Five-day old baby in polythene bag
Victor Smith's case docket is intact -
Registrar
President Kufuor tours Clothing Technology Centre in Accra
"Be weary of propagandist tactics" - Afari
Aflao (Volta Region) 17 July 2002 - Alleys and streets in Aflao are increasingly becoming dangerous as thugs dispersed by persistent Police swoops on their hideouts are attacking and robbing transit travellers waiting for the border to open.
Most of the attacks reported occurred around the Timber Market and the Lorry Park during the early hours of the day. Victims of the more than 10 attacks reported to the Police in June were foreigners from sister states of Benin, Cote D'Ivoire and Nigeria.
In a story corroborated by the Police, a local source told the Ghana News Agency that the robbers waylaid their victims, who hang along the streets waiting to continue their journey and others who go into dark alleys to urinate.
The source said the robbers, who move in groups of four and five snatch bags containing money, mobile phones, passports and other valuables from their victims. What is more baffling is that the public does not heed to shouts for help by the victims, probably, for fear of the thugs, the source said.
Chief Inspector Frimpong Manso, in-charge of Aflao Police Station, said on 1 June, two Ivorian drivers, who were in transit, called at the station at dawn with abrasions and said that while sleeping beside their vehicles along the street, five robbers armed with pistols and knives attacked them and took away 30,000 CFA from them.
He said on 23 June, a Togolese woman also reported at dawn that she had been attacked while, on her way to the toilet and robbed of 350,000 CFA, a mobile phone and passport. Chief Inspector Frimpong said there were several other attacks that were not reported to the Police because victims were in a hurry to continue with their journey.
He said most of the victims who reported failed to stay back to assist the Police in their investigations. Chief Inspector Frimpong said no arrest had so far been made but hinted that the clamp down on the criminals would continue until they were flushed out from the streets of Aflao.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- Parliament was unable to pass a bill for the sharing and transfer of the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) because there was no administrator to manage it, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said on Tuesday. The passage of the bill was necessary to ensure the quick transfer of monies for investment and infrastructure projects at the local level.
Speaking at a "Stakeholder Consultation Meeting On Fiscal Decentralisation Design Report" in Accra, the Minister said the absence of a proper mechanism such as the bill, had delayed the release of funds for development projects for the first two quarters of this year. "However, if the proper mechanism is established soon, Parliament would be able to pass the bill for the quick release of the funds for the three quarters of the year by October".
The meeting would discuss the draft design report, which represented the end of the second phase, of the policy on Ghana's Fiscal Decentralisation Programme. The fiscal decentralisation programme is in three phases namely: the diagnostic, the design and the implementation phases.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said Ghana's programme of decentralisation had a number of major components including political, administrative, participatory development planning, market decentralisation, public-private sector partnership and fiscal decentralisation. He said fiscal decentralisation in particular was one critical component intended to facilitate the implementation of the entire decentralisation policy.
The goals of the fiscal decentralisation programme were to promote growth of sub-national governments, achieve efficiency, effectiveness, economy, transparency and accountability in the management of resources.
Mr Baah-Wiredu noted that there had been some initiatives in fiscal decentralisation such as the merger of the two treasuries at the district level, the establishment of the district tender board, the institution of the ceded revenue and the DACF among other things. "These earlier initiatives, however, have been piecemeal and the need has been expressed for a more comprehensive approach to the subject", he stated.
He said the Ministry recognising the loophole in the disbursement of the DACF for example, had proposed the establishment of a specialised bank for quick transfer and ease in supervision. Currently, it takes two months for funds released by the Bank of Ghana to get to the districts while commercial banks are not willing to advance monies to the districts. Mr Baah-Wiredu noted that the establishment of district banks could serve the interests of the population at the local level.
Asked whether it was not possible to use the rural banks through their apex bank, the Minister said ownership of the banks also had vested interest and as a group of people they would act differently, which could be detrimental to their development. He expressed the hope that the necessary mechanisms would be established soon to correct the uneven development trend in the country.
Mr Joseph Yamoah, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, said government with the technical assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) set up the fiscal decentralisation project to design a Decentralised Financial Management System for the country.
