He said pro-Kwesi
Botchwey and pro-Mills factions and the entire leadership of the party needed a
change of attitude to move the party forward. Dr Asamoah in a press statement
titled: Moving The Party Forward" said, "the
pro-Botchwey forces have not committed any crime or breached party rules by
seeking and working for the flagbearership of Dr Kwesi Botchwey. They have only sought to deepen democracy
in the party".
He said the legitimate concern
of the rank and file of the NDC for unity should not make them "sweep
under the carpet the contribution of the rank and file to the disunity, nor
give rise to the false hope that once solved the problems of the party are
over."
He said: "The Kwesi Botchwey supporters continue to suffer hostility, name-calling
and marginalisation in the hands of some pro-Mills elements." They are
seen as rebels or traitors to be shunned or driven out of the NDC. Pro-Mills forces set the agenda for party
activities without the active involvement of pro-Botchwey forces resulting in
the marginalisation of party structures and the absence of the collective
involvement of the entire Leadership in crucial decision-making."
He said the party's inability to
raise funds and character assassinations were all being blamed on him Obed Asamoah "in order to hang him as untrustworthy
and undeserving of the chairmanship of the party".
He said "efforts are
already afoot to throw out of office pro-Botchwey MPs and other officeholders
and in particular to secure resolutions of no confidence in the Chairman and to
foster an early National Congress to throw him out of office as if this would
help fund-raising or improve the chances of the party at winning elections.
"Recently, we have
witnessed the shock waves sent through the party by the resignation of Kofi Asante, MP for Amenfi West - an
episode that may be a prelude to others," he predicted.
He said it should be possible to
assuage hurt feelings and address individual grievances through a diplomatic
offensive by the flag-bearer. He warned that if the founder played a central
role in matters affecting the party it "will unfortunately damage the
image of the flag-bearer and the electoral fortunes of the party."
He said that was the more reason
why some of them were "wary of attending amorphous meetings or press conferences
organised for or by the Founder". Dr Asamoah said there was the need to re-define
the role of the Founder to suit present day circumstances.
He denied that he was engaged in
a power struggle with the Founder and that was why the party was having
problems. "People who foster this perception are doing so to mask their
miscalculations." He said the party was in dire need of serious analysis
instead of looking for scapegoats.
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Mampong (Ashanti Region) 11 April 2003-
Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, the
Mamponghene, has denied the allegation of having
fraudulently received an amount of 30,000 dollars from Madam Rosina Mensah in New York as carried by the Wednesday
edition of the 'Daily Dispatch'.
He also denied having signed any
purported written reciprocal agreement with Rosina
Mensah. The Mamponghene stated that the alleged
acknowledgement letter purportedly displayed at the back page of the Daily
Dispatch supposedly signed by him was completely 'fraudulent, false and
fictitious and calculated to maliciously damage his reputation'.
Daasebre Osei Bonsu
told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he has forwarded a copy of the
publication with the alleged reciprocal agreement to the Asante-Mampong
police for investigations.
The Daily Dispatch in its
Wednesday, 9 April edition, carried at its front page a story in which the Mamponghene was alleged to have fraudulently collected
30,000 dollars from Rosina Mensah in
The Mamponghene,
according to the publication, breached his part of the contract. Meanwhile, the
Mamponghene has threatened to take legal action against
the Daily Dispatch for carrying 'unbalanced story' about him.
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By Nana Appau
Duah (GNA Special Correspondent)
The South African President, Thambo Mbeki would open the conference and an impressive
array of the Continent's journalistic leaders would present keynote input
papers. Topics to be discussed include: "The African Union,'' ''NEPAD And The Media" and "The Role Of The Media In
Democracy.''
The others are: "The Role
And Status Of The Independence Media In Africa", "The Current Role
And Status Of State-Owned Media" and "Building Continental And
National Institutional Capacity To Advance The Cause of Media Freedom In Africa''.
The South African National
Editors Forum (SANEF) and its partners, the Institute for Global Dialogue in
Among other things, it is the
hope of the organisers that a conceptual map and charter of principles would
emerge from the Conference that would assist in guiding media interaction and
engagement with the African Union and NEPAD.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 April 2003-
UN Secretary-General Busumuru Kofi Annan has expressed
concern about the high number of girls who are out of school stressing that
study after study had taught the world that there was no tool for development
more effective than the education of girls.
