Andanis react to
White Paper on Wuaku Commission Report
People’s National Convention reacts to new measure
Ghanaians urged to sustain democracy.
Foundation seeks regular meeting with Presidency
Netherlands to support Ghana's political parties
Respect Saturday as the Sabbath-day
Twenty Ghanaian Immigrants deported from Spain
Police Council calls for probe into extortion case
Government committed to move country forward, Foreign Minister
People’s National Convention deplores spate of corruption
Pastor calls for good relations between Kufuor and Rawlings
Illegal Ghanaian immigrants repatriated
VALCO prepares workers minds for redundancy.
Public Utilities Regulatory Commission members named
Andanis
react to White Paper on Wuaku Commission Report
At a packed press conference in
The press conference was attended by a number of chiefs from
the Dagbon Traditional Area, family members and sympathisers, In a statement
read on behalf of the family by Dr. Alhassan Wayo Seini, spokesman, the Andanis accused the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister
of Justice of interfering in the writing of the Whiter Paper.
It said it was not surprised at "the haste with which the Attorney-General wants to clear the affected officials".
"We have earlier had occasion to protest at the
interference of his office even in the domain of the media where it manipulated
some aspects of the news coverage of the proceedings at the Wuaku
Commission," the Andani family said.
The Commission was set up by the President to investigate bloody clashes at Yendi last March that claimed the lives of at least 30 people including the Ya Naa.
Dr. Seini said the majority of the
30 people the Executive Summary of the Commission mentioned were Andanis against whom there had not been any evidence of
their involvement in the carnage except that they volunteered to appear before
the Wuaku Commission to give evidence.
"This is no doubt a very cynical attempt to turn the
victims of this heinous crime into the aggressors, and yet another
demonstration of the extent to which the government would go to subvert the
truth and to satisfy the Abudu Family," Dr Seini said.
He also noted with concern the exoneration of the Bolin Lana, Mahammadu Abdulai, the head of the Abudus in Yendi.
He said evidence deduced at the Commission proved that the
Bolin Lana gave orders for the Abudus to attack the Andanis alluding that "For three consecutive days,
this self-styled Bolin Lana was the hub around which the conspiracy and murders
were organized."
Dr. Seini questioned the basis for
preferring charges against Iddi Iddrisu,
the ex-Zalinkon Lana, for receiving the severed head
of the late Ya Naa from Iddrisu Jahinfo, the alleged
murderer, on behalf of the Bolin Lana who had been set free.
He said it was disclosed at the Commission that the
murderers of the Ya-Naa mounted his severed head on a
spear and took it to the house of this self-styled Bolin Lana where he sat in
state and received it.
"It was there that a victory parade was organised
amidst singing, drumming and dancing." Dr. Seini
said the exoneration of the Bolin Lana makes mockery of a government that
claims that it has a "scrupulous respect for the rule of law and due
process".
The Andani Family spoke against
"an attempt to implicate Mr Ibrahim Mahama", a Tamale-based
lawyer. He said Mr Mahama was the only individual to attract the most extensive
coverage in the White Paper in which he was accused of establishing military training
camps for weapon handling.
Dr. Seini asked Ghanaians to
question the government on when, how and where Mr Mahama established the camps
and whether he did that during the three days leading to the death of the Ya-Naa?
The Andani Family alleged that the
Government's attitude towards Mr Mahama brings back memories of attempts that
had been made in the recent past to silence him. It added that there had even
been an attempt on his life before.
Dr. Seini described as
preposterous the charge of "criminal negligence" against Prince Imoro Andani, former Northern
Regional Minister, and asked how a former Supreme Court judge could invoke
charges for a crime that did not exist in the statue books.
"We have enough reasons to suspect that this may not be
incompetence on the part of chairman of the Wuaku
Commission, but a shrewd ploy to prefer the wrong charges so that they can
easily be thrown out of any court."
The Andani Family said while the
Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and
the Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor had
said the two factions had been stockpiling arms, members of the Andani Family had been subjected to numerous searches by
the security agencies who did not find any weapon.
They noted that the failure to restrict arms from getting
into the wrong hands resulted in the Yendi carnage.
The Andanis claimed that the government's
announcement of six billion as expenditure on the crisis was an attempt to
incite the public against northerners, and said the government had to be held
responsible.
"In fact those government officials who demonstrated a gross dereliction of duty must, in addition to other criminal charges, be charged for causing financial loss to the state," they stated.
The Government in a White Paper on the Wuaku
Commission Report blamed individuals from both the Abudu
and Andani Gates for the violent incidents at Yendi between 25 and 27 March this year, leading to the
death of the Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II and 30 others.
