Kufuor sends messages of condolence
NDC mourns Achuliwor, consoles NPP
Ghana needs support to manage refugees - Aliu
Nanfuri handed me over for torture -
Ex-soldier
President Kufuor off for Dakar Summit
Governance institutions' role vital for democracy - Epkedzor
About 600,000 displaced in Cote d'Ivoire crisis
Chief weeps before NRC
Ghanaian Forces in Sierra Leone lauded
Prosecution responds to Tsikata's submission on 11 February
SDA church appeals to Government
Kufuor sends messages of condolence
In the message to President Mwai Kibaki of
"May the good Lord grant
your Excellency and the entire people of
"On behalf of the
government and people of Ghana and in my own name I wish to convey to you the
government and people of Cameroon, and especially the bereaved families our
heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies."
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NDC mourns Achuliwor, consoles NPP
It a statement issued in
The NDC said Achuliwor's
death is even more distressing given the circumstances. He died on Wednesday at
the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital from injuries he sustained in a road accident
near Ejisu at Saturday.
It said the MP fell victim to indiscipline against which vice president Aliu
Mahama had launched a campaign and paid the highest price for it. "Even as
we mourn and grieve over his death, it is important to remind ourselves that we
can avoid many of the unpleasant experiences we inflict upon ourselves, if we
maintain discipline at all times and at all levels."
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Ghana
The Vice President, who said
this when he held a meeting with Ms Carolyn McAskie,
UN Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy for the Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire on
Thursday, said the implications of such a situation would be detrimental to
Ghana.
He, however, gave the assurance
that the country would do her best to make life comfortable for the refugees
and to ensure the speedy resolution of the crisis in her western neighbour, saying,
"they are our brothers in crisis and we need to
care for them."
The five-month long Ivorian
conflict has reportedly displaced about 600,000. Vice President Mahama
recounted
He said with the recently
brokered peace in
The parties in the conflict, he
said, had to adopt the spirit and attitude of give and take for peace to
prevail. The Vice President, however, expressed optimism that West African leaders
at the ECOWAS meeting that opened in
Ms McAskie,
who is in
To address the economic impact,
Ms McAskie said
On the France Peace Accord, she
said some investment had to be made to sell it, while some reasonable time was
needed to implement it. Ms McAskie held discussions
with ministers of state, members of the Diplomatic Corps and other relevant
bodies to find out
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Nanfuri handed me over for torture
- Ex-soldier
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- Ex-Corporal Emmanuel Dagban Sawundi,
now a security officer at the Kotoka International
Airport, Thursday alleged that Peter Nanfuri, former
IGP, handed him over to masked men for torture in 1985, when he (Nanfuri) was the Director of the Bureau for National
Investigations (BNI).
Sawundi showed members of the
Commission a number of scars on various parts of his body as evidence of severe
torture meted out to him on the orders of Nanfuri, to
compel him to admit to conniving with some military men to assassinate the
Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and some other
statesmen at that time.
At least three members of the
Commission left their seats and moved closer to Sawundi
to have a close look at his left toe nail, which he said was removed with
pliers, a deep cut on his thigh, scars at his back as a result of whips with
wires and another scar on his thigh created with a hot iron.
He also took out his artificial
teeth and showed to the Commission, saying that out of the torture he lost his
natural set of teeth. Sawundi said in addition to the
torture, he was also dismissed unlawfully from the military on grounds of
misconduct and was unlawfully detained at the Nsawam
Medium Security Prison for seven years and seven months.
Narrating circumstances that led
to his misfortune, Sawundi said he was working in his
capacity as a member of 4th Battalion keeping guard at Kumasi Military Barracks
on 2 February 1985, when at 1900 hours he and his colleagues heard gun shots
from the residence of the then Brigade Commander.
"The gun shot came from the
residence of the brigade commander, one George Pattinton,
through the Kumasi City Hotel area to the quarter guard, where we were so we
became alert to reply," he said.
"The brigade commander then
came and alerted us of some dissidents involved in the shootout in which two
military men were shot and wounded." He said just when they were alerted a
vehicle full of armed junior military staff came from where the gunshots had
come, advanced towards them and they stopped the vehicle, disarmed the soldiers
and asked the driver to move the vehicle away.