He said the draft design sought to change the regulatory framework for financial management from a centralised one to enhance decentralised ownership of development. He urged the participants to offer workable criticism to enable the project team to come out with a workable implementation arrangements and options and a final document to stand the test of time. Participants included district chief executives and officials from the various ministries.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- Dr Baafour Agyeman-Duah, Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy Development (CDD) on Tuesday criticised the mode of appointing Police Chiefs in the country. "The situation where officers are appointed few years or months to their retiring age does not augur well for long term planning for an institution like the Police Service," he noted.
Dr Agyeman-Duah in an exclusive interview with the Ghana News Agency said at the least an Inspector General of Police should upon appointment have five years to work for the service before retirement. He said the government should be careful not to give responsibilities to people, who did not have the capability to plan adequately to renew and revitalise such sensitive institutions.
"Internal security chiefs should have the presence of mind to create new programmes and implement long term strategies," he asserted. He, however, noted that even though the official retirement age was 60, the notion that when one reached that age one must definitely go on retirement was neither here nor there. "People do not necessarily lose their capabilities at 60, the intellect and energies must all be considered as well." The 1992 Constitution is very clear on the retiring age for public servants, however.
Dr Agyeman-Duah said, even though, there might be guidelines for selecting the Police Chiefs these had not been followed unlike in the universities where appointments were made after interviews to ascertain the capabilities of the officers. Investigations by the GNA have revealed that Mr Ernest Owusu-Poku, current Police Chief would soon begin his leave prior to retirement while most of those at the Commissioner level would also follow suit.
Among the 12 Deputy Commissioners, Nana Owusu-Nsiah, Director of the Ghana Immigration Service, an accounts personnel and Mr Kwesi Nkansah, Director in charge of Administration have two years prior to retirement. Senior Officers have 126 days leave prior to retirement.
Mr Jossie Amofa, Acting Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has barely three years to retire likewise Mr Richard Safo Kwarteng, Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Operations. Dr Kofi Kesse Manfo, Mr Paul Quaye and Selwyn Bart Mettle, all Deputy- Commissioners, whose names have appeared in part of the media as possible successors to the IGP had their first appointment in 1979 and they have many seniors, who were appointed long before them.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 17 July 2002 - The Family Law Focal Area (FLFA) of the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) Legal Pluralism and Gender Pilot Project has advocated for policy guidelines on equitable distribution of marital estate.
The FLFA is also in the process of working out with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, (KMA), modalities to pilot the decentralisation of registration of customary marriages. The call was made by Mrs Sheila Minkah-Premo, Co-ordinator of FLFA, at a two-day workshop on "Promotion of Registration of Customary Marriages in the Ashanti Region and Property Rights in Marriages" in Kumasi on Tuesday.
It was organised by the GTZ-Legal Pluralism and Gender Pilot Project that aimed at promoting gender equity in a plural legal system and was attended by governmental as well as non-governmental organisations, assembly members and traditional rulers.
Mrs Minkah-Premo noted that after 17 years of PNDC Law 112, it was about time to evaluate and ascertain the problems associated with it so that it could be amended to make it workable and easily accessible, saying that the government was interested in reviewing the laws on marriage including the law on the registration of customary marriages.
Article 22 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana calls on Parliament to enact laws to ensure the equitable distribution of marital property at divorce. This had not been done yet and, therefore, the courts continued to use judicial precedent in resolving such cases leading to some amount of inequity in many cases, she said.
Mrs Minkah-Premo said a participatory rural appraisal exercise conducted in three selected areas - Santrokofi-Bume in the Volta Region, Chansa in the Upper
West and Akorem in Ashanti, revealed three main problem areas of Family Law, Land Law and Access to Justice.
The study revealed also that while many people were familiar with the customary law, which was regarded as the "living law", they had very little access to the formal law or "state law" and its structures. Mrs Minkah-Premo expressed the hope that the workshop would provide information for law reforms that would subsequently recommend changes in practices in the plural legal system to enhance gender equity in Ghana.