It, however, exonerated the former Minister for the
Interior, Alhaji Malik Yakubu
Alhassan, the former National Security Adviser,
Lieutenant-General Joshua Mahamadu Hamidu, Major
Sulemana Abubakar (rtd) of
the National Security Office and Alhaji Mohammed Aminu
Amadu, a businessman, from any complicity in the disturbances and the killing
of the Ya-Naa.
Also freed of involvement was the
Bolin Lana, Mahammadu Abdulai,
and head of the Abudus at Yendi.
These were part of major findings contained in the Commission's Report to the
Government.
The Commission said it identified as a major cause of the disturbances the longstanding chieftaincy dispute between the two gates and the non-observance of the funeral of the late Mahammadu Abdulai IV.
Other reasons assigned by the Commission for the disturbances included the illegal stockpiling of arms by both gates and the inability of the security services to prevent it.
The rest were the hasty lifting of the curfew and the ban on
the celebration of the Bugum Festival by the then
Regional Minister, Prince Imoru Andani
and the assault on Ziblim Abdulai
by Abudu Youths in the morning of 25 March last year.
The Commission in its recommendation asked for the arrest and prosecution of
the alleged killers of the late Ya-Naa, Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Gyamfo and several other
individuals for their alleged complicity in various other offences.
It has also approved specific measures against some public
officials for dereliction of duty such as the then Regional Minister, Prince Imoru Andani, the Yendi District Chief Executive, Mohammad Habib Tijani and some security
officials.
The Commission also recommended that Mr Ibrahim Mahama, a
lawyer, be referred to the General Legal Council for necessary action for
suborning witnesses.
Other recommendations include upgrading into a garrison the
military detachment in the Yendi area to ensure
stability, a clampdown on and disbanding of all private armies operating
outside the auspices of the Ghana Armed Forces and a ban on the celebration of
the Bugum Festival until a Ya-Naa
was enskinned.
In addition, serious efforts should be made to revive the
Dagbon Traditional Council, made up of all accredited and recognized members,
preservation of the body of the late Ya-Naa currently
at the
The Wuaku Commission was established to make full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the circumstances leading to the events in the Dagbon Traditional area, to recommend appropriate sanctions for those responsible or involved in the violence and the resultant deaths and injuries.
It began sitting on 29 May last year and presented its Report
to the President, John Agyekum Kufuor on 6 November.
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People’s National Convention reacts to new
measure
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- The People's National
Convention (PNC), on
Wednesday described the printing of the 10,000 and 20,000 cedi currency notes
as baseless and lacking economic sense since the government was already
actively involved in discussions with ECOWAS on a common currency for the
sub-region.
Dr. Edward Mahama, leader of the party told a news
conference in
He said the depreciation of the cedi was one of several
crises facing the nation, adding that, "After two years of rule the
government has only been increasing prices of commodities including petroleum
products.
Dr. Mahama admitted that the NPP government inherited a debt
of 1.3 trillion cedis from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), at the beginning of
2001 from the previous government but that debt has now increased to 4.3
trillion cedis as at the end of 2002.
He thus called on government to explain to Ghanaians how the
formula for increasing ex-pump petroleum price to 60 per cent in February 2001,
a decision that government said would be used to pay off TOR's
debt.
Dr Mahama said since the increase in price of fuel in 2001,
there had been increases in prices of water, electricity and several other
items that have in turn shot up transport fares, food, rents, school fees,
medical services and other several critical items of survival for the average Ghanaian.
On the privatisation of water, the PNC called on government to have a second look on the facility since water was for life.
Dr Mahama warned government not to privatise water and
electricity, saying, "if government fails to listen to the views of the
citizenry and went ahead to privatise water and electricity in this year, the
facility would become so expensive and less available to a greater number of
citizens who are already poor and would consequently increase water-born
diseases".
The party also condemned the government's mass registration
of unemployed youth describing it as "a hoax with the high unemployment
rate getting worse everyday". Dr Mahama commended the New Democratic
Congress (NDC), party for handing over power
honourably and that NPP too should be ready to hand over power in 2005 in the
same manner.
David Apasera, PNC Member of
Parliament (MP), for Bolgatanga constituency in an
interview with GNA after the conference observed that the mass unemployment,
especially among the youth was the main reason of crime in the country and
called on government to work at reversing the situation.
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Ghanaians urged to sustain democracy
Tamale (Northern Region) 09 January 2003- Mr Issah Ketekewu, Deputy Northern Region Minister, has urged
Ghanaians not to take the prevailing peace in the country for granted but to
sustain it for an enduring democracy.