Sawundi said after that incident the
Brigade Commander called a durbar and asked all Yeboahs,
Bawas and Botchweys, adding
that those who had those names were all sent to
He said on
"At the guardroom I was
interrogated and later sent to my house for a search, but nothing was
found," he said. "Later I was sent to
Sawundi said from the Castle one Warrant
Officer Tetteh ordered that he should be taken to the
BNI headquarters, where he Tetteh said he would be much
safer, adding that at the BNI, a four-member panel made up of Nanfuri, Asaase Gyimah, one Ampadu and one Annor Kumi, interrogated him about his involvement with some
military officers suspected as plotting assassinations of statesmen.
He said he was asked about one
Christian Manu, who used to be his course mate, one Major Sulemana and one
General Aminu, all of whom he knew as his superiors
but had nothing private to do with.
"My statement was not taken
and Nanfuri asked me to co-operate or else he would
hand me over to my own men to torture me, but I did not have anything more to
say because I had told them the truth already," he said.
Sawundi said he was sent back to the
BNI cells and later that night some masked men came, blindfolded and handcuffed
him and took him in a vehicle with other detainees to an unknown place where
they were severely tortured for days, still blindfolded.
"We were whipped with
wires, booted with military boots and starved for days without food and
water," he said. "When we cried for water, they poured the water on
our heads but refused to give us some to drink."
He said after three months of
torture at the BNI one Dr. Koranteng from the Police
Hospital attended to him and pleaded that he should not to be tortured further,
adding that on that account he was invited to meet Nanfuri
for the second time and later moved out of BNI with others, and they were
promised that they were being taken to a hotel.
"We headed towards
Sawundi said on his return from cells
he reported at the Kumasi Barracks and asked to be re-instated but the officer
in charge, one Major, told him he did not know him and had no record on his
service with the military.
He said he went to the records
office in the barracks and found out that his file had been marked with red ink
signifying dismissal on grounds of misconduct on
"I therefore petitioned the
then Chief of Defence Staff for my pension benefits and he approved it on
humanitarian grounds and paid me an amount a little over 1m cedis covering my
salaries from February 1985 to June 1992 as a lance corporal, although I was
promoted to Corporal before that unlawful dismissal," he said.
Sawundi said during his unlawful
detention his wife was involved in two separate accidents during her visit to
him in prisons and that has resulted in the deformity of her hand and rendered
her incapacitated.
He said his only son he had with
another woman is also currently a truck pusher at
Members of the Commission
sympathised with Sawundi and asked him to forgive his
persecutors. General Erskine said it was a shame that
military men could treat their colleague in the way Sawundi
was treated, whilst Mrs. Sylvia Boye wondered what
sort of training such military men received to make them so inhuman and wicked.
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President Kufuor off for Dakar Summit
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- President John Kufour on Thursday left Accra for
Dakar, Senegal, to attend the 26th session of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) heads of state summit.
President Kufuor was accompanied
by the Energy Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah,
Attorney-General Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo. The rest are Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister for Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation,
Dr Gyesikah Agambila, Deputy
Finance Minister and Dr Paul Acquah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana. Foreign
Minister Hackman Owusu-Agyemang is already in
Kwabena Agyepong,
Presidential Spokesman, told journalists that the summit would discuss the
current situation in La Cote
The meeting would also discuss
the moratorium on small arms, which has been the concern of the leaders of the
sub-region, the
According to Agyepong
the heads of state were expected to sign a protocol on the West African Gas
Pipeline and elect members of the ECOWAS Council of Elders, for which
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Governance institutions' role vital for democracy - Epkedzor
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- The Interim Chairman of Workers of Governance Institutions (WGI), Anthony
Epkedzor, on Thursday called on state institutions to
develop networking modalities to build confidence, trust and deepen their
co-operation to promote good governance in the country.
"The sustenance and
development of democratic principles, rule of law and good governance in the
country depends largely on the performance of governance institutions whose
roles are vital ingredients for accelerated growth," he said.
Epkedzor, who is also an Electoral Officer
at the Electoral Commission, was speaking to Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an
interview in
The WGI is a networking platform
for workers/members of the National Media Commission, National Commission for
Civic Education, the Electoral Commission, the Parliamentary Service, Commission
for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the Judicial Service.
The main aim of WGI is to
establish firm links among the governance institutions both at the top and lower
management levels through organisation of workshops, seminars, forums and
sporting activities to commemorate national days.