"No other policy is as
likely to raise economic productivity, lower infant and maternal mortality,
improve nutrition and promote health - including the prevention of
HIV/AIDS," he said in a statement to mark Global Education Campaign Fight.
"No other policy is as
powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation,"
he added in his statement released in
"That is why we must
redouble our efforts to translate what we know into reality. That is why two of
the Millennium Development Goals agreed by all the world's countries are
focussed on education for girls and boys alike."
Busumuru Annan noted that
55 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established that
everyone had the right to education and the fact that millions were still
deprived of it - most of them girls – should fill the world with shame.
"If we are to succeed in
our efforts to build a more healthy, peaceful and
equitable world, the classrooms of the world have to be full of girls as well
as boys," he said, adding that every year of schooling completed by them
will be a step towards eradicating poverty and disease.
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Winneba (Central Region)
He said similar funds should be
sought to computerise libraries, information and communication technology
infrastructure. Prof. Adjepong was delivering a lecture
on "Quality and Relevance in our Universities: themes and issues", as
part of activities marking the Autonomy/Tenth Anniversary of the University
College of Education, Winneba at the South Campus of the University at Winneba.
He said teaching and other
academic facilities remained poor and inadequate in universities and suggested
that strategies for improving the quality of teaching, research in the universities
should be incorporated in strategic plans of the universities.
Prof. Adjepong
said the combination of conditions, both internal and external, had contributed
to the systematic erosion and questioning of academic values and ethics. ''For example,
the loss of experienced and committed positions have reduced
the mentioning process and the smooth transfer not only of skills but also
values and ethics.''
Prof. Adjepong
stressed the need for the universities to improve on the current methods of
teaching in which most subjects are taught in a magisterial mode, for example
the method in which a teacher uses the blackboard or dictation to transfer
notes.
"We need methods that will
impact such qualities as creativity, resourcefulness and adaptability. We should,
for example, incorporate open-ended projects or mini-projects in all
courses." "I know that the large classes we have, pose a problem but
we must find a way of improving on the effectiveness of our teaching in spite
of the large classes."
Prof. Adjepong
said another reason for the inappropriate methods of teaching was the fact that
most university teachers in the country have not undergone any training in
pedagogy and called for the reintroduction of the pedagogy training in the
country's universities.
He said the system was once
tried in the universities but could not be sustained. Prof. Adjepong
said most universities in the
Professor Samuel M. Quartey, the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor the University College of Education Winneba, expressed
regret that lecturers in the universities were not involved in research activities,
adding that the few research carried out were kept in private shelves.
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Justice Yaw Appau,
the trial judge, noted after the video show that it did not contain the
necessary elements as a witness had sought to portray. The elements, according
to the Judge, were that the camera did capture neither the accused persons nor
anyone else giving directions in the form of making signs for the junior Police
Officers to fire a weapon or to throw tear gas.
"But in your earlier
evidence to this court, you stated that there were a lot of Police Officers,
who instructed or commanded their subordinates to fire or throw the
canisters," Justice Appau told the Prosecution
Witness, Jonas Ahele-Truly, a Television Producer,
working with the Metro Television.
Ahele-Truly had earlier told the court
that he had seen superior officers of the Police instructing their juniors to
fire weapons. The Judge, therefore, demanded to know how many officers gave the
instructions.
The accused persons, who had
earlier denied the charges, are on a 20 million-cedi bail each with two
sureties. The officers on trial are John Asare Naami, Faakyi Kumi,
Frank Awuah, Francis Aryee,
Benjamin B. Bakomora, all Assistant Superintendents
of Police and Chief Superintendent of Police, Koranteng
Mintah.
Immediately after the
nine-minute video show, which was soundless and watched by the Judge, Jurors,
both the Prosecution and Defence teams, the media and a large crowd, Ahele-Truly, who operated the gadgets, was reminded on his
former oath and subsequently put in the box.
Leading him in his evidence by
Anthony Gyambiby, Principal State Attorney, Ahele-Truly said he saw Chief Superintendent Mintah and Assistant Superintendent Naami
in the pictures, but did not see Kumi and Awuah.
He was emphatic that Assistant
Superintendent Bakomora was at the stadium, but did
not appear in the pictures that were filmed. During cross-examination by Yonny Kulendi, counsel for the
first accused, Witness said he was a regular at the stadium that was why he
knew that Mintah and Naani
were regulars too.