He said "it is better to have a little democracy than
to have none at all", pointing out that what is important now is for
Ghanaians to forge ahead in unity and with a common vision to develop the
country.
Mr Ketekewu was speaking at an
end-of-year get-together with a cross-section of the people, including heads of
departments, security personnel and NPP supporters in Tamale on Tuesday, to
mark the 10th anniversary of the
The Deputy Minister therefore, appealed to Ghanaians with experience and knowledge in conflict management to help bring lasting peace in the country Ketekewu called on the elders of Dagbon to embrace peace by advising one another especially the youth, to refrain from utterances that could inflame passions and jeopardise any peace effort in the area.
He commended the security agencies and the people for their
co-operation in ensuring peace in Dagbon.
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Foundation seeks regular meeting with
Presidency
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- The Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF)
on Wednesday asked government to restore the monthly direct consultations
between it and the Presidency as pertained under the previous administration.
Dr Osei Boeh-Ocansey,
Director-General of the PEF told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk that
the umbrella body for various business groupings is seeking such an audience to
be able to articulate in very clear terms issues affecting the growth of
industry and how to address them.
He said attempts so far made to get the government to
respond favourably to the request had not yielded any positive results,
emphasising, however, "that PEF would continue to pursue the issue until a
favourable agreement was reached."
PEF groups associations include the Ghana Employers
Association, Association of Ghana Industries, Ghana Association of Bankers,
Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ghana Chamber of Mines.
Dr Boeh-Ocansey said although
Government has put in place the Ghana Investors Advisory Council that meet with
the President every six months to discuss issues affecting the private sector,
PEF still hold the view that members constituting the Council would not be able
to put forward vigorously concerns of local businesses, but their own.
Under the previous regime, PEF had had an institutionalised
monthly meeting with the Government under the Chairmanship of then
Vice-President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
According to him such a meeting had the dual advantage of
allaying the fears of captains of industry and gave them the hope that they had
been able to capture the ear of government with their problems.
Dr Boeh-Ocansey regretted that
many industries in the country are operating under very distressed conditions,
after losing heavily on their investment as a result of exchange rate
volatility between 1998 and 2000, adding that the list of such companies are
growing.
"Some of these companies needed their debts to be
restructured by Government to keep them in operation and we can only do such
discussions and negotiations when we have a regular consultative forum in place
to share our thoughts and views," he added.
"We believe that just as the Financial Sector Adjustment Programme was launched to bail out distressed banks, a similar thing could be done for industry by changing some of their short-term debts to long-term ones to enable them put their houses in order," he said.
He said a key task for government would be to launch a study
to identify genuine cases for bail out.
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Netherlands to support Ghana's political
parties
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- Mr Arial Van Der
Wiel Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands in Ghana
said on Wednesday that the Foundation of Dutch Political Parties had signed a
memorandum of understanding to sponsor four political parties in Ghana to
understudy the political process in his country.
Wiel, who was speaking during a
courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey in
He said he was liasing with the
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to channel support to the
District Assemblies Common Fund to facilitate the development of the Districts.
Wiel called for the sharing of
expertise between the two countries to enhance investments and bilateral
relations. Adjetey said Parliament was facing a number of problems such as office
accommodation and called on the
He lauded the years of co-operation between
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Majority Leader said the existing structures that promoted healthy relationship between the two countries should be enhanced.
Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Majority Chief Whip called on the
John Tia, Deputy Minority Whip
said
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Respect Saturday as the Sabbath-day
Pastor Peter Mensah, President of the Ghana Union Conference
of the Church made the appeal during a courtesy call on the Speaker of
Parliament, Peter Ala Adjetey in
"As loyal citizens of the
Pastor Mensah, who presented a communiqué issued by the
Church on the matter at a just ended Southern Conference of the Church to the
Speaker, said of most concern to the SDA was the fixing of state certificate
examinations dates on the Sabbath and the insistence of some employers that
Saturday became a working day.
He said the Adventist population in
Pastor Mensah described the SDA as partners in development
and mentioned the education sector where the Church had established a
university, six secondary, 115 junior secondary schools and over 275 primary
schools and 14 hospitals.
He said the Adventist Development and Relief Agency was
assisting various communities in the provision of sanitation, micro-financing
and rural farming. Pastor Mensah commended Parliament for the excellent role it
was playing in ensuring the sustenance of democratic rule in the country.
Adjetey referred to the dispute among the Christian
community over the day of the Sabbath as mere doctrinal differences and assured
the SDA that parliament would consider the appeal within the purview of its
constitutional mandate.
