‘Money palaver’ rocks Ghana Football Association!
Customs Service in trouble as importer threatens legal action
‘Rawlings will end up at mental hospital if…’ - Attoh Quarshie
“We won’t toy with poverty reduction programme”
- Nduom
Woman reports husband to police for possessing unlicensed pistol
Man’s murder attempt on wife foiled
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 May 2002 - The former Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Alhaji MND Jawula, is at the centre of a scandal involving the sum of $128,604 which had not been accounted for.
The Crusading Guide’s investigations have established that the money was to cover the cost of air tickets for a friendly ‘A’ match between Egypt and Ghana originally scheduled to be played in Egypt on 26 or 27 May 2000 and another one scheduled for Athens, the capital city of Greece.
The letter written on 13 April 2000 by the then GFA General Secretary, Mr W.K. Agrah, to his Egyptian counterpart had stated that instead of 30 tickets the GFA had proposed that the Egyptian FA should send to them (GFA), an amount of $45,000 to cover the cost of the tickets. The money, according to the letter, was to reach the GFA latest by 10 May 2000 “to enable us purchase the tickets.”
“Instead of 30 tickets, we propose you send to us $45,000 to cater for the tickets. Experience has shown that we usually require re-routing for our Europe-based players and that creates problems when we don’t handle the tickets ourselves,” W.K. Agrah had explained.
In another letter, the GFA had indicated that a cheque numbered 50351, dated 29 June 2000 presented to it could not be cashed and therefore requested the Egyptian FA to provide $45,000 to Mr Khamatey of Ghana Mission, Cairo for onward transmission to it (GFA).
Further investigations revealed that upon a fax received by the GFA dated 16 November 1999, its Management Board preferred receiving another $20,447 in cash instead of bank transfer because of alleged anticipated problems associated with such transfers. “The Management Board of the Football Association prefers receiving US$20,447 in cash instead of by bank transfer because of anticipated problems associated with such transfer,” former GFA boss, Alhaji Jawula wrote in his 18 November 1999 letter to the General Secretary of the Egyptian Football Association.
The amount was to be collected from Gen M. El Deeh, General Secretary of the Egyptian Football Association by the same Alhaji Khamatey.
Regarding the friendly match billed for Athens early 2000, the GFA had requested for $63,157 from Hellenic Football Federation instead of tickets. One Mr Alex Asante, who was to arrive at Athens on 29 February 2000 had been authorised to collect the money on behalf of the GFA.
Another letter The Crusading Guide intercepted, written by Mr Agra said that an international friendly match between Ghana and Egypt was to come off and that Ghana’s team had been booked to arrive in Cairo on Thursday 15 June 2000 by Egyptian flight MS 856 from Accra. In addition to that Alhaji Jawula was expected in Cairo from 27-30 May 2000 for the CAF Inter-Clubs meeting and “we kindly ask you to contact him and hand over the amount of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) to him (cost of airfares)…”
After waiting in vain without any account being rendered by Alhaji Jawula and his team of administrators, the GFA, through its current General Secretary, Mr Kofi Nsiah, wrote to him (Jawula) referring to the three financial transactions executed between 1999 and 2000 totalling $128,604. Three good letters were sent to the ex-GFA boss requesting him to throw more light on the transactions before he sent his response to the GFA.
In his reaction, which was contained in a letter dated 12 April 2002, Alhaji Jawula stated that as far as he could recall those friendly matches were sponsored by the two associations (He did not specify which of them). “I am doing my best to recall receipts and documents related to the two events. You will appreciate that since the documentations concern players at home and abroad, it is taking me awhile to assemble them for your information,” he claimed.
Armed with the findings on the $128,604 saga, The Crusading Guide contacted the former GFA boss who, preferring not to be recorded on tape, submitted that instead of the $45,000 that the then GFA requested, they received only $20,000 from the Egyptian Football Association as tickets money.
Asked why they (GFA) preferred cash to cheque, he said that the cheques that were usually given to the GFA bounced, hence the need to request for cash. On why those monies were not captured in the GFA accounts, Alhaji Jawula said, “It is not income for the GFA but airfares. I cannot account for it because the tickets have been used.” He said, adding that, “it was not captured in the GFA accounts because there was no appearance fee.”
Alhaji Jawula pressed on to say that since no money was paid to the Football Association in that reciprocal match (Egypt, Ghana match) it must not be captured in the GFA accounts.
“Somebody must have an interest to blow headlines and embarrass me. What is the interest of anybody? Somebody wants to damage me. Anas (the paper’s reporter), I am wondering why somebody should show interest in that? He submitted. He added that the flight took place and the match was honoured with Ghana winning by two goals to one against the Egyptians.
