GRi
Press Review 15 - 08 - 2003
Liberia's Blah meets rebel leaders in Ghana
Jake told to trace ancestral home
Foreign Ministry yet to comment on assault case
Dismissed fire officers still collect salary
Health, life expectancy among elderly improves
The battle for Ashanti Goldfields heats up
Govt considers other options to offload GCB shares
Women group challenge Police administration
Liberia's Blah meets rebel leaders in Ghana
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - Liberia's new president, Moses Blah, met the leaders of rebel factions in Ghana on Thursday for talks aimed at ending civil war, Ghana's foreign minister said.
Nana Akufo-Addo told Reuters that Blah met in private with Sekou Conneh of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) group and Thomas Nimley of a smaller faction known as Model. Between them, the factions control more than three-quarters of the West African country.
''They are meeting as we speak,'' Akufo-Addo said, adding that he hoped a peace accord would be signed on Saturday. Blah, who took office on Monday from now-exiled pariah leader Charles Taylor, is due to hand over in October to an interim president chosen by warring factions and political parties meeting in Ghana.
But the rebels are wary of Blah as an old Taylor ally. Nearly 14 years of strife in Liberia and closely entwined conflicts in the region have cost an estimated quarter of a million lives. LURD rebels began pulling out of the capital Monrovia on Thursday to hand over to West African peacekeepers following recent fighting that left at least 2,000 dead. - Reuters
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Jake told to trace ancestral home
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - Influential leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Kpone-Katamanso constituency in the Greater Accra Region have resolved to 'white wash' Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City Minister, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey if he attempts to go to Parliament on the back of the constituency.
The Chronicle newspaper's investigations have revealed that the leaders have decided to field a young independent candidate, whom party members in the constituency will give their full backing.
The leaders who disclosed their intention to "The Chronicle" on condition of anonymity narrated how a handful of the party members at Kpone had sworn to impose the Minister on the constituents claiming that he hails from Kpone.
They said the Osron-We clan at Kpone where Jake is alleged to come from doubt his claim.
According to them, when President Kufuor visited the constituency last week, he was misled to make a statement that Jake hails from the town and this was repeated at Katamanso. The leaders claim that the regional office of the party hijacked the last constituency elections to Accra and undertook what they called 'mock' elections.
The opinion leaders in the town say they are concerned about the NPP's chances of winning the seat for the first time in four elections and can therefore not accept an "executive formed in exile through an obvious manipulation of the election by the regional executive body to favour certain personalities". - Chronicle
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Foreign Ministry yet to comment on assault case
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - The foreign ministry is yet to comment on the assault of an employee of the electricity company by Benin's ambassador to Ghana. The cantonments police who began initial investigations into the incident say the case has been referred to the foreign ministry since it involves a diplomat.
Joy FM's enquiries at the foreign ministry have yielded no response so far. The Ambassador and members of his household are alleged to have assaulted Henry Ahiaku, an employee of the electricity company who was on an official duty to restore power supply to the ambassador's residence.
Ahiaku told Joy News that he was officially assigned to reconnect electricity to the ambassador's residence after the company embarked on a disconnection exercise last week in the Cantonments area, which mistakenly affected his residence.
According Ahiaku while on the job he was confronted and assaulted by the ambassador and others in his residence. He said his wrists and legs were tied, after which he was locked up in a room at the residence.
He said the Cantonments police came to his aid and released him after his colleague, who managed to escape the assault, reported the case to the police.
The Cantonments Police confirmed the story to Joy News but said no arrests have been made yet. A police source said since the case involves a diplomat, a special laid-down procedure will have to be followed before any arrests can be made. - Joy FM
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Dismissed fire officers still collect salary
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 15 August 2003 - The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has been turned into a gold mine by certain Senior Fire Officers (SFOs) who, for several years, have been drawing salaries of absentee fire officers who have since left the service. For the past three or more years, names of three such absentee firemen have been left on the pay roll of the Suhum Station of the GNFS in the Eastern Region.
The officers, Lieutenant Tsidi Dickson, Sub Officer Seth Britwum and Ado Angelina Nortey, are allegedly ghost workers whose names are being maintained with the connivance of the District Fire Officer who supervises the monthly withdrawals of their salaries, from the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) Suhum.
Investigations conducted by The Weekend Heritage revealed that a commulative amount of not less than ¢1bn, including allowances, have been siphoned into private pockets which, according to very reliable sources, must include that of the DFO.