Both Osei Kyei
-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Chief Whip and Mr John Tia, Deputy Minority Chief Whip, who were at the meeting
commended the SDA for its immense role in boosting development in their
constituencies.
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Twenty Ghanaian Immigrants deported from Spain
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- Twenty Ghanaian
illegal immigrants were on Wednesday deported from Spain with about a dozen
escorts and officials on board a chartered aircraft.
The immigrants, whose ages ranged between 25 and 35 years,
said they got to the European country by road from northern
An official of the Spanish Embassy in
The Embassy said about 200 more Ghanaians were being
screened at Feturvuntura Camp in
"From
Aminu said he was arrested upon
entry into
"In all, I spent about five months on road to
He did not rule out another attempt, when asked whether he
would embark on a similar journey. "May be I will organize myself and see
whether I can go back." Like the two, others have admitted that they had
made several attempts to get to
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Police Council calls for probe into
extortion case
A statement from the Ghana Police Service Council and signed
by its Chairman Mr B.J.Da Rocha, said though the
Police Administration has denied any allegation of extorting money from its
officers, the matter calls for a thorough investigation to ascertain the real
source of the story and whether it is true or false.
The statement said the news item which appeared on the Ghana
Home Page website and used by the local media accused the Inspector-General of
Police (IGP), the Minister for the Interior and some "top government
officials" as being behind the extortion.
It said the Council will at its meeting this month consider
the matters raised in the news item and the outcome of
the investigations and recommend appropriate action to be taken. The Police
Administration in a statement on
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Government committed to move country
forward, Foreign Minister
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr
Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, on Wednesday said government was committed to ensuring
that there was an improvement in the overall socio-economic development plans
of the country.
He said government was therefore, giving priority attention
to the development of infrastructure, health, education, roads and railway
reconstruction, information technology and the communications field to move the
country forward.
Owusu-Agyemang said this when the Ambassador-designate of
the United Stares Mrs Mary Carlin-Yates presented her Open Letters to him at
his office to resume duty. He said
The Foreign Minister said since the assumption of office by
the government, the two countries had had friendly relations and mentioned
specifically cooperation in the security area as a worthy goal. He added that
peace and security were cardinal to ensuring national unity.
Owusu-Agyemang said the support towards resuscitation of the
Navy as well as security arrangements within the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) had
gone a long way in improving naval patrols on the high seas and equipping the
military in performing its duties effectively.
In the area of commerce, the Foreign Minister said a lot had
been achieved through the bilateral agreements between the two countries,
adding that it was the wish of the government that there would be more trade
relations between the business communities to, especially, assist local
industries to grow.
Owusu-Agyemang said government intended to ensure the rule
of law and good governance through pragmatic approaches to national issues. He
said the country had also played its part in the international fight against
terrorism adding that there was the need to stem the tide against terrorism
globally so that the average person could be assured of his physical wellbeing
in a peaceful atmosphere.
Mrs Carlin-Yates lauded the pro-active stance of government for setting itself five priority areas of development for the benefit of the people.
She said she hoped to bring with her new ideas and
programmes to strengthen the bilateral agreements between the
The Ambassador-designate commended President Kufuor for his nomination as the flagbearer of the NPP for the next elections as well as for organising the People's Assembly, which enabled many people to ask and air their views on national issues.
Mrs Carlin-Yates described
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People’s National Convention deplores spate
of corruption
It also claimed that the two-year-old government had not
addressed other pertinent issues confronting the nation. Dr Edward Mahama,
leader of the party, was speaking at a news
conference in
In a highly critical statement of the government, he claimed
that corruption had become a way of life in the country and it had become
impossible to do anything without bribing for employment, transfer of public
servants, promotions, contracts, enjoyment of public services and every step in
processing official documents for payment for work done.
Dr Mahama urged the government to reverse the situation
before the end of its tenure of office. Dr Edward Mahama said the courts were
choked by private suits and criminal cases and access to justice was rife with
corruption and was slow, adding that many unresolved cases had been on the
books for decades, including prisoners who have been on remand for several
years.
He said government's declaration of "Golden Age of
Business" was a mere slogan. "It is rather under the NPP's Golden Age of Business that many firms are speedily
collapsing due to lack of clear government support and effective credit
facilities from the banking sector."
Dr Mahama said it was his party's view that the NPP would
not be able to solve the problems of the country since there were crises
everywhere.
These include the deepening crisis in education, health
institutions and the deplorable state of sanitation in the major cities. He
said children in most rural educational institutions were the forgotten
second-class citizens still sitting under trees to have classes describing them
as "tragedies of the future".
He commended government in equipping the security system
particularly the police but said more still needed to be done since there were
always reports of armed robberies and other related crimes.