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Medical practitioner claims he has cure to
HIV
Abuakwa-Maakro (Ashanti Region) 17 July 2002 - The medical officer in charge of the Ampomah Herbal Clinic at Abuakwa-Maakro in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday announced that he had cure for HIV.
In an interview with the GNA, Dr. Samuel Ampomah stressed that he could cure HIV and not AIDS and requested the ministry of health to send persons infested to the clinic for treatment to ascertain his claim. Six patients on admission at the clinic told GNA that they were responding to treatment.
A female patient, who had been at the clinic for four months, said, "I have realised improvement in my health condition. I thank God." The others collaborated her claim and called on the government to promote herbal medicine to enhance health care delivery in the country.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002-Foreign trawler companies are not allowed to operate in the seas of Ghana until they have gained full access rights from the
Fisheries Commission after satisfying conditions outlined in the new Fisheries Act.
Mr. Ishmael Ashitey Minister of State for Fisheries, who announced this at a meeting with trawler operators in Accra, warned that failure to abide by this directive would attract a fine of between one thousand and two million dollars, or the company would have its assets confiscated.
The meeting was convened at the instance of the Minister to clarify government's position on allegations of the use Ghanaian trawler operators being used as front-men for the foreign companies and thereby, making huge profits and repatriating them without paying any revenue to the Ghana government.
Mr Ashitey expressed surprise at the poor attendance of foreign trawler companies at the meeting. He said government welcomed foreign participation in the fishing industry, but would use every legal means to resist the use of Ghanaians as front men of the companies to deprive the government of its deserved revenue.
Government would also ensure that foreign trawler companies operated under the laws of the land to protect the industry. He said under the new law, trawler operators were required to renew their licences by the end of last June, and warned that after the expiry of the grace period in September, there would not be further extension and the laws would be applied fully
The Fisheries Minister said instead of a maximum of 31 trawlers, there were now 61 on the sea, creating overcrowding and depleting the fish stock. He said as part of the measures to streamline the activities of the trawler companies, all vessels would be licensed and there would also be tonnage charges on catches and that no new foreign trawler company would be licensed between now and September.
Mr. Ashitey said the Monitoring Control and Surveillance Unit was being strengthened to co-operate with air force and the navy to effectively monitor the activities of trawler operators. He announced that the unit would soon acquire VMS monitoring system for its work.
He indicated that the Attorney General's Department and the Fisheries Commission would soon come out with sanctions against illegal frontline trawler companies found out in a survey the Fisheries Department recently carried out.
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Kasoa (Central Region) 17 July 2002- The Kasoa Police have taken into their custody an abandoned unnumbered VW Golf III with various weapons concealed in the compartment of the engine. These include five locally made pistols, one of which is a revolver, 24 live cartridges, four revolver ammunitions, three facial mask, two knives, three flashlights and two television remote controllers.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. Peter Diawuoh, who is in-charge of the Kasoa station, said the vehicle believed to have been stolen, was abandoned at 'Iron City' near Kasoa. He said the absence of a registration plate on the car could mean that it had either not been licensed or the number plate might be removed".
ASP Diawuoh said no arrests had yet been made, adding that investigations were in progress. He appealed to anyone whose VW Golf car is missing to contact the Kasoa Police with relevant document for identification.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- The Authorities of Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) has made it a policy to make condom wallets part of standard uniform for its personnel.
The wallet, that must always contain condoms, must be worn by officers at all times, Mr Wilson K. Ankrah, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Tema CEPS office said at the launching of HIV/AIDS education programme organised by the management of CEPS for their workforce at Tema.
He, however, warned the workers not to misconstrue the mandatory wearing of the condom wallets as management's tacit approval of promiscuous lifestyles. Management, he said, had further directed that an HIV/AIDS curriculum would be introduced to the CEPS training Academy for all categories of officers, while education on HIV/AIDS would be conducted periodically at all CEPS offices in the country.
Mr Ankrah said management aims at bringing the needed awareness of HIV/AIDS to entire workers of CEPS to sensitise them and to secure the necessary behavioural change in their attitude towards sex.