Witness agreed with counsel that
in the video, the steps of the stands were not visible, and added, "some of them were not clear." When Kulendi
demanded to know why some were not clear, Ahele-Truly
explained that at the end of the match there were flood lights, but about 20 minutes
after the match the lights went off, for which reason they could not get some
of the pictures very clear.
In an answer to a question,
witness said when he, as a Producer and his cameraman walked around where the
stampede occurred, he heard people screaming, "I am dying, I am
dying" at the entrance and also noticed that the gate at that point was
locked.
Kulendi at this stage advised Ahele-Truly that he was at the court to assist to establish
the truth of the matter, so he should endeavour to answer simple questions
correctly. For instance when asked how many times he saw an accused person at the
stadium, he replied that the accused was not his friend and so he could not
tell.
Also when asked: "You are a Photo Journalist, did you
notice any emergency service?" He replied, that
he went to cover a match, but not to look around for ambulances. When Kulendi inquired from Witness the cameramen he took to the stadium,
he said he went with one cameraman.
Counsel then suggested to
Witness that it was by that reason that the only camera, could not focus at one
particular point at any particular time. But witness said it depended on the situation
at that time that the pictures were being shot.
Ahele-Truly agreed with counsel that
"when you focus at a particular time, you are unable to focus at your
blank side." When asked if there was anything in photography called
"dark stock," Witness said: "That has to do with video." Again,
when asked what was called "Junction" in cinematography, Witness said
he had not heard of that name, saying there could be other names.
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It said the former President was
trying desperately to avoid the shadows of his past and come to terms with the
realities of the time. Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mustapha Hamid, NPP National Youth Organiser, said the accusation
made by the ex-President that the NPP had been using violence to win
by-elections were unfounded.
This is because the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) had not been able to provide any substantial evidence
to that effect. He said on the contrary when the NPP contested and won the
Ablekuma and Afigya Sekyere
by-elections while in opposition it did so against massive intimidation and
violence.
Hamid alleged that in last Tuesday's Gomoa East election, thugs hired by the NDC injured Rita Asobayire, the National Women's Organiser of the party. He
referred to claims by the NDC that the NPP was embarking on development
projects to buy votes and said: "If that is termed as vote buying then the
NDC should brace itself for a more humiliating defeat at Amenfi
West and subsequently in 2004."
Hamid said the outcome of the
by-elections were a vivid demonstration of the electorate expressing their
choice through the ballot box rather than the barrel of the gun. He emphasised
that the government was discharging its constitutional obligation by developing
all areas of the country irrespective of political affiliation.
Hamid also challenged the NDC to
televise its claims of videotapes of an NPP activist buying votes from the
electorate at Wulensi. He appealed to the youth to
rally behind the party and intensifies their campaign. He also called on the
media to play their vanguard role to ensure peace and stability in the country.
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"Government must also
accept that a wrong was done and a great dishonour was done this country by
killing someone, who served as a voice for the voiceless," Adlai Kugblenu, said amidst sobs.
He said he was 17 years old in
1983 when personnel of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) arrested and
detained his father for almost a year at the Nsawam
Prisons, only for him to die in August 1984, six weeks after he was released.
He said nobody told the family
why his father, who was 45 years old then, was arrested and no charge was laid
against him. "My father was hypertensive at the time of the arrest and
this coupled with the conditions in the prison and his inability to gain access
to his medication resulted in the deterioration of his condition."
Adlai said the autopsy report on
his father indicated that he suffered from hypertension, cardiac failure and a
problem with his spinal cord. He said his mother, who had suffered
psychologically because of the trauma she went through during her husband's
arrest and subsequent death could not be present at the hearing due to ill
health.
Adlai said on
After five days at the BNI, he
was sent to the Cantonment Police Station cells where other family members were
permitted to see him. "Later, they sent him to the Nsawam
Prisons, where he spent about a year. All these while, nobody told us why my
father was arrested."
Adlai said it was only after a
month in prison that the family was able to give him his medication, which he was
supposed to have been taking everyday. Kugblenu said
they filed a writ on his arrest that was to be heard on
He prayed the Commission that
justice must be done as his father died for pursuing a just cause. General Emmanuel
Erskine, Member of the Commission, said Ghanaians appreciated
the efforts of his father adding that the John Kugblenu
Memorial Lectures held every year was to revere the efforts of his father.
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The MP was alleged to have said
at a political rally at Gomoa Achiase
in the Central Region, recently, that some of the currencies were counterfeit. A
top detective in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said the CID invited
the MP because they felt that the comments she made could be clarified so that
the Police could mount criminal investigation into the case to arrest the
economic saboteurs.