Epkedzor said public forums under the
theme, "The sustainability of Good Governance in
The forum would focus on the
importance and attributes of workers of the governance institutions and provide
them with information on their various roles in upholding the tenets and
defence the Constitution.
Workers would also be exposed to
the essential procedures relating to the exhibition of the right sense of
personal integrity and fairness as they deal with people of different political
persuasions.
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About 600,000 displaced in Cote
d'Ivoire
The crisis has torn the country
apart and threatens to cause more havoc, as the government appears to be ready
to tear up the
She said employment in northern
"This has resulted in the
outbreak of epidemics and increasing cases of cholera and meningitis in certain
parts of the country. The fear is that the humanitarian situation could get
worse." Ms McAskie said the UN is very worried about
the disruption to health, education and commercial activities in the region
that accounts for 40 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP) of the Franc
Zone.
"The situation is much
worse for people living in the economic margins who have no resources whatsoever
to fall on," she added. Ms McAskie appealed to
donor partners to support
"
On the deployment of
peacekeepers, Ms McAskie said no formal decision had
been taken, adding that it was still early. "However, a technical mission
would be in
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Chief weeps before NRC
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- Togbe Satsimadza Afari II, Divisional Chief in the Klikor
Traditional area, on Thursday wept before the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC) when he was asked to tell the Commission what effects his unlawful
detention, torture and exile during the Provisional National Defence Council
(PNDC) era had had on him.
Togbe Afari
told the Commission that his unlawful detention, torture and the sale of his
property while he was in exile in
Literally shivering and wiping
tears with his handkerchief, he said, "the treat given to me by
ex-president Jerry John Rawlings, former IGP, C. K. Dewornu,
and his cousin Jerry Doe has affected me a lot."
Led by counsel for the NRC Togbe Afari, known in private
life as Christian Afaglo, told the Commission that in
1970 he resigned from the military and established the Ham Group of Companies,
made of seven separate outfits, including a school, a hotel, a fishing company
between Klikor, Tema and Accra.
He said in 1990 one Eugenia Kumassah came to him to assist her to obtain cement from
the Ministry of Works and Housing to construct a nursery for the 31st December
Women's Movement (DWM) at Klikor, and he obliged.
Togbe Afari
said days after that, he heard his name on the radio that he was wanted at the Gondar Barracks and he went. He said when he arrived, he was directed to Dewornu
to be told his offence.
"I called Dewornu on phone but he directed me to Nana Konadu Agyemang
Rawlings, former First Lady who asked four armed soldiers to send me to the
Castle." He said he was at the Castle from morning till 1830 hours but was
told nothing, so he left and went home to Klikor.
Around 0200 hours the following
dawn soldiers came to his house fired warning shots and took him, his brother
and his ex-wife in his own car and drove them towards
"At the Castle I met
ex-president Rawlings and he personally asked soldiers to shave me completely
and torture me more, which they did in the
He said he was forced to admit
that he acquired an X-ray machine and some drugs illegally and sold them to one
Dr Nkansah and also acquired some cement illegally in
the name of the DWM, but he refused.
Togbe Afari
said when he refused to admit to the allegations against him,
he was tortured again till he urinated on himself and his anus started
bleeding. He was then sent to the
He said at the hospital soldiers
kept visiting and threatening him. On
"On hearing this, I called
my family from the hospital phone to come and pick me up that night," he
said. "That night my son came and parked my car behind the surgical Ward
and I sneaked out of my ward with the excuse that I was exercising my body and
I escaped to
He said in 1992 he heard in
He said he made attempts to come
back to
"Since I returned I have
had a lot of problems with accommodation. The people of Klikor,
where Dewornu and his cousin Jerry Doe hail from,
have sent letters to the government to arrest me and are calling me a
criminal," he said.
He said at the moment the post
office, schools and a petrol filling station he built in his hometown are still
being used, but no money is paid to him. Most of his children have now become
street kids in Dansoman Accra, he added.
Members of the Commission
expressed their sympathy with him and assured him that the necessary
recommendation will be made for redress.
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Ghanaian Forces in Sierra
Leone
A statement issued in
Lt.-Gen. Opande
said the Ghanaian Sector Headquarters was the most volatile of all the five
UNAMSIL Sectors but added that all tasks given to the sector and Ghanbatt were successfully accomplished.
The statement said the Force
Commander also noted with satisfaction the professionalism in which Ghanbatt 6 relocated from Kenema
to the
"Regardless of any
situation Ghanaian troops found themselves in they performed excellently."
