Ghana Institute of Journalism releases results
Bawku (Upper East) 08 April 2002- More than 800 Ghanaians travelling from various towns in Burkina Faso to Ghana are stranded at Bittou, a Burkinabe town 18 miles from Bawku, as a Burkinabe transport union deny vehicles with Ghanaian registration numbers passage.
There are also at the moment, more than 600 passengers made up of Ghanaians, Burkinabes and Nigeriens travelling to Burkina Faso and Niger, equally stranded at Bawku.
The GNA reports Alhaji Mamah Gumah, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) as saying in an interview with at Bawku, over the weekend that the travellers' predicament started last Thursday, when "Otraf", a transport union at Bittour refused to allow passenger vehicles with Ghanaian registration numbers access through the town to or from Ghana.
Members of Otraf want the Ghanaian vehicles to convey passengers from Bawku or anywhere in Ghana to Bittou, as the last stop for their destination. "No passenger vehicle bearing the registration number of Burkina Faso travelling to Southern Ghana or from Southern Ghana will from hence also be allowed access through Bawku," adding "we will cause their passengers too to be stranded in our town."
The Regional Chairman described the situation as unfortunate, more especially, at a time when African countries were striving to forge closer relations among themselves, adding that Otraf's action was even in contravention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on travelling agreement.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency, to take up the matter with the Burkinabe authorities to find a lasting solution to the problem.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 April 2002- A three-member Ghanaian team that observed the March 2002 Zimbabwean Presidential, Mayoral and Council elections, said on Monday the elections were not transparent and therefore the results were unacceptable.
A statement issued in Accra by the team, comprising Mr David Adenze Kanga, Deputy Director, Administration of the Electoral Commission and leader of the team, Mr George Amoo and Mr John D. Mahama, both members of Parliament, drew its conclusions on a number of factors, including "the visible absence of an independent Electoral Commission in Zimbabwe".
The three, who were mandated by President John Agyekum Kufuor to observe the Zimbabwean polls, have already presented an interim report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The statement, which captures highlights of the report, cited state media bias towards the ruling ZANU PF party in a country where private media is virtually absent, a presidential decree, which overthrew the judicial ruling and effected electoral law amendment, as well as the non-practice of onsite counting of ballots as some of the flaws of the electoral process.
"The team observed that the Public Order Act (POA) was frequently used to prevent the largest opposition party, the MDC from freely holding rallies and from campaigning in some provinces branded as no-go areas," it said. "As a result, the ruling ZANU PF held about 50 rallies whilst the MDC held less than 10."
It noted that a deliberate refusal by the Zimbabwean Minister of Justice to accredit sufficient numbers of domestic observers also impacted negatively on the integrity of the process, adding that whereas in the year 2000 parliamentary elections in that country, as many as 12,000 domestic observers were accredited, less than 400 were accredited for the March 2002 elections.
The team observed that voter education was also inadequate, saying that voters were visibly confused as to where to drop their presidential, mayoral and council ballots.
The Ghanaian team, however, pointed-out that though they were able to visit some provinces outside Harare in the run up to the elections, on the election day, "we operated mainly in the capital, but we can say with certainty that the observations represented the true picture of the events leading to, during and immediately after the elections.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 April 2002 - The Government on Monday named a four-man security investigation team to speed up the process of establishing the identity of culprits involved in the Yendi crisis.
The team is made up of Mr David Asante-Appiatu, Operations Commander of Police Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Mr. Danis Akaob, CID Headquarters, Accra, Superintendent A. K. Daki of the Northern Region CID and Mr V. D. K. Dzakpata, Chief Superintendent of Operations, Northern Regional Police Command. There is no deadline yet for the team to submit its report.
Mr Ferdinand O. Ayim, Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, told the press in Accra that the Police on Sunday arrested one Seidu on board a Tamale-Yendi bus at a check-point with two locally manufactured pistols.
He said Yendi and its environs were currently a security zone and anyone with arms and ammunitions needed to explain the reasons for possession such arms. Mr Ayim, who was briefing the press on the current situation at Yendi and Tamale, said 56 people had so far been arrested for breaking the curfew and 42 of them would be arraigned before court within the week.
He said two suspects arrested last week were helping the police with their investigations. The government on Thursday, 4 April 2002, announced the arrest of two persons for their alleged involvement in the Yendi clashes in which at least 28 people have been killed. The paramount Chief of Dagbon, the Ya-Na, was also killed.
On the blackout at Tamale during the week-end, Mr Ayim said the Electricity Company of Ghana had indicated that it was due to a break in transmission between the Tamale and Bawku and assured the people of efforts to restore power as soon as possible.
He said so far, both areas had recorded no violence since the attack was made on the Ya-Na's Palace, adding that the police and the military were in full control. Mr Ayim also said the minority in parliament had visited Yendi to assess the situation on the ground. Mr Ayim said life had returned to normal in both Yendi and Tamale with farmers trooping to their farms.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Toase (Ashanti Region) 08 April 2002- The Minister of Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi has warned that students who would be dismissed by their schools for acts of indiscipline would not be admitted into any school again.
He said schools were not breeding grounds for indiscipline and warned students to be of good behaviour. Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi gave the warning at the fourth speech and prize-giving day of the Toase Secondary School in the Atwima District of Ashanti on Saturday.
It was under the theme: "The impact of rural school in national development." He said the current situation where students took the law into their own hands to riot and destroy school property were unacceptable and called on parents to help school authorities to stamp out these act of indiscipline.
Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi said the government was committed to improving at least one senior secondary school in each of the districts as a means of uplifting standards of education in rural communities and mentioned the Toase secondary school as one of the schools selected for the programme.