On the Greece (Hellenic) and Ghana (Black Stars) encounter, Alhaji reiterated that all monies due Ghana was duly paid ($63,000). The former GFA boss said since the money was paid to the airlines he would require some efforts to reconcile the two (Egyptian and Greece matches). “I am not supposed to account for the monies to the GFA but to the airlines,” he stressed. – The Crusading Guide.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 02 May 2002 - The Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) is likely to pay huge, punitive costs should it be dragged to court over the unlawful seizure of some vehicles imported into the country. The importer, Mr Kwabena Amoako Dacosta, has threatened to go to court if CEPS fails to meet his demand.
Dacosta’s three imported vehicles have allegedly been seized unlawfully for reallocation. Solicitor for Dacosta, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, told the Chronicle that unless CEPS refunds all taxes and duties paid on the said vehicle and the importer recovers the cost of the car within seven days, legal action would be instituted against CEPS. Solicitor Afrifa is also demanding other charges from CEPS.
Chronicle has gathered that in the early part of 2001, Dacosta went to Germany and bought three vehicles: Opel Astra, Opel Vectra and an E2200 Mazda bus. He shipped them to Ghana through Amsterdam per Daves Shipping Agency in Tema. The importer/consignee was asked by CEPS to pay ¢37 million as duty. Since he could not clear the cars within the 60 days, he applied for an extension of another 60 days, which was duly granted (according to a correspondence signed by one J. Oduro-Firikyi).
The authorisation for the extension followed the imposition of a further ¢10 million penalty. The cars were to be cleared from the port before 12 October 2001. Before the importer could take delivery of the said cars, CEPS had allocated them to other people without consulting him.
Dacosta, therefore, petitioned CEPS through his shipping agent. Assistant Commissioner of CEPS, Mr J.K. Oklu, in a memo to the CEPS Commissioner on 25 October 2001 confirmed the authenticity of the petitioner’s claim. Oklu explained that the Mazda bus was allocated in replacement of a Nissan Urvan as part of settlement of a case in which a car allocated to an Assistant Commissioner was withdrawn.
Commissioner Oklu’s explanation came following a letter No. H/IMP/I/SF2 dated 31 July 2001 and signed for the CEPS Commissioner by the Head of Auction, Kwaku Sam-Amoah. The Opel Vectra was also allocated to one K.B. Apenkwa of Koforidua at ¢11.3 million on 3 August 2001 while the third of Dacosta’s imported cars, Opel Astra was offered at ¢7.5 million to one Pendor Mahmoud of Kumasi.
In view of the developments, Oklu recommended last October that CEPS make efforts to find suitable replacement for the importer. It was further suggested that in lieu of a replacement monies paid by the importer as duties, taxes and penalties should be refunded to him to ease his financial burden.
Six months on, CEPS would not budge hence the intended legal action to recover the cost of the cars and all taxes, duties and penalties. The current open value of the three cars, according to Chronicle survey, is about ¢150 million. Opel Astra - ¢40 million, Opel Vectra - ¢45 million and Mazda - ¢65 million.
The above developments can be weighed in the light of a law court that in 1991 granted the reliefs sought by a petitioner in a similar case, Nicole versus CEPS, as reported by the 1992 Ghana Law Report, page 135. CEPS had had to pay ¢500,000 as compensation and was ordered to pay ¢3,000 per day for the loss of use of a car detained for three months. It also had to pay ¢2,424,000 for the unlawful detention of the car. That was 11 years ago.
According to the report, CEPS had detained Nicole’s vehicle from 15 August to October in 1991. She sued for general and exemplary damages. In granting the reliefs sought, the court, presided over by Mr J. Lutterodt, delivered judgement in strong language because CEPS had failed to explain their unlawful conduct.
It was further explained that one of the categories under, which exemplary damages were awarded was where there was oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional action by the servants of the government, in this case, CEPS. In Nicole versus CEPS, the defendants had, as in the Dacosta and CEPS encounter, disregarded all laws in connection with the seizure and reallocation. It is believed that after the cars have been allocated for a pittance, CEPS officials collect monies to top up the price of the said cars. – The Chronicle.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 02 May 2002 - A veteran politician of the Danquah-Busiah tradition, Mr J. Attoh Quarshie, has predicted that ex-President Jerry Rawlings would end up in a psychiatric hospital if he failed to listen to reason and pull out of partisan politics.
Speaking in an exclusive interview in Accra, Attoh Quarshie noted that the “three deadly punches” inflicted on the ex-President by his own tribesmen should serve as a serious warning to him. “Mr Rawlings must learn from history - from the days of Nkrumah till now. He must know when enough is enough. We told him not to stand in 1992. He ignored it. He manipulated the system and had his way. There we are now. Whoever thought Obed Asamoah could give Jerry a ‘triple jump’ - crusading against the co-chairmanship, getting them to put the issues to a vote and actually competing in an electoral process and winning, in spite of the heavy odd.”