Dr Deborah Cubagee, Tema Municipal Director of Health Services, said AIDS is claiming the lives young and active ones: adding it was the number one cause of number two years ago in Tema and last year was second.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 17 July 2002-Some of the applicants from the Central Region seeking enlistment into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) have described the recruitment exercise as "genuine and transparent". Some of the applicants, who had gone through the first stage of the recruitment exercise made the assertion when the Ghana News Agency interviewed them at the Victoria Park at Cape Coast on Tuesday, where the enlistment took place.
More than 1,000 young men and women from various parts of the Central Region had defied an intermittent rainfall in Cape Coast to form long and winding queues at the Victoria Park in their bid to get enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). Majority of them were aged between 18 and 35 years and were of varying educational backgrounds.
Commander Kofi Faidoo of the Ghana Navy and Chairman of the Central Regional Recruiting Team, told newsmen that 92 people would be selected from the region. He said the basic educational requirement were passes in Mathematics, English and Science and debunked assertions in certain quarters that the exercise was being done along political lines and reiterated that any Ghanaian could take part.
He said the applicants were undergoing height and body checks and those, who would be selected, would go for medical check-up and would be screened for HIV/AIDS.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- Survivors and families of victims of the 9 May 2001, Accra Sports Stadium Disaster on Tuesday called on the government to make the disbursement of the Stadium Disaster Fund transparent. They said the disbursement should not be shrouded in secrecy to avoid suspicion.
At a news conference organised in Accra by the Interim Executives of Accra Sports Stadium Disaster Association (ASSDA), an organisation seeking to pursue the rights and interest of survivors and families of victims of the disaster, Ms Sakinatu Suka-Braimah, ASSDA Organiser, said government should come out with figures for the victims and the donors for the public to know what was happening.
She claimed that the government was inconsistent in quoting the actual figures accrued from donations towards the fund and that it was the moral right of the survivors and families of the victims to know the modalities and the criteria used in the disbursement of the fund.
According to her, there is a social contract between the government and the people of Ghana “when we voted the government into power to cater for some of our needs and to help ameliorate problems in times like this."
Ms Suka-Braimah emphasised that the survivors and families of victims would like to know the bank where the fund was being kept, the account number, signatories to the account and the names of the five-member board of trustees. "This money was given to the government in trust, it is legally binding on the government to come out clearly and publicly on the fund. They must account for the money to the good people of Ghana.
"We expect this government to abide by its slogan of "Zero Tolerance For Corruption. They must set a good example for the people to follow," she added. Government would start disbursing the Stadium Disaster Fund on Wednesday to screened representatives of the families of 114 victims at the offices of the Director of the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council.
Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako, Assistant Government Spokesman told a press conference in Accra on Tuesday that each of the screened families was entitled to an ex-gratia award of 10 million cedis each. He said, however, that screening of another batch of six families have not been completed while seven others did not report at all for screening to facilitate any form of payment.
The press conference was to react to an earlier one held by a group calling itself the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster Association (ASSDA), alleging among other things that the disbursement of the fund had been shrouded in secrecy and the actual money accruing from the fund not known.
Mr Bediako said the total amount was 3.6 billion cedis made up of 2.1 billion cedis being the actual money donated plus an interest of 1.5 billion cedis accruing from treasury bills. He said at the moment, 1.6 billion had already been spent on funeral and upkeep of the children of the victims. Each family was given 2.5 million cedis for the burial of their deceased and a million cedis for each of the 130 children of the victims.
The Assistant Government Spokesman said, those injured would be given up to 10 million cedis each, depending on the degree of injuries sustained based on the recommendations by medical officers. He said the children of the deceased were to enjoy a scholarship scheme from nursery to the tertiary level plus a million cedis each for their upkeep.
Mr Bediako was concerned about a few multiple claimants and urged such families to agree on one person in whose name the cheque should be written. He said claimants were to produce two-passport size pictures and a witness. At least 126 soccer fans were killed on 9 May 2001 at the Accra Sports Stadium during a fourth week premier league encounter between archrivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
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Bolgatanga (Upper East) 17 July 2002- A 31 year-old unemployed mother, Teni Atoah, who bagged her five-day old baby girl and deposited her on a refuse dump at Daporetindongo, a suburb of Bolgatanga, is in the grip of the Bolgatanga Police, assisting in investigations. The culprit has been granted police bail to enable her take care of the baby until after weaning her baby when she would be due for prosecution for the offence.
