NPP would deliver on promises - Mahama
Minister collapses after leading "Health Walk"
Environmental degradation, a thing of the
past for mining sector
Dr Asafo-Agyei appointed Deputy
Director-General
Western Region Minister tours flooded areas
Mankessim traders threaten to boycott district level elections
Koforidua (Eastern Region) 29 July 2002- The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, on Saturday assured Ghanaians that the government would fulfil its campaign promises since it gained power through the will of the people. He, however, appealed to them to be patient since it had to spend time rectifying "the harsh economic conditions" inherited before achieving the desired growth.
Alhaji Mahama was addressing a rally at Koforidua to mark the 10th anniversary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), attended by hundreds of the party's supporters who defied a downpour and went on a procession through the principal streets brass band music ending at the Jackson's Park.
Vice President Mahama announced that the Koforidua Water Supply and five other projects in the region would be tackled this year, while the Bamboi-Wa trunk road was to be awarded on contract.
Alhaji Mahama expressed concern about "misuse" of freedom of the media promoted by the government, with the removal of the criminal libel law saying, "some people tell lies about us and condemn us before we are judged," adding that, "we are not a weak government".
He said members of the government did not assume office to steal public funds, "we had our Benzes and BMWs and houses before we came to power to serve and be judged by you".
Alhaji Mahama assured the youth that the government would create job opportunities for them. He explained that since the world was a global village, there was the need for the President to travel to meet other leaders to discuss common issues and said Ghana was now enjoying goodwill among the international community.
The Senior Minister and Chairman of the Economic Management Team, Mr J.H. Mensah, said in spite of the fact that the government embraced the HPIC
Initiative, it was obtaining the one billion dollar loan from the International Finance Consortium (IFC) "to the surprise of our opponents because they thought we could not achieved that".
He said the NPP sought power to develop the country after working hard to compel the PNDC to concede to return the country to democratic rule. "It used ghost names in the voters' register to rig the 1992 and 1996 elections till we won in 2000," Mr Mensah said.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Major Courage Quashigah (rtd), said the government supported Afife Rice Growers to increase the area under cultivation from about 25 to 400 hectares last year, to become a leading rice producing area in the country.
He said the government had to clear a "backlog" of three instalments for the Keta Sea Defence Wall project to go ahead as planned to make the area a tourism site. The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Yaw Barimah, accused the NDC of making a false campaign promise that it was going to solve the Koforidua water problem "when it had not got the money".
The National Chairman, Mr Haruna Esseku, commended the people for voting the party into power after losing two consecutive times to the NDC "through stolen verdicts". He urged supporters of the party to work hard and to be loyal and committed "so that we can retain power for 50 years".
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Nana Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Trade and Industries, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku and the Minister of Lands and
Forestry, Professor Kassim Kassanga were, among members of the government and party functionaries who addressed the rally.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
CPP will win 2004 elections - Abubakr
Alhassan
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 29 July 2002- Dr Abubakr Alhassan, National Chairman and Leader of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) at the weekend declared at Sunyani that the party was poised to win the 2004 elections. He said the party was currently undergoing a serious re-organisation exercise "and come 2004, we are going to put up a fierce fight to win the election."
Dr Alhassan was addressing party representatives and newsmen in Brong Ahafo Region as part of a nation-wide tour. He said during its rule in the first republic the CPP set a clear example of "what the state must do and what the ordinary citizens must also do."
"The party's manifesto clearly shows that the government must lead in the development of the country, with private participation. The regions must be surveyed to determine their potentials for development, thus providing jobs for the people in the localities," he noted.
The CPP chairman said the party had taken very vital aspects of the first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah's "Seven-year Development Plan" and enshrined it in the party's manifesto in the campaign for the 2004 elections. He said the CPP's educational policy in the first republic aimed at uniting the country and this catapulted Ghana very high in development.
Dr Alhassan emphasised that Ghana's survival should not necessarily depend "on Washington, but on ourselves, since there are local avenues for the solutions to our economic woes.
“Our new manifesto will show that Ghana's resources, if managed well will offer a lot of benefits to the people. The CPP is not interested in condemnations by giving options for the solutions to the problems. We are going to use our manifesto to take power in 2004," he stressed.
The CPP leader said the party's unity talks with the GCPP, NRP and PNC were progressing and indicated that the CPP would lead an Nkrumaist front for the assault on the 2004 elections.
"CPP has credibility as the oldest surviving party in the country. There is credibility in our message and we are confident that come 2004, with our fierce fight we shall win," Dr Alhassan said.
Dr Nii Noi Dowuona, General Secretary, said the party would hold a national executive council meeting with regional executives, members of parliament and the central committee to take stock of the party's activities and to project its future programmes.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareviw.com
Wa (Upper West) 29 July 2002 - Mr Sahanun Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister, collapsed and was rushed to the Regional Hospital after leading a Health Walk through the principal streets of Wa on Saturday.