Dr Mahama said due to poor negotiating abilities, the NPP
Administration had honoured the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) conditions
for assistance in 2003, which would not help the nation in anyway.
He said despite the hard economic situation of the country,
government was still ready to increase petroleum prices and the Value Added Tax
(VAT). He said payments of extra-duty and other allowances were frozen unless
approved by IMF adding that there were "Fast Track" privatization of
the Cocoa Purchasing Company (CPC) and Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD).
He called for the curtailing of indiscipline in government
spending. Other ranking members of the party including Mr Gabriel Pwamang, General Secretary and Mr David Apasara,
PNC Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga, attended the press conference.
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Pastor calls for good relations between
Kufuor and Rawlings
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 09 January 2003- A pastor has called on the Council of
State to
act in concert with the National House of Chiefs and religious bodies to ensure
that a harmonious relationship exist between President John Agyekum Kufour and ex-President Jerry John Rawlings.
Reverend Joseph Gyimah, Leader of the
Rev. Gyimah made the call when he addressed the inaugural
ceremony of a new prayer group of the True Light of Christ Church, known as the
"Morning Watch", at Abrepo a suburb of
"Even though the two leaders claim they are at peace
with each other it is an open secret that there is a clandestine cold war going
on between them."
He said "all the much talk about and crave for
reconciliation may come to nought if leaders of the nation do not champion the
course by first being at peace with one another and working closely
together."
Rev Gyimah said setting up the National Reconciliation
Commission (NRC) alone could not bring about "the healing of wounds and
relief to those who suffered various atrocities until victims and perpetrators
are ready to meet and work with each other like brothers and sisters."
Rev. Gyimah said it is against this backdrop that the
rejection of the Christmas gifts from the state protocol by Ex-President
Rawlings and Prof John Atta Mills, the former Vice President, was a source of
worry and concern.
"Small gestures like gifts and salutations matter a lot
in the national drive at reconciling the nation and should therefore be
encouraged at all levels rather than discouraging such initiatives," he
said.
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Illegal Ghanaian immigrants repatriated
repatriating illegal Ghanaian immigrants from its territory of the
Twenty of the 44 illegal immigrants, the majority of whom are
from Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region, are expected
in Accra on Wednesday while the remainder would be repatriated later, Alvaro Kpatrick, Charge d'Affaires of
the Spanish Embassy in Accra, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra.
He said verbal information was communicated to the Ghanaian
authorities on Tuesday about the exercise. Kpatrick
said the repatriation was a routine one by
The Deputy Minister of the Interior, Kwadwo Asiedu Affram, told the GNA that
the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) was working with its Spanish counterpart on
the repatriation.
GIS sources said that the Spanish government has expressed
its determination to repatriate hundreds of immigrants who flood the
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VALCO prepares workers minds for redundancy.
Tema (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- Following the shut
down of Line Four as a result of the reduction in power supply from the Volta
River Authority (VRA) to Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) on 31 December 2002,
management of VALCO has initiated processes to reduce manpower requirements for
a two-line operation.
The reduction exercise will be done in line with the provisions
of VALCO Collective Bargaining Agreement and conditions of service for
unionised and non-unionised employees, a VALCO source said on Wednesday.
The source told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that VALCO had
not yet identified any employee to be affected by the manpower reduction
exercise. ''Management team is working on relevant details to ensure that the
right things are done to give VALCO the best post-reduction organisation,'' the
source noted.
''In line with this, an evaluation and force ranking process
to be used will be based on merit, potential skills in current job, physical
and mental ability to assume other jobs and conduct. Length of service
will also play a role,'' the source said.
The source said, in the meantime, management is working with
the union and other stakeholders to minimise the impact of the capacity and
manpower reductions on employees and the company, having regard to the
difficult cash flow situation of VALCO.
VALCO, that has 950 employees, reduced its workforce twice
last year, March and October, because of low prices of aluminium in the world
market coupled with reduction in operation capacity. The company is now working
on two pot lines.
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Public Utilities Regulatory Commission members named
Accra (Greater Accra) 09 January 2003- Mr Kwame Pinim,
an economic consultant, is to chair an eight-member Public Utilities Regulatory
Commission (PURC) named by President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday.
Members of the Commission appointed in consultation with the
Council of State are Mr A.E. Quayson, the
representative of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr Alex Boney, the representative of the TUC and Mr Stephen Adu, Executive Secretary of the PURC.
A statement signed by Mr Kwabena Agyepong,
Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesman, named the other
members as Mr Kwame Osei-Poku, Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, Nana Kobina Nketia and Mr Mohammed Amin Aanta.
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