The Bolgatanga District Police Commander, Mr. Emmanuel Amamo, told the Ghana News Agency that on 12 July, at about 5am one Frank Agana, a staff of Kingdom Transport Service (KTS) in the company of two others, Wahab Salifu, and Kwabena Simon, found the baby rapped in a polythene bag and crying, so they picked her and reported the matter to the police.
He added that the complainants were advised to send the baby to the Bolgatanga General Hospital, which they obliged. Mr. Amamo said the nurses at the hospital gave the name of the mother of the child as Teni Atoah, who was admitted on 7 July, and discharged four days later. He added that the culprit was consequently escorted to the hospital where the nurses confirmed she was the one.
A source close to Teni's family said she returned from hospital and reported that the baby had died during delivery and was buried by the hospital officials. Not satisfied with Teni's claim, her uncle, one Mr Salam Abongo, followed up to the hospital to enquire about the authenticity of the claim. It was at this point that the nurses revealed Teni's action to him. Teni, who the source said, is married has four children already, and is currently being cared for by her uncle.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- Mr Alfred Sallia Fawundu, UN Resident Co-ordinator in Ghana, on Tuesday said without girls education the goal of gender equality would remain unfulfilled and restrict the opportunities for sustainable human development. "It is inconceivable to presume that we can go in for a sustained assault on poverty without a concerted effort to eliminate discrimination against women and girls and to achieve gender equality, especially in education", he said.
Launching an integrated programme for the promotion of girls education action plan in Accra, Mr Fawundu said resource allocations were often not directed in the ways that facilitated education of all girls, which had resulted in low female literacy rates, violence against girls and women and the risk of HIV/AIDS that had conspired to ensure that girls were systematically more disadvantaged than their male counterparts.
The programme, which sought to fast track and advance girls' education was organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the UN System in Ghana. Mr Fawundu said girls formed the majority of children, who were denied the right to education, though it was a fundamental human right widely recognised as an investment that brought positive results for economic development.
He, therefore, called for a broadened involvement in the education sector with particular emphasis on strengthening social mobilisation through family, community, civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGO) participation.
Mr Fawundu said in that direction, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Ghana covering 2001-2005 had already set out the way forward for the UN System to bolster the effort of the Ghana government in girls' education.
He said UNICEF would take up the responsibility for the overall co-ordination and backstopping of programme implementation on behalf of the UN country team in accordance with the Secretary-General's initiative on girls' education.
Ms Christine Churcher, Minister for Basic, Secondary and Girl-Child Education, said the promotion of girls' education was the only answer to the problems of the world so everyone should embrace that course to equip girls in making better choices. She expressed her gratitude to the UN Agencies for helping through the
Girls' Education Unit and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) II Programme to enable them to fulfil the promise made at the Dakar 2000 Education Conference.
Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Education, who launched the programme, said poverty in the rural and some peri-urban areas had been found to be one of the main reasons impacting negatively against girls' education. He said research findings had also proven that investing in girls' education was the most important investment that the developing world could make towards improving the quality of life.
Subsequently, the education of the girls constituted a crucial element in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), which sought to address the slow pace of enrolment and raising the quality of education, he said. Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi said to develop capabilities in all regions of the country; the GPRS would focus on better prioritisation and targeting and develop stronger partnerships with the non-state sector.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- Women would be able to take their rightful place in society and provide for themselves and their children if they were empowered economically by the nation, Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children Affairs, said on Tuesday.
"Once a woman becomes self-reliant and is economically empowered, she would not only educate her children and take care of their health needs but will also go any length to improve and enhance the standard of living of themselves and their families", she said.
Mrs Asmah, who launched a competition dubbed; "Ma Afrika Contest 2002" in Accra, said although women were hard working, they had to go through unimaginable problems in the effort to raise funds for their business ventures to put them in their rightful position in society.
