1
billion cedis fraud at BOG – five top officials nabbed.
Security
officer sacked over MPs housing deal.
4 die
after beach party
Ignore
Johnny Hansen – Mike Eghan
Nation
saved by the bell – Cote D’Ivoire’s 48hr ultimatum to Ghana.
Minister's
prison threat to opposition activists
$
1.4 million from python export
The
Daily Graphic
1
billion cedis fraud at BOG – five top officials nabbed.
The
Daily Graphic's lead story says five top officials of the Bank of Ghana (BOG),
including the Ashanti Regional Manageress who constituted themselves into a
fraud syndicate and allegedly embezzled about one billion cedis belonging to
the state, have been nabbed by the security forces.
The
five who have since been interdicted and are currently on bail awaiting
prosecution, allegedly perpetrated the fraud between December 1997 and November
last year when their clandestine deals were uncovered.
The
report named them as Mrs Janet Gyimah-Kesse, the Ashanti Regional Manageress of
the BOG; Mr Simon Quist Kwadje, Currency Manager; Mr Samuel Ellis-Obir, Banking
Manager; Mr Osei Kwadwo, Treasury Manger and Mr Martin Boadi Okae, Security
Guard at the BOG and an ex-police constable.
It
says a reliable source has indicated that the culprits have confessed their
involvement in the said embezzlement and the regional manageress has already
refunded 100 million cedis of the amount allegedly stolen from the vault of the
Central Bank.
According
to the report, the fraud was uncovered following a tip-off to the security
agencies that 278 million cedis of state money has been stolen from the bank’s
vault.
Investigations
conducted into the matter jointly by the security and auditors from the head
office of BOG, showed the total amount embezzled to be around one billion
cedis.
GRi…/
The
Ghanaian Times
Security
officer sacked over MPs housing deal.
The
Ghanaian Times in its lead story reports that in a desperate move to stop
further leakage of information on Members of Parliament who have rented out
their houses acquired by the government, a security man of the Manet Housing
Limited has been sacked.
According
to the report, the security man, Mr Frederick Bray, 50, was sacked a few hours
after being questioned on suspicion of having leaked information on the issue to
the Ghanaian Times.
In
a bizarre twist to the story, which the 'Times' first carried on Tuesday,
February 22, Frederick has been singled out by officials of Manet Company as
the informant and was verbally told to go home and not to report again for work,
the report said.
Investigations
conducted by the paper revealed that the company, after the publication,
questioned its security men at the Manet Ville, after which Mr Bray who has
worked with the company for four years was suspected to be the informant and
was sacked even though he denied the accusation.
The
report says when the 'Times' contacted the Manet Housing Limited on phone, a
staff who identified himself as Alfred, denied the accusations and said,
"Mr Bray was sacked for unsatisfactory work out put".
More../
Four
die after beach party
In
another front page story, the Ghanaian Times reports that the port city of Tema
was on Easter Monday thrown into a state of mourning when four boys aged
between 18 and 20, died in an accident while returning from a beach party at
the Mighty Beach near Sakumono.
A
fifth person is said to be on admission at the Tema General Hospital and
medical authorities described his condition as stable.
The
report says the deceased, three of whom are students and the other an employee
of the Tema oil refinery, fell from the bucket of their KIA Pick-up vehicle
resulting in the instant death of one while the others died later in hospital.
The
accident is said to have occurred at about 7.45 p.m. at the community one traffic
lights towards the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) offices.
An
eyewitness told the 'Times' yesterday that the driver ignored the traffic
lights and sped on when he was supposed to stop. In his attempt to negotiate a
sharp curve at the traffic light, the vehicle swayed and the five victims,
seated on the sideboard of the bucket, were thrown to the ground.
The
report adds that the driver of the vehicle did not stop to help the victims
when the accident occurred and has since not reported to the police.
GRi…/
The
Evening News
Ignore
Johnny Hansen – Mike Eghan
The
Evening News in its lead story reports that the third vice chairman of the
Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Mr Mike Eghan, has described Mr Johnny Hansen,
a presidential aspirant of the party as “someone with archaic political ideas”.
He
is said to have stated that Mr Hansen has no clear vision or message as to how
to move the party or the country forward and called on party supporters to
ignore him.
Mr
Eghan in responding, to Mr Hansen’s call for a boycott of the proposed congress
of the party on May 19, said since 1992 when Mr Hansen joined the former
Convention Party, he had made no meaningful contribution to the building of the
party.
“He
is out of touch and worried about his chances of ever achieving his dream as
chief executive of Ghana. His call for the boycott of the congress is a clear
indication of his realisation that he has no support after going round the
various constituencies to enable him to win the presidential slot at the
congress”, he said.