The Police said the MP's
statement was general but they wanted her to come with specifics and tell them
who in the government might have stolen the money. "I am not aware of any
printing of fake currencies or have we arrested any one with such currencies
and Mrs Benyiwa-Doe was the first person from whom we
have heard such information."
The Source said the MP was to
write her statement and bring it at her own convenience although she said the
printing of counterfeit currencies was already in the public domain. The Police
said the MP, who they invited by a written letter dated 2 April was not
arrested but was only requested to come and volunteer information to the Police
to help in their investigations.
The Source said Mrs Benyiwa-Doe arrived at the CID Headquarters at
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe
talking to the GNA just after she had come out from an office at the CID
Headquarters,
She said she was surprised the
Police rather asked her to volunteer information on the new currencies some of
which were said to be counterfeit and was already in the public domain.
Rojo Mettle Nunoo
said the Police did not follow the right procedure in inviting the MP for
interrogation and that constituted an abuse of the Constitution and a ploy to
infringe on free speech. He said what the Police were looking for had no bearings
on what the MP had said.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 April 2003-
General Alexander Erskine, Member of the National
Reconciliation (NRC), on Thursday said the period when life meant nothing
should never reoccur in the annals of Ghana's history especially as she pursues
a healing process for the wounded and afflicted.
"As Ghanaians move along,
we should be guided by the principles of our religion, so that no matter the
circumstances, life should be of some meaning to us," he said. This was
the advice General Erskine gave to Ghanaians after a
Witness, Madam Sarah Boye said two of her sons, Edward
Offei and Henry Obeng, who were
personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, were arrested and executed by the PNDC in
1983.
He expressed his sympathy to
Madam Boye, who was left with three children, saying
that her second born, Obeng should have lived and she
should have been spared the agony of the loss if he had not been arrested for
sending food to his bother, Edward Offei, who was
then in detention at the Teshie guardroom.
General Erskine
expressed the hope that the period of pain and torture was gone forever. Madam Boye said she heard of the execution of her two sons in a
radio announcement at Madina while on her way home from the Nsawam
Prisons after she had unsuccessfully tried to see her sons, who had been
detained there.
She said Offei
was among a group that was alleged to have attempted to stage a coup to
overthrow the government. After the execution of her two sons, their father
developed hypertension and died. Madam Boye said in
1983 her first born; Offei was arrested and detained
in the guardroom at Teshie.
Obeng tried to send food to his
brother but was arrested on the orders of W.O. Joseph Adjei-Buadi,
then member of the PNDC. She said after a long search for him, they found him
at the BNI Annex with a swollen face and signs of having been beaten.
Madam Boye
said Obeng told her that W.O. Adjei-Buadi said he should be killed together with his brother
because an officer was not supposed to visit a detainee. She said during
conversation with her son, a soldier ordered her to leave the premises.
"As I pleaded with him to
allow me to talk with my son, he hit me twice with the gun, pushed me to the
ground and kicked me all over my body with his boots." Madam Boye said she had to run for her life because the soldier threatened
to shoot her if she did not leave the premises.
"While I was searching for Obeng, my husband was also searching for Offei and it was after he came home that night that he told
me he saw Offei, who had been tortured to the extent
that he was paralysed."
Madam Boye
said her two sons were taken to the Nsawam Prisons
where they were later executed by firing squad. She said no charge was laid
against them, even though, whenever she tried to see them, the warder told her
that they had been taken to court but never mentioned the particular court.
She said the People's Defence
Committee at the time warned them never to organise a funeral or perform
funeral rites for their sons. "To add insult to injury, the first of the
two sons of Offei was knocked down and killed by a
car that was being driven by an Army Officer."
Christian Appiah Adjei, Member of
the Commission, urged social commentators to take note that "Once upon a time
in the development of this country, this was how low we sank".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 April 2003-
The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Thursday expressed its
displeasure with a Witness, George Adongo Azaah, for being evasive when he was questioned by
Commissioners after telling a story of his arrest, detention and torture in
1985.
At different times Commissioner
Christian Appiah Agyei and Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu asked Mr Azaah whose answers
were winding to be open and frank with the Commission. Agyei
told Azaah: "You submitted a statement to us. Be
frank. I thought you would open up". He added, however, that the
Commission was not forcing to extract information from him.
The Commission had asked Azaah, who said he was being trained in the Commando Unit
at Asutsuare, if he saw any torture there. After a
winding answer, which had no link with the question, Commission Chairman
Justice Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi
asked him to be forthright in his answers.