The "Ma Afrika Contest", which aims at recognising and rewarding women for outstanding work in community development projects is under the theme: "Women, Creating Sustainable Development for Africa". The contest was instituted in 1991 in South Africa and would be held from 16-26 October 2002 in that country after participating countries had selected their award winners.
Mrs Asmah said it was to assist women in ventures such as these that the Ministry initiated the establishment of the Women Development Fund to provide micro-credit facilities for women farmers, traders, food processors and entrepreneurs to enable them to expand their economic ventures and improve on their standard of living. She noted that there were lots of women, who in their own small ways had been able to reach out to people in their communities through remarkable ventures, "yet nothing has been heard of them."
The Minister lauded the "Ma Afrika Contest", which recognised such women, who could serve as role models for the younger generation. Cultural inhibitions, discriminatory practices, unfair division of labour between sexes and lack of education she noted, had prevented women of Africa and Ghana, in particular, from achieving greater heights, Mrs Asmah said and expressed the hope that the recognition of such women would encourage others to do better.
Ms Gladys Boateng, Acting Director, International Relations of the National Commission on Culture, in her welcoming address said statistics showed that women contributed 60 per cent of the world's working hours, but received 10 per cent of the world's income.
They owned less than one per cent of the world's property, she noted, adding that women were most often taken for granted because their skills and talents had for a long time been primarily used for survival and overcoming difficulties on daily basis. "Justice demands that they get a fair and equitable share in the benefits, resources, duties and responsibilities in all aspects of life," she declared.
Miss Boateng said there was, therefore, the need to evaluate and give recognition to women, who were contributing immensely to African economies and urged women to take part in the contest. She said she was, however, not happy about the prizes comprising a certificate, accommodation and a return ticket for the overall winner and called on individuals and organisations to support the programme to encourage more women to participate and make the concept of "Ma Afrika" an enviable one.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 17 July 2002- The Asante United Congress, a Kumasi-based pressure group that seeks to protect the image of the Asante Kingdom, on Tuesday expressed disgust at scathing remarks on the Manhyia Palace.
Speaking at a press conference in Kumasi, the Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr Charles Wilberforce Nuako said: "Manhyia Palace is not and cannot be an extension of the Osu Castle, which is the seat of government". The press conference was in reaction to recent criticisms and allegation by some groups, individuals and some chiefs that the Presidency always directed foreign dignitaries to visit the Manhyia Palace.
He said the Asante Kingdom had existed and grown in prominence in all aspects of societal life before the coming of Colonialism and the occupation of the Osu Castle as the seat of the government.
The Asantehene had always been independent from governmental control but had always co-operated with every government of the day in Ghana as a civic responsibility. Mr Nuako explained that Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, since his enstoolment had made it his policy to seek investments for the Asante Kingdom and Ghana as a whole.
He said these initiatives should be appreciated and copied by other chiefs to promote the well being of their people. Mr Nuako called for mutual respect for all groups of people living in the Asante Kingdom to ensure peace, harmony and speedy development.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002-The docket on Victor Emmanuel Smith, an aide to former President Jerry John Rawlings was intact in the vault of circuit tribunal registry, Mr Kwame Ntow-Fianko, Deputy Chief Registrar of Circuit Tribunal said on Tuesday.
Reacting to two publications in "The Accra Daily Mail" and "The Daily Guide," Mr Ntow-Fianko said the docket was not missing adding the two publications were "being dramatic and there were no elements of truth in them."
Smith is standing trial at an Accra Circuit Tribunal for allegedly threatening two journalists, Mr Kweku Baako Junior, Editor of the Crusading Guide and Mrs Amoakohene, Social Commentator and Lecturer at the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon with death. Smith charged with threat of death has pleaded not guilty and is on 50 million cedis bail.
Mr Ntow-Fianko explained that the docket was among the others that he had worked on adding that he was not around when the court clerk came for the rest of the dockets for him to add Smith' s docket to them. "I reported a few minutes after 9am on Monday by which time the case had been called but I gave the docket to one of the court clerks to be sent to court." There was no special reason for hiding Smith's docket, he said. Mr Ntow-Fianko said, "No reporter came to ask whether the docket was missing or not".