According to our investigations Lt. Dickson, was recruited into the service in 1993 and is currently on a monthly Salary of ¢1,389.99, excluding allowance and other benefits.
Tsidi, having worked with the service for 12 years, decided to seek greener pastures in the United States but did not resign his position.
The Weekend Heritage's snooping at the Suhum district fire Office revealed that since the officer left in 2000 his Salary has regularly been collected every month but as to who this collector is remains a mystery.
On Sub officer Britwum, who enlisted in 1995, The Weekend Heritage gathered that even though the officer was reported ill some three years ago, he is living a luxurious life in Accra and still drawing his monthly salary from Suhum Ghana Commercial Bank.
When The Weekend Heritage contacted the DFO Dwomo Ageyekum at Suhum he, was non-committal to our questions beyond the disclosure that Britwum was admitted at the mental hospital Accra about three years ago but was discharged later.
According to him Britwum's Uncle told him that the illness was spiritual and that he had taken his nephew to a spiritualist for treatment. "I asked him to produce evidence that he was ill and was with a spiritualist receiving treatment, but all efforts proved futile", he stressed.
But when asked why he was still receiving salary even though he was alleged to be staying in Accra, no answer was forthcoming.
On Addo Angelia Nortey who joined the service in 1990, The Weekend Heritage learnt that even though she was admitted at the mental hospital several years ago she is believed to be now well, doing her own business in Accra but collect's her salary as a fire officer every month.
At the Headquarters the Deputy Chief Officer (Administration) displayed total astonishment at our revelations but assured this reporter that he would do every possible to bring the perpetrators to book.
He said the Fire Service only got to know that Tsidi was not at post in a letter dated 15 May 2003 written by the DFO of Suhun requesting for his dismissal. He said that he was about to write to the DFO to find whether an embargo was placed on his salary.
The Weekend Heritage also gathered at Suhum that the DFO who is supposed to stay at his duty station, rather resides at Koforidua and commutes daily to and from Suhum using official vehicle and free petrol. The Weekend Heritage gathered that the scam at Suhum is just the tip of the iceberg.
We are still monitoring other alleged illegal activities in the Fire Service in parts of Greater Accra and will keep you posted on developments. - Weekend Heritage
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Health, life expectancy among elderly improves
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - Statistics from the HelpAge Ghana (HAG) indicate that there has been an improvement in the health and life expectancy of the elderly in the society from 4.0% in 1984 to 5.3% in 2000.
The ratio of the elderly to children also increased from 8.5 in 1984 to 12.8 in 2000, which indicates ageing of the population. Speaking to The Chronicle in Accra, the executive director of HelpAge Ghana, Eben Adjetey Sorsey, said the fact that the population is ageing, also reflects an increase of the median age from 18.1 years in 1984 to 19.4 years in 2000.
The increase is more pronounced among female, which also indicates that females have benefited from improvement in health and life expectancy more than males. The results of these changes are that the dependency population reduced from 49.0% in 1984 to 46.6% in 2000.
It also shows that females constitute 50.5% as of the 2000 population compared with 50.7% in 1984, translating into sex ratio of 97.9 males to 100 females in 2000. Sorsey said many family members are ashamed to discuss the welfare of their aged relatives if his or her condition is not good to write home about.
He said the organization encourages communities to volunteer to work for the elderly people though some of them want full-time employment. HelpAge he said has small schemes under which the dilapidated rooms of the poor and destitute elderly in Accra are rehabilitated cater for them.
He accused some families of neglecting aged relations. Sorsey said that despite its problems HelpAge is undertaking activities to ensure that the health needs of the elderly people are solved by organizing community clinics and screening with volunteer health teams from government hospitals.
Also those who could not purchase drugs prescribed for them when they attend clinics or hospitals are catered for. He said the HelpAge Ghana in collaboration with other age care organizations in the country has set up day care centers to serve the needs of the elderly on a centralized basis where food, library and recreation services are provided.
He therefore called on all stakeholders to join hands in caring for the aged by joining the Adopt-A-Granny (AAG) Scheme that links elderly people in need with sponsoring families, organizations and individuals who want to provide regular financial support for their upkeep.
This makes it possible for people to adopt old people suffering from poverty, poor health, and isolation to support them through a monthly subsistence allowance administered by HelpAge Ghana. He also urged family members to openly come out to discuss issues concerning their old people. - Chronicle
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The battle for Ashanti Goldfields heats up
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - The fierceness of the battle to merge with Ashanti Goldfields was played up today when the chief executives of two international mining companies, AngloGold and Randgold, squared off on JOY FM's FrontPage programme this morning.