Mr
Eghan is said to have described Mr Hansen’s claim that the committee that
proposed the date for the congress is unconstitutional as baseless and asked
him to carefully read the party’s constitution.
GRi…/
Nation
saved by the bell – Cote D’Ivoire’s 48hr ultimatum to Ghana.
The
Ghanaian Chronicle reports that the crises in the Ghanaian economy, which was
caused largely by a foreign exchange crunch, hit the Volta River Authority
(VRA), the nation’s power generating body last week, when it had to fork out $
6 million (about 33.6 billion cedis) to
settle a debt owed to its Ivorian counterpart, the CIE to stop the Ivorians
from plunging part of Ghana into darkness.
The
debt was to service importation of power to augment local power production and
supply, the paper said adding that its investigations have revealed that the
VRA settled the debt last week.
The
paper says in spite of the ultimatum, the VRA's Acting Director of
Organisational Services, Mrs Ellen Essilfie, played down the import of the debt
demand and settlement issue in an interview but admitted that the Authority
managed to raise the amount to settle the debt through ECOBANK Ghana Limited
last Thursday.
According
to the report, the debt settlement came after the scare of the contents of an
ultimatum contained in a letter to the VRA has raised eye-brows within informed
circles on the effects of the threat of CIE to unplug supply to Ghana from
source within 48 hours, if the debt was not settled.
GRi…/
The Weekly Insight carries a story in which it reports that Dr Gamal Nkrumah, son of Ghana’s first president, is on the rampage. He is reported to have accused President Rawlings of instituting a reign of terror in Ghana between 1982 and 1992.
According
to the report, Dr Gamal Nkrumah in an article published in the ‘Al Ahram’, an
Egyptian newspaper, listed Mr Rawlings among African military dictators who
have been compelled to shed their skins and take on civilian attire.
Dr
Nkrumah’s article headed “General takes up position-Ivory Coast coup
D’tat”, also takes swipes at Mr
Rawlings for becoming the darling boy of imperialism.
It
said among others that “After executing three former Ghanaian military rulers
and scores of fellow army officers and civilians, Rawlings proceeded to
institute a reign of terror that lasted from 1982 to 1992 when he apparently
decided that it was time to slip into something a little more comfortable. His
expanding waistline must have looked somewhat ungainly in his old air force
uniform".
“Not
only did Rawlings pioneered the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in Africa,
but presided over economic liberalisation that amounted to selling of
practically anything from goldfields and timber concession to chocolate
factories, hotels and hospitals", the report adds.
For
this, the report says, Rawlings was handsomely rewarded. US President Bill
Clinton and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II paid official visits to Ghana, and
Rawlings became the star attraction at numerous African international economic
forums, says the report.
Dr
Nkrumah who is currently the foreign editor of the "Al Ahram" is
expected to deliver the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lectures in London in October
this year.
GRi…/
The
Free Press
Minister's
prison threat to opposition activists
The
Free Press says as Ghanaians prepare for the forth coming general elections,
acts of intimidation and threats by some politicians with a view to silencing
those who will campaign openly against them as a matter of constitutional
right, have started in certain parts of the Eastern Region.
The
paper cites as a typical case of reference, a recent complaint lodged by Mr
Ahmed Mensah Bonsu, a chemical seller at Obohoo, a village near Begoro in the
Fanteakwah Constituency, that an NDC Member of Parliament in the company of
other party functionaries had threatened to put him in prison custody should he
fail to defect to the NDC.
The
paper however says the alleged culprit in question, Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo,
Fanteakwa Constituency Member of Parliament who is also the Deputy Eastern
Regional Minister, has denied having threatened Mr Ahmed Mensah Bonsu. For him,
it was a hearty conversation between him and the complainant.
According
to the paper, when its reporter contacted the police station at Begoro where
the complaint was lodged, the police refused to talk to him.
GRi…/
The
Dispatch
$
1.4 million from python export.
The
Dispatch reports that Ghana received a total of $ 1.4 million from the export
of pythons last year. Out of the amount, $ 31,000 was realised from 6,000 adult
pythons collected from the bush and $ 1.4 million from 28,000 baby pythons from
various ranches.
The
report quotes Mr Brian Basuglo, Senior Wildlife Protection Officer, as saying
in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the country is always
close to its export quota, which is 7,000 adult and 28,583 baby pythons.
He
said the Wildlife Department issues licenses to 21 exporters to collect a quota
of 3,000 pregnant pythons from the bush. They are returned to the wild after
they have laid eggs.
He
is said to have added that, "a total of 10 percent of the baby pythons
hatched are also returned to the wild by exporters who are mainly based in
Accra".
GRi…/