Sources close to the court told the Ghana News Agency that Smith's case was first to be called and his docket was not among the first ones brought from the registry and that since the registrar was not around to answer, both defence counsel and the prosecution agreed to continue with Mr Kweku Baako's cross examination by defence counsel on 19 July.
The tribunal was told that on 18 March, the accused and Mr Abrampah Mensah, Interim President of the Action Forum, which is affiliated to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), wrote a correspondence to be handed over to Mr Baako and Mrs Amoakohene, that they would not sit down unconcerned over their criticisms of the former President.
The Prosecution said the accused also warned that if the two did not stop their criticisms after receiving the letters, members of the Action Forum would be given pick-up vehicles to track and crash them. The accused also said should these steps to silence the two fail, they would devise other means to kill them.
Mr Mensah, who is a witness in the case, was alarmed and revealed the plot to a friend and handed over the letter to him. This friend in turn gave it to Mr Baako Junior, who informed Mrs Amoakohene. Smith admitted being the author of the threatening letter on his arrest, the Police said.
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President Kufuor tours Clothing Technology
Centre in Accra
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002 - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday toured the Clothing Technology Centre for the Garment and Textiles Initiative under the President's Special Initiatives (PSI) at the North Industrial Area in Accra. The Centre is to be used to train tailors, dressmakers and companies involved in the mass production of garments and textiles for export.
Mr Alan Kyeremateng, Ghana's Ambasador to the US and Head of the Technical Committee of the PSI, briefing President Kufuor said enhancing the manufacturing capacity of the country the key response to the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) in the area of garments and textiles.
He said the Committee began with 250 companies that were taken through an orientation exercise to know their manufacturing capacity and expertise as well as become abreast with the rudiments of mass production and the export market.
The Ambassador disclosed that successful companies would then be allowed to establish their production units at the Garment Village at the Export Free Zone. He explained that the strategy was to bring in foreign investors and in addition develop the local entrepreneurs' ingenuity.
Nana Asafo Boakye, Managing Director of the ABP Consult, Consulting Engineers to the project, showed President Kufuor drawings of the site and said basic utility facilities such as water, electricity, waste disposal and drainage would be provided. He said work on the project would be completed within the next four years and would employ about 90,000 workers.
President Kufuor commended the Technical Committee for their commitment and dedication that had kept the PSI on course to realising its objective. He said it was their contribution towards capacity building to enable government and other entrepreneurs to undertake joint partnership with foreign investors.
More than 200 local companies have already been selected and screened to participate in the Garment and Textile Initiative to offer the garment industry in Ghana the opportunity to compete via AGOA in the US market.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- A Fast Track Court (FTC) in Accra trying two former Ministers of State and three former Senior Government Officials accused of conspiring and wilfully causing financial loss of 22 million dollars and three billion cedis to the state resumed sitting on Tuesday.
The amount being monies guaranteed and advanced for the Quality Grain Company (QGC) project at Aveyime in the Volta Region. The Supreme Court (SC) on 28 February, this year ruled that the FTC was unconstitutional and had no jurisdiction to try cases, hence all cases which were then pending before the FTC were suspended. The Court then on 26 June, overturned its earlier decision.
Mr Justice Dickson Kwame Afreh, a Supreme Court sitting with additional responsibility as a FTC Judge, adjourned the case to 23 July, for continuation. Dr George Yankey, a former Director of the Ministry of Finance, who was being cross-examined by The Director for Public Prosecutions, Mr Osafo Sampong, at the last sitting, was absent. All the accused persons have pleaded not guilty and are on self-recognisance bail.
The other accused persons are: Ibrahim Adam, former Minister of Food and Agriculture; Kwame Peprah, former Minister of Finance; Dr Samuel Dapaah, former Chief Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Nana Ato Dadzie, former Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ex-President.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 17 July 2002- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Tuesday urged the media, intellectuals and politicians to guide against negative propagandist tactics creeping into national developmental focus.