He agreed with Prof F.A. Ayittey that Rawlings is a spent force in the politics of Ghana and must, therefore, stop deceiving himself. What Rawlings can do now, he said, to save his soul is retire from the flare of public life on to a farm and set himself in tune with nature for spiritual nourishment. “He has the money and the connections to do this to refresh himself spiritually and help feed the nation. As for his much-touted Malaria Project, it is only a political gimmick. Retire onto a farm he must,” the veteran politician emphasized.
Quarshie also predicted the demise of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), especially if the party retained its name and kept to its unholy and undemocratic ways of doing things. “The NDC is a cursed party because of the party’s gory, bloodletting past. That is why it needs a spiritual purification, a new name and image as well as total reorientation if it is to win any future elections in Ghana.”
He was, however, impressed with the way the NDC congress went, as well as the result, revealing that both Obed and Mahama are his political friends and mates in the erstwhile United National Convention (UNC), led by the late Mr William Ofori Atta (Paa Willie), a member of Ghana’s Big Six and former Member of the Council of State in the Third Republic under Dr Hilla Limann.
“I know Obed as a sober politician with solid democratic credentials. I know he is a good listener and capable of leading the NDC. To do this effectively, however, he must get closer to his friends in the party and also reconcile with all his opponents since his success as a leader will depend on deepening relations and total cooperation with rank and file members of his party.”
Bu the veteran politician also had some words of warning to the new leader of the NDC. “Beware of sycophants. It was sycophants who ran Nkrumah down. They did the same to Rawlings, and they will be seeking to do it to you.” – The Chronicle.
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$6 million for health care delivery
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 May 2002 - The Bill Gates Foundation has made available $6 million to complement government’s effort to improve health care delivery services in the country. The provision of the money became necessary when Ghana was selected after a preliminary study carried out in six countries to determine the current status of access to essential medicines and vaccines.
The amount would be used to undertake a project named, Strategies for Enhancing Access to Medicines (SEAM) in the country. The Registrar of the Pharmacy Council, Mr Michael Awuku-Kwetia, announced this at a day’s consultative meeting for stakeholders in the Pharmacare industry in Accra on Tuesday. The aim of the meeting was to brainstorm on the SEAM project. Mr Awuku-Kwetia said $1 million would be given to the Pharmacy Council component of the project while the remaining $5 million would be made available to the entire Ghana project.
He said Ghana became a beneficiary of the project after preliminary studies conducted by management of Science for Health (MSH), a non-governmental organisation based in the United State of America, in six countries to determine the current status of access to essential medicines, and vaccines in developing countries. The MSH is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the SEAM project programme in the selected countries.
Mr Awuku-Kwetia said MSH carried feasibility studies on the implementation of the strategies and the likelihood of significant and substantial increase in access. He said Ghana was one of the three countries selected to receive funding under the programme in January/February, this year. He said in Ghana, beneficiary agencies include the Pharmacy Council and Ghana Social Marketing Foundation, adding that one of the strategies of the programme is to educate and train licensed chemical sellers. – Daily Graphic.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
02 May 2002 - The Government is to launch a ‘Government Book of Business 2002’
setting out action plans for various ministries for the implementation of the
Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (GPRSP). A monitoring committee will
be set up to see how the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are
complying with the plan.
The Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom
disclosed this at the monthly luncheon of the America Chamber of Commerce
(AMCHAM) in Accra. He was delivering a lecture on the topic “ Ghana’s Reduction
Poverty Strategy” (GPRSP).
He said the book will contain information on the programmes and policies that
are to be executed within the year, when such programmes will be started as
well as dates for their completion. He said the book will also ensure that,
ministries implement to the letter, programmes that have been stated in the
book.
Additionally, he said, a finance committee will be constituted to ensure that
all the programmes and policies outlined in the business book are funded. This,
Dr Nduom said, will help the government to be in a position to review the
progress of work of every ministry and reprimand those that are unable to
implement their programmes.
Giving an overview of the GPRSP, the minister said the long-term vision of the
government is to double the national per capita income from the present $400 to
$800 per annum within the next 10 years. He conceded that this is a daunting
task, but was confident that, “nonetheless, it is achievable.” Dr Nduom said
what the GPRSP seeks to do is to lay the foundation for the accelerated growth
of the economy.
The minister said
there is a misconception that the GPRSP is meant only to address poverty in the
country, and informed the gathering that the document addresses vital issues as
macro-economic stability, restructuring of the capital market, enhancing the
export trade, production and gainful employment and agro-processing, among
others. He said the GPRSP is, therefore a medium-term strategy that will
facilitate the expansion and growth of the economy.