Brig. Ayi-Bonte said Ghanbatt's
continuous stay in Lungi was dependent largely on how
troops operated in their new location.
He explained that Ghanbatt's relocation to Lungi
was through the intervention of the President of Sierra Leone, Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who specially
preferred Ghanbatt to be deployed at the airport
area. Lt Col J.B.E. Guyiri Commanding Officer of Ghanbatt 6 said Ghanbatt would
work hard to support UNAMSIL's mandate and lift the
image of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
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Prosecution responds to Tsikata's submission on 11 February
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- A Fast Track Court in Accra trying Tsatsu Tsikata,
former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, for
allegedly causing the loss of more than 2.3bn cedis to the state, on Thursday
adjourned the case to 11 February.
The prosecution asked for the
adjournment to enable it sufficient time to be able to reply to a "no
Case" submission Tiskata's counsel made to the
court at the close their case. Augustines Obour, Assistant State Attorney, told the court presided over
by Mrs. Justice Henrietta Abban, an Appeal Court
Judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge, that the prosecution received
records of the proceedings late and therefore, needed enough time to study it.
Obuor then prayed the court for the
adjournment on which date prosecution would reply to a submission of "no
case" by Professor Emmanuel Dankwa and Major R.
S. Agbenotoh (Rtd), Tiskata's counsel.
Tsikata is charged with four
counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state and intentionally
misapplying public property. He has denied the charges and the court, has
admitted him to a 700m cedis self-recognisance bail.
Counsel had submitted, "It
is our submission that the prosecution has woefully failed to prove all charges
levelled against us." Quoting Article 19, Clause five of the Constitution
to support their case, Counsel pointed out that, "A person shall not be
charged with or held to be guilty of a criminal offence which is founded on an
Act or Omission that did not at that time take place and constitute an
offence".
Counsel therefore, prayed the
court to acquit and discharge their client. The Prosecution Team includes Ms.
Gloria Akuffo, Deputy Attorney-General, Osafo Sampong, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Anthony Gyambiby, Principal State Attorney.
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SDA church appeals to Government
Bunso (Eastern Region) 31 January
2003- The President of the Ghana Union Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA)
Church, Pastor P.O Mensah has appealed to the Government to ensure that
adequate measures should be put in place before any fuel price increases is
announced in order to alleviate the hardships of the citizenry.
Speaking at the opening of the
Second Triennial Session of the East Ghana Conference of the SDA at Bunso on Wednesday, Pastor Mensah said the
According to him, the Church has
intensified the education of its members on the HIV/AIDs
menace with emphasis on total abstinence from pre-marital sex. The five-day
conference under the theme: "United in action for Christ in wonder of his
grace", is being attended by 270 Pastors and Elders of the church from the
25 districts in the Eastern Region.
ln her keynote address, the Deputy
Minister for Environment and Science, Mrs Anna Nyamekye,
said if churches in the country would strive, teach and mould the character of
its membership to fit the aspirations of the nation, Ghana would have laid a solid foundation for a better
tomorrow.
She, therefore, asked all
Ghanaians to unite and tackle the country's problems with zealous enthusiasm
and courageous optimism. Mrs Nyamekye explained that
although the recent fuel increases had brought hardships to the citizenry,
"this situation is not the doing of any one of us," and therefore
"let us in true determination, suffer today for a better tomorrow for our
progeny.
Mrs. Nyamekye
called on the Church and Ghanaians to unite and pray for our neighbouring
nations that are going through the brunt of war. She commended the
The Deputy Minister further commended
the role of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the Church's
non-governmental organisation and hoped it would continue to support programmes
and projects aimed at reducing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment
and also provide the rural folks with programmes to better their living
standards.
She praised the role of the
Women and Health Ministries of the Church in their campaign against the
eradication of the HIV/AIDs menace from the society. The
East Akim District Chief Executive, Emmanuel Asihene, said the government would strive hard to provide
the necessary sound atmosphere for the development of individual talents and
entrepreneurship.
He noted that even though global
economy, increasing fuel cost and dwindling donor funding was telling on the
pace of national development, with prayers, the country would succeed.
Asihene urged Ghanaians to eschew all
vices that would derail national aspirations and continue to pray for unity,
accept unity in diversity and accommodate everybody's constructive contribution
to the building of the nation.
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