GRi Press Review 5 - 8 -
2003
GES in crisis meeting over abandoned computers, Books
Land Fraud at Lands Commission
GES in crisis meeting over abandoned computers, Books
Accra (Greater Accra) 5 August 2003 - Top Directors of the Ghana Education
Service (GES) were yesterday driven into a crisis meeting in Accra 24 hours
after the Daily Graphic had exposed the abandonment of 994 computers for eight
years in a warehouse in Tema.
Also exposed by the Graphic in its story was the locking up of thousands of textbooks worth millions of cedis published locally for schools and 270 boxes of technical equipment meant for schools in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western, Central and Volta regions.
After the four-hour marathon meeting, the directors declined to speak to our correspondent who had waited at the entrance to the Director- General's office for some time. Attempts to get the Director-General, Reverend Afo Ama Blay to comment on the issue proved also futile because the D-G was a panel member on an interview within the metropolis.
After a frantic effort however a source who spoke to Graphic on condition of anonymity said the computers which were reported to have been kept in Tema for nearly eight years now, were donated to the Ministry of Education when Harry Sawyerr, then Minister in-charge of Education, made an appeal to corporate bodies to donate computers to Ghanaian schools.
The source added that the computers, which were donated by a Ghanaian company, could not be used because the programming was not in the English language. It said, the cost of reprogramming the computers in English was going to cost more than procuring new ones.
The computers were therefore kept in the warehouse with the view to finding a solution to the problem. The source further said since 1995 one Director-General (D-G) after another has set up committees, to look into the matter, adding that the last of such investigations were conducted by Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi, when he was the D-G of the GES.
On the issue of the textbooks, the source disclosed that they should not have been added to the computers in terms of how long they had been kept in the warehouse. The source explained that the textbooks in question have been printed for the next academic year. It is, therefore, not possible for the books to have been sitting there for all these years.
The source said that the GES was only waiting for some entries from their regional directorates before the books could be supplied. It also indicated that presently, trucks from the regions are waiting to be cleared to evacuate the books for distribution in the districts.
The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, last Friday paid a surprise visit to the two warehouses of the GES in Tema where he expressed shock at the discoveries of large stock of books, computers and boxes of technical equipment locked up.
According to the tally card on the computers at the warehouse, the machines and their accessories were imported in 1995 for distribution to educational institutions to enhance computer literacy among Ghanaian students.
The GES officials said they needed ¢70m worth of fuel to distribute the stockpile of books to the districts. The minister who registered his displeasure, said he could not understand why state institutions charged with responsibilities should allow state resources to go waste, while the educational sector is always in need of assistance.
Meanwhile, government has stated that it will not hesitate to apply the appropriate sanctions on any official who exhibits lack of discipline in the discharge of his or her duties, Baah-Wiredu, has warned, reports Mabel Aku Baneseh. He said the government's resolve to improve the educational system cannot be successfully achieved if officials do not play their designated roles effectively and efficiently.
The minister made the remark after he paid another surprise visit to a Ghana Education Service (GES) warehouse in Accra today to ascertain whether books and other educational items meant for distribution have been sent to the beneficiaries or are locked up there.
However, at 3.00 pm, when the minister got there, the storekeeper at the warehouse popularly known as Toutoungi Warehouse at North Industrial Area, had closed and left although he is supposed to close at 5.00 pm. The warehouse stores items belonging to Estates, Transport department among others.
Baah-Wiredu described the action of the storekeeper as unfortunate and said, his absence may probably not be the first." He urged educational workers to sit up and assist in bringing total sanity into the country's educational system for the benefit of all.
The minister disclosed that the abandoned computers at the warehouse in Tema will be sent to Junior Secondary Schools after thorough examination to determine their alleged blankness or otherwise. In a related development, The Coca Cola Bottling Company Limited, has offered to provide vehicles to ensure the smooth distribution of the computers to their intended beneficiaries.
The Managing Director of the Company, Segun Ogunsaya, in a telephone interview with the minister expressed his company's willingness in improving computer literacy among students and educational standards in the country. - Graphic
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Land Fraud at Lands Commission
Accra (Greater Accra) 5 August 2003 - The credibility of the Lands Commission (LC) as an institution set up to monitor and stream line land ownership has come under a serious threat over a potentially scandalous misrepresentation of a piece of land belonging to a church.
The circumstance under which the 74-acre land belong to a Living Testimonies for Jesus Bible Ministry (LTJBM) was lapsed from the official records at the Lands Commission and handed over to a group of people at Weija, has raised eyebrows.
This is likely to give credence to the perception held by many Ghanaians that the officials of the LC are to be blamed for the incidence of multiple land cases and the "land guards" problem. "Chronicle" investigations in the mystery of the lapsing of the name of the church as the owners of the land from the official records uncovered a syndicate of officials of the Commission and a group of land guards at Amanfrom and Weija areas of Accra who indulge in the dubious sale of land.
Days after the officials of the LC deleted the name of the LTJBM from the records a group of land guards led by one Blow Nortey Scorpion who said to be a Beninoise with the support of one Berchie and another group from invaded the land and started selling it.
In the process, a large portion of the 74-acres, earmarked by the church for schools and other projects, was sold to a popular church in Accra (name withheld) whilst the other part was given to private developers. Efforts by the LTJBM to keep ward off the intruders were met with attacks by the land guards who attempted to assassinate the head pastor of the church, Joe Benning.
"Chronicle" gathered that the church acquired the land in question in 1995 from Akramana Family of Negleshie Amanfrom. The Land lies off the Accra-Kasoa road towards the Kokrobte Beach Resort. The Akramana family's interest in the land was covered by a document dated May 1973 and registered with the LC as number 2748/75 as far back as 1975.
The church also obtained the land from the Akramana Family for a 99-year lease per an indenture registered as AR.4309/96 and given Land Registry number 3612/1996.
The decision to expunge the name of the Church from the records as the rightful owners of the land was contained in a letter signed by an unknown official at the Commission for Osei Owusu Peprah, Greater Accra Regional Lands Officer and dated 20 March 2002.
Till date the commission has not been able to trace the official. The officials of the commission whom 'Chronicle" contacted over the issue did not deny the existence of such a letter. However, the Ministry of Lands and Forestry has said the letter has no legal backing and tantamount to fraud. - Chronicle
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