Export Zones make gains
Pregnant woman killed… By in-laws
NUGS vow to defy government
One year after Biney’s murder
Export Zones make gains
The Daily Graphic reports in a lead story that the Free Zones Programme in its first major year of operation last year, provided employment for 4,000 Ghanaians while the export processing companies raked in $171 million during the period.
The Graphic quotes Mr Daniel Hagan, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ghana Free Zones Board as disclosing this in an interview in Accra. Mr Hagan is said to have indicated that the government’s twin objectives of generating employment and enhancing export revenue are being met to a significant degree.
He said a document on the performance of the export processing companies has been presented to Parliament for scrutiny.
The Graphic says so far, 72 companies have been registered to operate in the export processing zones (EPZs) of the Free Zones Programme out of which 46 are in operation. Mr Hagan is reported as refuting an allegation that some export processing companies are not exporting 70 per cent of their products as required by law and are said to be dumping such products on the local market. He explained that the Board has stringent measures in place, which make it difficult for any company operating under the programme to engage in such a practice.
GRi../
Ghanaian Times
Pregnant woman killed… By in-laws
In its top story, the Ghanaian Times reports that three women are in the grips of the Suame Police in Kumasi, for allegedly beating to death, Afua Kusiwaah, 25, their three-month-old pregnant sister-in-law, at Kronum near Kumasi.
The suspects are Abena Adoma, 30, Dora Akyaa, 17, and Felicia Ahenkan, 17, all traders. The police are seeking for Mary Ahenkan, the fourth suspect, who is said to be on the run. The Times says Kusiwaah died three days after the severe beating and the suspects, sensing danger went into hiding. They were, however, picked up by the Suame Police following a tip-off.
The paper says investigations revealed that the deceased’s son, who had fallen ill on that fateful day, was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital by the relatives. When Kusiwaah decided to accompany them to the hospital, the in-laws refused, accusing her of being responsible for the son’s illness because she was taking good care of him.
The child was admitted at the hospital and when the relatives returned home, they found the deceased eating. They picked up a quarrel with her saying that her action indicted that she did not care about the son’s condition. The four are said to have severely beaten the expectant woman, who fell ill three days later.
She was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital where she died. The Times says the suspects were on Wednesday, arraigned before a Kumasi Circuit Tribunal charged with conspiracy to commit crime and murder.
GRi../
NUGS vow to defy government
The Ghanaian Chronicle in a back page story, says another disruption in the academic calendar of Ghana’s universities appears imminent, following a threat by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) to continue with its mass demonstrations and protests next month if negotiations on the academic facility user fees are not resumed before the universities re-open.
The Chronicle says the students, in a press statement issued last Wednesday disclosed that they had served adequate notice of their intentions to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Peter Nanfuri and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP).
"We wish to inform all students and the public that we have written to inform the Inspector-General of Police and the university authorities through the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, of the students’ resolve to continue the mass protests and demonstrations next month if negotiations are not resumed before the universities re-open", the paper quotes the statement as stressing.
According to the Chronicle the NUGS has, therefore, called on the government to heed the request for the resumption of negotiations to ensure peace and stability on the university campuses when they re-open.
GRi../
One year after Biney’s murder
In a back page story, the Free Press says for 12 months now, the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney-General’s Department have remained silent on the death of Isaac Kofi Biney, alias ‘Joe’, who was shot and killed at dawn by some policemen, even though a government’s White Paper report has been issued on the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the case.
The paper says the family of deceased, in a press statement, said the culprits, who allegedly killed him unlawfully, have not been brought to book. It says the White Paper accepted the recommendations of the committee and called on the Inspector-General of Police to act ‘promptly and accordingly’.
The statement is said to have also indicated that the Interior Ministry recommended for the consideration of the Attorney-General’s Department, the payment of adequate compensation to the estate of the deceased, which shall take care of all relevant factors, including the late Biney’s burial and funeral, but nothing has been done to that effect.
According to the Free Press the committee recommended among other things, that Police Inspector Patrick Kuzorli of the Striking Force Unit, must be held liable for the unlawful killing of Biney and subsequently dealt with according to law, while Corporals Peter Acheampong and Isaac Andoh, must be disciplined in accordance with Police Service Regulations for dereliction of duty and misconduct. Recalling the incident, the paper says that on October 28, last year, some policemen killed the late Isaac Kofi Biney at his residence.
The free Press says the police had earlier on, described the deceased as a criminal, to the extent that cannabis were planted in his room 21 days after he was killed, apparently to cover up that unlawful act. A committee set up to investigate the matter, established that the policemen, who went to his residence, wrongfully killed Biney.
GRi../