At another time Professor Mensa-Bonsu wanted to know what happened to Azaah at the beach, which was in his written statement to
the Commission, but Azaah could not come out clearly.
Her advice to Azaah not to prevaricate his answer made a number of Journalists
noting down the word. Others in the public gallery shouted "Brofo", and Prof. Mensa-Bonsu
said she wished she could speak Frafra, which she
said she understood, to make Azaah more comfortable
and at home.
In his narration, Azaah told the Commission that he was picked up late in the
night on
He said their vehicle developed
a fault on the way and they arrived at Gondar
Barracks the next day where he was interrogated. Among the questions was
whether he knew one John Adongo. He answered that
John Adongo was his younger brother but did not know
where he was because they were not living together.
Azaah said he was driven to the
Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and when he asked where he was being
taken he was told Commander Baafuor Assassie-Gyimah of the National Security wanted to see him.
Azaah said on reaching the BNI, one
Maxwell Okwabi, told him to wait for Commander Assassie-Gyimah who was then not available. He said he
ended up spending the night in solitary confinement.
Azaah said the next morning he was
taken to another cell where he met a group of persons and was confused. He said
he did not mix with the people he met there for four days and was later
convinced to join a prayer group in the cells.
Azaah said he was called to the BNI
office, and one Atopley asked him to write his
statement. When he said he had no statement to write, Atopley
insisted that he wrote what he knew. Later, a panel including Mr Peter Nanfuri, then BNI Boss, Commander Assassie-Gyimah
and Annor Kumi interrogated
him. They asked him a number of questions including whether a goat was black. He
said he became annoyed but the panel asked him to be calm.
Azaah said he spent two months in the
BNI cells where he met Corporals Attipoe and Seidu, and his own sister Elizabeth Adongo.
"I asked myself if they
want to arrest all members of the family," Azaah
said. Azaah said the BNI operatives one day took Attipoe away and when he was brought back, his whole body
was soiled and he could not walk.
One Warrant Officer Mensah, who
was also in the cells, was taken away one day, and when he was brought back he
had his nails removed with bayonets. "The place was in fear", Azaah said. Azaah said the
operatives at different times picked him and tried to extract incriminating
information from him but he stood his grounds of innocence.
On
Movement of inmates was
restricted and they developed rashes. If an officer or a vehicle were not
available they would not go to the hospital on the day they fell sick. Azaah said he was in detention for a total of eight years -
six years in James Fort and two years in Ussher Fort.
He said he sent a number of
petitions to the Army Commander and the Commanding Officer of Gondar Barracks for his release but to no avail. Clement Kpakpo Akwei from Amanfro, near Kasoa, said he and
a friend Kanyi, now deceased, were brutalised by armed
men when he accompanied a friend of Kanyi to a house
at Odorkor in 1989.
Akwei said he had returned the night
before from
"They sent us outside, they
beat us for a long time, and threatened to kill us," Mr Akwei said. They were then taken to a place he thought was
the Odorkor Police Station.
He said the following day a man
came to the Station, signed some papers and asked that they were sent to the
Castle, Osu. Akwei said they were detained in the Castle Guardroom,
shaven and then transferred to the Bureau of National Investigations.
He said his friend was left at
the BNI, while he was taken to the BNI Annex. Akwei
said he fell sick and was wheeled to the 37 Military Hospital
where some officers in mufti visited him, asked him where he hurt most and went
away within five minutes.
He said he was not given any
treatment at the 37 Military Hospital and was sent
back to the BNI Annex. The operatives later came back to the cells, where he
spent one month and 23 days, to ask him to direct them to his father at Amanfro.
Akwei said the operatives went to his
father, who told them that he was supposed to be in
He said he was taken to the Ussher Fort Prison, where he met his friend Kanyi, who developed an infection in ear and died when he
was released because he could not continue with the expensive medication.
Akwei said he was transported in 1992
to Nsawam and stayed there for the next
three-and-a-half years. He was released on
When the Commission asked Mr Akwei if any charges were preferred against him, he
answered that at one time a panel at the BNI, told him he had been seen
broadcasting on Togo Television.
He said he told them that he
could not have done that since he did not have any appreciable education. The
Commission expressed sympathy to Akwei and his
family. Chairman Amua-Sekyi said there was press
confirmation of the arrest and detention of Akwei and
his friend Kanyi.
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