Bank manager steals 1.3bnC
Jack Bebli for court…In connection with highway gold robbery
Govt ordered out of Songor Lagoon…Owners swerved of 334mC
Scandal hits Akim Bosome stool
Dons warn against varsities re-opening
Bank manager steals 1.3bnC
The manager of the Mansoman Rural Bank at Manso Amenfi in the Western Region, Mr Bright A. Damoah, has embezzled 1.3 billion cedis belonging to the bank, reports the Ghanaian Times in its top story.
The Times says Mr Damoah is on the run after being granted police enquiry bail, and three men who stood surety for him are being interrogated. Mr A. Tetteh-Mensah, Assistant Director (Investigations) of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), told the press five other employees of the bank have squandered a total of 152 million cedis.
He named them as Patrick Ebbah, deputy manager, 30 million cedis, Joseph Paintsil, assistant accountant, 5.2 million cedis, Kingsley Donkor, assistant accountant, 36 million cedis, Joseph Adjei, clerk, 28.5 million cedis and Osei Kuffour, clerk, 5.2 million cedis. According to Mr Mensah, the embezzlement has crippled the operations of the bank to such an extent that a 20,000 cedi-cheque presented by a customer could not be honoured.
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Jack Bebli for court…In connection with highway gold robbery
In its lead story, the Daily Graphic reports that Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) Jack Bebli, former head of the Police Commando Unit, will appear before an Accra Circuit Tribunal on November 18, for his alleged involvement in the highway robbery of eight boxes of unrefined gold valued at 2.4 billion cedis.
The gold, belonging to Amansie Mining Resources, was stolen on the Accra-Cape Coast road. The Graphic says Jack is to appear in court with four others, who are already in custody. They are Philip Asamoah, alias ‘Ajingo’, Police Corporal James Doli, Kofi Borkor and Augustus Oko Odartey.
The paper says one other suspect, Oscar Nkrumah, has been discharged by an Accra Circuit Tribunal for lack of evidence. The robbery is said to be the first of its kind in the country. Quoting a source at the Police CID Headquarters in Accra, the Graphic says Jack was arrested for questioning shortly after the robbery and was granted bail pending further investigations.
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Govt ordered out of Songor Lagoon…Owners swerved of 334mC
The Ghanaian Chronicle in its pick of the pack, says seven years after the PNDC took over the salt-rich Songhor Lagoon at Ada in the Greater Accra Region, and retained it in trust for the people and the development of the salt industry, the owners, Tekpeblawe Divisional Council, have asked the government to quit the area, claiming that they have been exploited.
According to them, they have become ‘victims of misplaced confidence’, since all efforts to the authorities in pursuit of accrued royalties, have yielded no results. The Chronicle says the quit order followed the ‘stony silence’ from President Jerry Rawlings on their request dated May 5, 1999, for audience to discuss their concerns over exploitation of the Lagoon from which they derive no benefits.
The paper says according to the Minerals Commission, minerals royalty due from the exploitation of the lagoon by the Salt Development Task Force, set up after Vacuum Salt was edged out from 1993 to 1997, amounted to 334 million cedis.
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Scandal hits Akim Bosome stool
In its lead story, the Free Press reports that a serious tension is looming over Akim Bosome Traditional Area in the Eastern Region, in connection with who should be the next Omanhene of the area.
According to the paper, ever since the late Omanhene, Okotwasuo Oware Agyekum died in 1996, there has been an impasse among the king-makers and that the problem heightened a few months ago when the king-makers decided that a new chief should be installed.
The Free Press says consequently, for the first time in the history of the chieftaincy institution, the king-makers of Akim Bosome Stool, conducted a ballot-like election to select a new Omanhene.
The paper says the tradition where the queenmother’s nominee is the only candidate considered by the king-makers, was broken at the instance of the acting president of the traditional council, Barimah Amponsem II, who is the Krontihene of the area.
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Dons warn against varsities re-opening
The Statesman says as university authorities queue to announce their re-opening dates, the lecturers have warned against the ‘rush into re-opening until a more lasting solution’ is found.
The paper says the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG), which issued the warning, stressed the need for durable safety of life and property on campuses. The Statesman says stating UTAG’s position, the national president of the association, Prof. S.A. Osei, said that while it has declared support for the principle of cost-sharing, UTAG is concerned about the current situation of falling educational standards and education as a preserve of the rich and the well-endowed.
Prof. Osei is reported as stressing that while the principal beneficiaries of tertiary education need to contribute to its cost, the levels of contribution should take into consideration the ‘abysmally low wages and salaries in Ghana’.
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