation”, featured twenty-two
people wearing black and red costume, symbolising agony, sorrow, and mourning.
Lamentation
enacted a busy office scene, which was suddenly brought to ruin by an explosion
causing manly deaths.
The actual art exhibition started right after
the dance session. A fly past the collection of artworks that were on show
revealed very sophisticated works of art. One of the most captivating art
pieces that drew the attention of many was “Upholding Peace”, by one Anane
Asare. The paintings depicted two hands, one holding a white dove and the other
clutching it of pull it down.
“At first sight one’s mind is strayed to the
picture of he World Trade Centre sky-scrappers engulfed in smoke; and one’s
curiosity would have ended there. But according to the artist, the arm holding
the dove represents peace while the other represent confusion” carries the
Showbiz.
Other works which attracted attention had the
title “Ceremonial Day”, “Sweet Sound”, “Living on Peg” all by Anorff of Asafo
Galery; “Canoes”, “Winneba”, “Wash Day” by Amoonoo; “Rhythm, Gwujoje” by Louise
Clarke, and many other works.
The President of the American Chamber of
Commerce, Mr Ladi Nylander thanked all present on behalf of the disaster
victims.
GRi…/
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