The NPP said: "These developments are threatening national interest and unity as people get confused about the truth, political party rhetoric and propagandist tactics, which is dangerous for good governance".
Mr Kwadwo Afari, NPP Press Secretary, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, called on the media to keep up to its watchdog and gate-keeping role to ensure that "our steady democratic growth is not jeopardise through misinformation".
He stated that intellectuals, politicians and the media should be held responsible, "if the current attempt at entrenching democracy, good governance and the crusade to revive the economy failed".
Ghanaians must face reality based on informed decision, instead of living in a dreamland of the past, which had no significant influence in the present global governance. Mr Afari urged the media and the intellectual class to lead a healthy debate on national issues devoid of partisanship interest to help define national purpose for development and accelerated growth.
On recent media report of a clamp down on radio stations whose operations threatened national interest by the National Communications Authority (NCA), Mr Afari dissociated the party and government from the directives. "As a liberal democratic party that believes in the Freedom of the Press and Free Speech, we would not give any order to any individual or group to clamp down on the media."
He said: Any person who thinks that the party will throw away the ideals it stands for and thrives on because it is now in power must be joking." Mr Afari, however, said the NAC as a body had its own rules and regulations that guided it activities and this should be recognised.
He, therefore, urged the media especially radio stations to be circumspect in their operations and during discussion programmes in order not to sabotage the national economy and undermine unity.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater
Accra) 17 July 2002 - The
Surviving victims and families of May 9 Accra Stadium tragedy have called on
government to make public the modalities it used in determining the
entitlements of beneficiaries of the Stadium Disaster Fund.
Speaking at a press conference on behalf of the group known as May 9 Accra
Sports Stadium Disaster Association in Accra yesterday, Ms Sakinatu
Suka-Braimah also asked the government to clear the air about how much had
accrued to the fund, so far.
She said media reports at one stage indicated that the fund accrued ¢3.3
billion while government had decided to donate ¢300 million to the fund.
According to Ms Suka-Briamah, Mr Amponsah Bediako, a Deputy Government
Spokesman told Joy FM that ¢ 3.3 billion accrued to the fund.
She said, government demonstrated its commitment to the victims and families of
the disaster by providing ¢2.5 million to each of the families of the deceased
to take care of the burial and funeral expenses as well as take care of the
medical expenses of the injured.
However, she said, the expenses totalling ¢1 billion was not made known to
them. She noted that it was only on Monday that, Mr Amponsah-Bediako said on
Joy FM that, the monies were taken from the fund to cater for the burial,
funeral and medical expenses of the bereaved families and the injured.
Ms Suka-Briamah added that everything concerning the disbursement of the funds
has been shrouded in secrecy and wondered why the government has labelled the
monies given to be paid the victims and relatives of the disaster as ex-gratia.
This, she said is because, the government is not doing any of the victims
involved in the stadium tragedy a favour, but holding monies donated by
well-wishers in trust for the victims. She said, the ¢5 million that would be
given to surviving victims and their families, including the ¢10 million to the
families of those who died without children and an amount of up to ¢10 million
for those who got injured is not enough.
She emphasised that the surviving victims and families will honour the
invitation for the disbursement of the fund today, but stated that, “we want
the government to know that the monies were donated in our names and we are
collecting everything that is due us up to the last pesewa”.
On the issue of the scholarship scheme for the orphaned children of the
victims, the association lauded the idea but expressed concern about how
government was going to implement such a scheme.
She also said the association will like to know how
government was going to cater for the needs of the victims through the
revolving fund that the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and
Presidential Affairs, Mr Ferdinand Ayim talked about when he said that, "a
substantial amount of the stadium relief fund would be used to set up a
revolving fund to meet the educational needs of the orphans."
“In whose name would the revolving fund be?”, “Who would be managing the fund?”
and “Who would be the signatories to the fund?” they asked. She said the
association is concerned about the future of the fund when the government of
the day is out of power, and those named to manage the revolving fund are no
more in any public position. Ms Suka-Briamah asked the government to name
members of the five-member trustees who are to manage the revolving fund.
GRi…/
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