In an address read for the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, he expressed concern about the increasing spate of indiscipline in schools and advised students to follow laid down procedures to resolve their grievances.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 08 April 2002- The Brong Ahafo Regional Police has forged close partnership with other state institutions to ensure that cases concerning children were handled in the appropriate manner to help curb child abuse in the region.
Mr Alex Yartey Tawiah, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), in charge of Brong Ahafo office of Women and Juvenile Unit speaking on, "laws affecting children - the role of the police", at a day's sensitisation workshop on child protection in Sunyani, explained that it was part of measures to facilitate and complement efforts in handling issues affecting children.
He said juvenile justice administration was a very difficult area in the criminal justice system and many police officials disliked such cases because of the cumbersome administration and legal processes involved.
Inadequate knowledge and facilities to enhance investigations into children issues also contribute to their neglect, he said and appealed to the government and the public to support the juvenile units with the logistics to equip personnel to handle such cases efficiently.
ASP Tawiah said since its establishment in February this year, the Regional WAJU office on the average, received more than 15 cases of child-abuse a day. "The cases include defilement, assault, non-acceptance of teenage pregnancy resulting from defilement and abduction. UNICEF sponsored the workshop, which was organised by Ghana National Commission on Children for organisations and institutions in the region.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 08 April 2002- Pope John Paul II, has knighted Dr Kwame Donkor Fordwor, a prominent economist and chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), into the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.
Archbishop of the Kumasi Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, the Most Reverend Peter Akwasi Sarpong conferred the title on the GNPC chairman on behalf of the Pope, at a pontifical mass celebrated on Sunday at the Saint Peter's Catholic Cathedral in Kumasi.
The Most Reverend Francis Lodonu, Bishop of Ho and chairman of the Department of Laity of the National Catholic Secretariat, the Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong, the Most Rev. Thomas Mensah, Bishop of Obuasi, the Most Rev. Peter Kwaku Atuahene, Bishop of Goaso and the Most Rev. Joseph Essien, Bishop of Sefwi-Wiawso assisted Archbishop Sarpong.
The event coincided with the Divine Mercy Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter. Archbishop Sarpong said Jesus Christ came to the world as a priest, a prophet who spoke in the name of God and a shepherd who cared for the flock of God.
He admonished Christians to use the first Sunday after the resurrection to preach the good news about Christ. Bishop Lodonu appealed to the laity to unite with their priests in giving thanks to God so that their prayers could be head.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kintampo (Brong Ahafo) 08 April 2002- Alhaji Issaka Ibrahim, driver of a cargo truck loaded with maize, was shot and killed on Thursday night when he bumped into an armed robbery gang on the Kintampo-Tamale road.
The robbers had earlier attacked and robbed traders on 20 vehicles on the same road at gunpoint, making away with millions cedis. Mr Stephen Bomfeh, Kintampo District Chief Executive said on Sunday that the gang carried out the operation between 12pm on Thursday and 2qm on Friday. No arrest had been made and the police were investigating.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Juaso (Ashanti Region) 08 April 2002- The Juaso Circuit Court presided over by Mr
Justice N.E.K. Osam, on Friday, sentenced Hawa Abdulai, aged 38 to eight years imprisonment in hard labour for squeezing the testicles of the husband until the balls came out from the scrotum.
She pleaded guilty to the charge of negligently causing harm. The Court heard that on 12 November 2001, a quarrel ensued between the accused and her husband, Kadiri Mohammad, 70, over some oranges the woman went to sell in Accra.
In the course of the quarrel, Hawa firmly held the husband's testicles, squeezed them until the balls came out. Mohammad was rushed to the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital where he was admitted and operated upon.
One Kwaku Agyei; a member of the Unit Committee with the assistance of one Kwaku Duah arrested and sent the suspect to the police station. After thorough investigations, Hawa was charged with the offence, the Prosecution said.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 April 2002 - Mr Emmanuel Akrofi Bruce, Acting Director of the Public Health Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Monday advised operators of drinking bars, hotels and food sellers whose medical certificates had expired to renew them or be closed down.
He also warned those who had not registered with the AMA Public Health Department to do so or face prosecution. Mr Bruce, is reported by the GNA as assuring the public that appropriate strategies had been put in place to ensure sanity in the operations of food sellers, hotels and restaurants in the metropolis.
He said health certificates issued to the operators were subjects to renewal annually after they had been declared fit by a recognised medical officer of health. Mr Bruce said to ensure a clean environment, the AMA had directed the Special Task Force to arrest and prosecute whoever was found flouting the AMA bylaws.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 April 2002 - Mr Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh, a justice of the Supreme Court, on Monday adjourned to May 27 the hearing of the Quality Grain case in which five former government ministers and government officials are charged with conspiracy and causing financial loss to the state.
Mr Afreh adjourned the case during the sitting, which lasted for about 10 minutes. The accused persons had been appearing before the Fast Track Court (FTC) presided over by Mr Afreh before it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and Justice Afreh himself elevated to the Supreme Court. The case was adjourned because of a review being sought by the government on the constitutionality of the FTC.
Those on trial are Ibrahim Adam, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Samuel Dapaah, a former Chief Director of the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture, Kwame Peprah, a former Minister of Finance, George Yankey, a former Director of Legal Sector, Private and Financial Institutions of the Ministry of Finance and Ato Dadzie, former Chief of Staff at the Presidency.
They have all denied the charges of conspiracy and causing financial loss of more than 20 million dollars to the state. The court had granted them self-recognisance bail. All cases on the FTC list have been adjourned sine die.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 April 2002 - The Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) announced on Monday that it has released the 2001 Diploma examination results. A statement signed by Mr David Newton, Director of GIJ, said all graduating students who had not yet received notification of their results should contact the Institute. It reminded students who had been referred that the re-sit dates had been fixed for 9 –and 10 April.
GRi../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com