On education, the document recommends the need to change the educational system
to ensure that there is uninterrupted education for all Ghanaians from the
pre-school to age 17 to reduce poverty and create the opportunity for human
development. Additionally, Dr Nduom said, there is the need to develop a model
senior secondary school in every district of the country.
He said the short-term priority of the GPRSP requires an amount of $1.6 billion
to finance all the programmes under the three-year GPRSP. He revealed that
financing programmes under the GPRSP, is not what the government’s problem is,
but the ability to spend the funds made available for such programmes.
On the private sector, the minister said the objective of government is to
strengthen it to ensure that it is capable of acting effectively as the engine
of growth and poverty reduction. He said this can be achieved through effective
collaboration between the government and the private sector, both foreign and
local, as well as the government’s provision of active assistance through the
divestiture programme, financing and the streamlining of government
bureaucracy.
Dr Nduom said strategies for poverty reduction include prudent fiscal and
monetary policies, private sector-led industrial production through application
of science and technology, and the ability to have sound and sustainable management
of the environment. - Daily Graphic.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 02 May 2002 - Suspecting that her husband might be involved in sinister activities, Akosua Konadu of Asuofua on the Kumasi-Barekese road, secretly collected his unlicensed locally manufactured pistol and handed it over to the local police.
She also gave to the police an empty cartridge suggesting that the weapon might have been fired recently. Police sources said in Kumasi on Tuesday that Akosua, who lives with Tawiah, saw him holding the pistol in their room last week Monday.
And suspecting that her man might be up to some mischief, she secretly collected the weapon from the pocket of the man’s pair of trousers hung on the wall. At about 9.00 pm, she sneaked out of the home and headed straight to the police station where she handed over the pistol with the empty cartridge. – The Ghanaian Times.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) 02 May 2002 - Residents of the Airport Residential Area at Sunyani last Tuesday saved a woman from being murdered by the husband.
Jon Bio, the husband, now in the hands of the Police Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU), was said to have charged on the wife, Charlotte Boamah, 30, with a sharp cutlass. He had accused her of cheating on him and even threw the cutlass at her in their room but missed her narrowly.
He then dashed for the weapon and chased the woman to butcher her but her shouts for help attracted some neighbours who went to her aid. Not satisfied, the suspect damaged a wardrobe recently bought by the wife, threw out her belongings amidst threats of death if she should not pack and leave. He was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Alex Yartey Tawiah, head of WAJU, the suspect, an employee of the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) stationed at Goaso, was in December last year, bonded for similar incident when he hit the wife on the check with the head of a cutlass and threatened to kill her.
ASP Yartey Tawiah said during the Easter holidays, the woman asked permission from the suspect to visit her grandmother at Mankessim in the Central Region. The suspect granted the permission and gave her money and she left their two daughters. Since her return, after two weeks stay at Mankessim, the suspect had been taking offence of every trivial and rained insults on her amidst accusations of her infidelity.
At about 6 am on the day of the incident, the suspect got angry when the wife pleaded on behalf of a young lady who was being reprimanded by her mother of staying out late. The suspect was said to have told the wife that her intervention suggested that she and the young lady were of the same feather. When the wife got angry over the husband’s statement, the man picked the cutlass and threw it at her.
ASP Yartey Tawiah said the couple had been married for nine years. He expressed concern about the spate of spousal violence in most parts of the region and called on the public to help WAJU by reporting such incidents promptly for the necessary action. – The Ghanaian Times.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo Region) 02 May 2002 - A watchman of the Christ the King Cathedral at Sunyani has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for stealing ¢500,000 being tithes paid by church members.
Alfred Beyuo, 39, was last Monday caught in the act by the Rev Father Augustine Opoku Tabiri, picking money from the tithe box. A search on him by the Catholic Priest revealed a master key, and some coins, including the missing amount in ¢2,000 denominations.
He was consequently handed over to the police who after investigations charged him with stealing. Sentencing him, the circuit court Judge, Mr Justice Erasmus Gyinea, described his conduct as very reprehensive and referred to him as a “bad nut in society.”
He ordered that the money be given back to the church and the master key destroyed. The facts of the case as presented by Assistant Superintendent Alex Yartey-Tawiah, were that there were series of stealing cases including car tapes and bags of church members at the church. And as a result of rampant theft of tithes of church members, the authorities of the church decided to change all the padlocks of the tithe boxes.
Unknown to them, the accused had managed to acquire a master key and last Monday, luck however, eluded him when he was spotted by the priest taking money from one of the boxes.
He pleaded with the priest to tamper justice with mercy but the priest would not budge and handed him over to the police. He was convicted on his own plea of guilty. - The Ghanaian Times.
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