100mC stolen from Tamale office of Bank of Ghana
100mC stolen from BOG vault
Chief Justice must resign now!
Arrest this star! Court's order on footballer’s drug deals
Reform Party denies Tsikata-P.V. Obeng connection
Ministerial appointments…President Rawlings contravenes constitution
Two national dailies, the Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times, give front-page treatment to a 100 million-cedi theft at the Tamale office of the Bank of Ghana. Here are the accounts of the two newspapers.
Daily Graphic
100mC stolen from Tamale office of Bank of Ghana
The top story of the Daily Graphic says that the Tamale Police are investigating circumstances leading to the disappearance of an amount of 100 million cedis from the vault of the Tamale office of the Bank of Ghana (BOG).
The story says that one suspect, a messenger of the bank, who has been identified as only Raphael, is in police grip while another suspect, also a messenger of the bank, whose name was not disclosed, is on the run. The bank is said to have retrieved 67 million cedi from Raphael while the remaining 33 million cedis is believed to be in the custody of his accomplice.
According to a police source, the money was stolen from the bank’s vault last Tuesday. The suspects allegedly stole the crate containing the 100 million cedi in 500-cedi denominations. The Graphic says that the theft was detected the following day, when staff, including the two suspects, reported for duty.
Raphael was said to have voluntarily returned 22 million cedis to the bank after threats by some staff that whoever stole the money would die. His wife, whose name was not given, later followed with 45 million cedis.
GRi. /
100mC stolen from BOG vault
The Ghanaian Times on its part, reports that a total of 100 million cedis is reported missing from the vaults of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) at Tamale. The paper says that two workers of the bank, whose names are being withheld, are suspected to have stolen the money.
The paper says that when newsmen contacted the bank’s office in Tamale, the officials were tight-lipped and not prepared to divulge enough information. It says that a senior official for example, was hesitant to talk about the incident, he could only says that an official from the head office in Accra, was in to investigate the theft before a report could be issued on it.
According to the Times, a reliable police source, however, said that the police and 67 million had arrested one of the culprits cedi retrieved from him. The paper says that the culprit whose name was not given, had since been granted bail. The other is said to be on the run with 33 million cedis. The Times says that unconfirmed reports have it that the two suspects are messengers of the bank.
GRi../
Chief Justice must resign now!
In a front-page banner, the Weekly Insight says that Mr Justice Isaac K. Abban, the Chief Justice and head of Judicial Service, does not have too many options. The paper says that Mr Justice Abban either has to resign quietly or face mounting pressure for his removal from office. According to the Weekly Insight this is because the Judicial Service over which he presides, has been engulfed in serious corruption and so far, there is no indication that he has done anything to clear p the mess in the Service.
The paper notes that already the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has established cases of over-invoicing, payment and receipt of bribes and kickbacks in the award of contracts. SFO investigations are said to have also shown that some contracts awarded by the Judicial Service were not tendered.
According to the paper these allegations have been buttressed by Mr G.K. Fordjour, Acting Financial Controller, who asked the Office of the President to cause investigations into cases of corruption. Mr Fordjour is said to have stated that as a result of the inability of the Judicial Service to live within its budgetary allocation, it was indebted to the tune of 1.8 billion cedis in 1998. The indebtedness of the Service from January to May this year is said to have stood at over 1.1 billion cedis.
GRi. /
The Ghanaian Chronicle
Arrest this star! Court's order on footballer’s drug deals
In a front-age story, the Ghanaian Chronicle reports that an Accra Community Tribunal has ordered the arrest of former national and Asante Kotoko football star, Papa Arko (his real name is George Mensah), for his alleged role in the attempted exportation of narcotic drugs to the United Kingdom.
The court is said to have issued a bench warrant for his arrest following disclosures by Mr John Boakye, a staff of DHL, a courier service provider, that 13 kilograms of Indian hemp that he, Boakye, had allegedly assisted in its export, belonged to Papa Arko and an Accra hairdresser, popularly called "Sam Tugar". Tugar and Papa Arko are on the run.
The story says that Boakye and two other officials of DHL – Messrs Alex Odoi, 34, Customer Service Co-ordinator, and Michael Asamoa, 31, Ground Operations Controller, who are implicated in the attempted export, are on bail. According to the Chroncle, during a re-examination f some boxes by officials of DHL on December 2, last year, at the Accra office, they detected that some of the secured boxes had been tampered with. Curious, they opened one of the boxes and when they perforated the sides, they found some substance, which heightened their suspicion
The paper says that a senior official of the company then alerted officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NCB), who confirmed that the substance was Indian hemp.
GRi../
Free Press
Reform Party denies Tsikata-P.V. Obeng connection
The Free Press says that contrary to some media reports last year, the National Reform Party (NRP) says that Captain Kojo Tsikata (rtd), former PNDC member in charge of national security and Mr P. V. Obeng, former Presidential Adviser on Governmental Affairs, are not members of the party.
According to the paper Mr Kyeretwie Opoku, national chairman of the party, debunked any suggestion that the two men either covertly or overtly, supported the NRP or said he, who signed the party identity cards, had not issued any to the former PNC ‘power-brokers’.
Mr Opoku is said to have urged Ghanaians not to believe "some of these media reports" saying that the Reform Party did not believe in any support that comes through the backdoor. On allegations that the party had marshalled logistics, including 200 pick-up vehicles and a helicopter for the December general elections, he is said to have reacted by asking the Free Press reporter to take a loo at the party’s compound whether those pick-ups were there.
He is reported to have noted, however, that like any other political party, they were still building up their logistics
GRi../
Ministerial appointments…President Rawlings contravenes constitution
In a front-page screaming headline story, the Dispatch says that a close analysis of the appointment of the 84 Ministers of State reveals that President Jerry Rawlings has contravened certain constitutional provisions. The paper quotes two Articles in the Constitution, Article 78 (1) and Article &9 (1) to buttress its assertion.
The Dispatch says that according to the Constitution, majority of the Ministers should be Members of Parliament. It questions whether ‘Ministers’ refers to substantive Ministers or Deputy Ministers. The paper says that either way, the President has contravened the Constitution.
The Dispatch notes that the official programme used during the state opening of the Fourth Session of Parliament on January 13, 2000, left out two Ministers of State at the Presidency, Prof. Kofi Awoonor and Mr D.S. Boateng The paper observes that as per Artic 8 (1), if one adds up the number f Cabinet Ministers; non-Cabinet Ministers; Ministers of State in the Presidency; Regional Ministers and the Presidential Adviser on Governmental Affairs the total is 42, including 19 MPs According to the paper, even if the Presidential Advisor n Governmental Affairs is excluded, 19 MPs out of 41 Ministers is still not majority as per Article 8 (1).
The Dispatch says that if the definition of ‘Ministers’ is stretched to include Deputies, the total number of Ministers is 84, with 38 MPs, definitely not the majority as stipulated in the Constitution.
GRi./