AngloGold's chief executive, Bobby Godsell and his rival, Randgold's chief executive, Mark Bristow, spoke about their respective bids and the positive impact a merger with Ashanti could bring to their joint operations.
Deputy Finance Minister, Anthony Akoto Osei, also reiterated government's commitment to finding a strategic partner for Ashanti and said the announcement of the chosen partner will be made in the next few weeks.
The confirmation of the rival bid for Ashanti by Randgold's Chief Executive, Mark Bristow has set the stage for yet another bidding war in the gold industry.
Even though Randgold has not presented a formal bid its indicative merger proposal of $1.5bn is, on the face value, 30 percent higher than Anglo Gold's $1.1bn bid.
But days after RanGold announced its decision to bid for Ashanti, the range has diluted to about 12 per cent after about 2 million shareholders sold off their shares.
Even as the Randgold offer is being dismissed by many industry analysts Bristow says the company's strong cash flow from its Morilla Mine and the decision to list the combined group on the UK and US stock exchanges could lead to a lot of investment opportunities for the new group, which will be run from Accra.
AngloGold's Chief Executive, Bobby Godsell on the other hand has been talking about plans for an expanded role for Ashanti's Accra office, investments of over $500m in the Obuasi mine and reorientation of Ashanti staff to enable them grasp the new technologies and adopt a more global attitude towards production.
Godsell is hugely confident of pulling off the Ashanti merger despite the Randgold offer.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Osei Akoto who spoke to FrontPage Host, Kwaku Sakyi Addo says even though government did not encourage the rival bid from Randgold it welcomes the competition that has been generated as a result. Dr. Osei Akoto said government is working to arrive at a decision on the merger proposals within the next few weeks. - Joy FM
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Govt considers other options to offload GCB shares
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - Government is considering other options of offloading its shares in Ghana commercial bank including selling them to the public. This follows government's decision to suspend its decision to sell its shares to a strategic investor. President Kufuor disclosed this at rally at Juaso in the Ashanti region.
The president's statement was confirmed but the Finance and Economic Planning Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo at a press conference on Friday morning.
The minister said decision was based on public debates weighed against recommendations made by a committee set up to look into government's planned sale of its holdings to a strategic investor.
The finance minister categorically stated that they have suspended the decision to sell to a strategic investor but added that the divestiture process will go ahead.
He said government would consider various options available to offload its shares citing the sale through the Ghana stock exchange to individual investors as an option.
Marfo said very laudable suggestions proposed by the Trades Union Congress and other stakeholders who had opposed the sale of government shares to a strategic investor will also be considered.
He said whatever decision will be taken will be to ensure that the country benefits from the large size of the bank, and also that it serves the interest of the private sector.
This will involve the fundamental restructuring of the bank using the services of Ghanaian and foreign financial and management experts. And the possible revamping and strengthening of management of the bank to give it the needed edge within the financial sector and banking sector.
The finance minister ruled out any sanction or reprisal from the Bretton Wood institutions for the decision taken although he concedes that the entire process to offload government shares in the bank, which began in 1996 is part of a World bank programme. - GRi
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Women group challenge Police administration
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2003 - An Association of Women Right's Advocates, Sisters' Keepers, has called on the police administration to come clean on the issues of the serial killings that appears to have abated after the 2000 elections while they invite all persons who have made certain categorical statements on the issue in order to get to the bottom of the issue.
This they said should include Ghana's High Commissioner to Canada, Samuel Odoi-Sykes who first gave a political twist to the spin chilling acts. The group insists that their invitation and subsequent revelation of knowledge " would give the police significant lead to help solve the mystery surrounding the death of our sisters."
A member of the association, Nana Oye Lithur said that it is extremely regrettable that recent events seem to suggest that all manner of persons are trying to belittle the issue by making it look as though if has degenerated into a contest between political parties.
"This very issue has now been turned into whether the government should provide Rawlings the lie detector he is requesting or not, when our focus should rather be on finding the killers for justice to take its due course," she said. "To allay the anxieties of Ghanaians and the families of the women, the CID should make public all its reports including that of the Scotland Yard and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)", she said.
She was a little charitable to the incumbent president though saying that it was only President Kufuor who demonstrated his commitment to the killings when on the day of his inauguration, promised to bring the killers to book. She indicated that, her association believes that "the murders were not committed by only one person and that thorough investigations ought to be embarked upon including people who have made pronouncement however trivial about the case to tell us what they know about the murders." - Network Herald
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