Doctors at the hospital, however, said his condition was not in danger, attributing his condition to exhaustion. The walk was the first in a series in the Upper West Region, which had been instituted nationally by the Ghana Health Service to keep the citizenry healthy.
About 100 people participated in the exercise, which started from the ministries through the principal streets of the town and back to the starting point. In a brief address before his predicament, the Minister had urged the people to keep themselves healthy by engaging in regular exercises. He said it would be better to prevent diseases than to cure them.
Dr Francis Bankah, Regional Director of Health Services said the third Saturday of every month would be used for the exercise. He said a standing committee involving Government Departments, Non-governmental organisations and keep-fit clubs would be formed to ensure that the exercise was sustained.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Environmental degradation, a thing of the
past for mining sector
Agona Swedru (Central Region) 29 July 2002-The President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr James Kwamena Anaman at the weekend assured Ghanaians that environmental degradation which had been the bane of the sector was now a thing of the past.
He said almost all the mining companies were not only mindful of their obligations to preserve the environment in which they operate, but were also mindful about providing basic amenities to the local communities that surround their area of operation.
"Most of the provision of bore holes in the communities were not because the mining companies had polluted the sources of water of the local communities, but because faecal matter were detected in the sources of water of the local communities during the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment reports," he said.
Mr Anaman was addressing about 25 top management personnel of the various mining companies who attended a two-day seminar on public relations issues organised by Yankah and Associates for members of the Chamber at Agona Swedru.
The seminar saw the managers through topics such as public relation and communication skills, media relation, crisis and issue management, community relations and corporate social responsibility among many others.
Mr Anaman said many of its members had successfully adopted reasonable remuneration packages alongside the pursuance of the welfare of the employees even with dwindling resources and low commodity prices.
"To promote these and other noble aims, an increasing number of our members have either signed up, or are planning to sign up as member companies of the United Nation's Global Compact which enjoins the private sector to promote labour issues, human rights, environmental protection and factors which could make for good corporate citizenship," he said.
He said "the mining industry, which had consistently performed better than any other should be supported by government and the local communities to keep on delivering until the much-touted tourism and other potential sectors, developed sufficiently to take the strain off its back as the backbone of the economy."
Mr Anaman said the industry needed to be supported because currently member produced minerals in increasingly more challenging ways than many other local and international competitors, most of who had folded up under the stains of the same pressures members of the chamber had endured.
He however urged the mangers who were faced with bewildering arrays of communication challenges to improve upon the models, systems, strategies and effective ways of packaging their messages to inform each other and member of the communities in which they operate.
Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh one of the resource persons for the seminar said the press was the most influential and powerful among the communication media in as far as its impact on the opinion leaders, power elite and students and urban intellectuals were concerned.
The newspapers he said must constitute one of the key allies of public relations in reaching out to the people. Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh said public relations was essentially an instrument of understanding in a free society and should therefore not be used as an area to project only the good part of the company.
"Public relations should offer to supply information and even where the company has been baselessly criticised, data must be provided without being offensive," he said
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Dr Asafo-Agyei appointed Deputy
Director-General
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 29 July 2002- The International Biographical Centre (IBC) of Cambridge in England has appointed a distinguished Ghanaian medical practitioner as the Centre's Deputy Director-General in-charge of Africa.
The appointment of Reverend Dr Anane Frempong Asafo-Agyei of the Asafo-Agyei Hospitals in Kumasi and Accra, was in recognition of his accomplishments in the medical field. A release issued on Friday and signed by Dr Asafo-Agyei, said the Centre in Vancouver, Canada bestowed the appointment and the honour on him in July 2002.
It stated that Mr Nicholas S. Law, Director-General of the IBC, described Dr Asafo-Agyei, who established the "Asafo-Agyei hospital in 1980 in Kumasi, Ghana and started the scientific treatment of piles at the hospital in 1991, as a great medical achiever."
According to the release, Dr Asafo-Agyei's role as Deputy Director-General of the IBC was one that sought to assess and recognise the accomplishments of selected few individuals as great achievers globally.
It also acknowledged that in 1991/92, the IBC honoured Dr Asafo-Agyei with the International Man of the year award for his medical exploits. Again in the year 2000, the centre selected him for an outstanding scientific award in Cambridge for his contribution to the book "2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century."
The book served as a source of reference for university libraries throughout the world, the release noted. On the local front, the release said Dr Asafo-Agyei was adjudged the best entrepreneur at the 2000 Ashanti Business Forum.
It stated that to reciprocate the honour done him and the recognition accorded his works Dr Asafo-Agyei intended to set up a National Piles Training Centre to train your doctors from Ghana as his contributions to quality health delivery in the country.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
International Maritime Organisation
presented with items
London (United Kingdom) 29 July 2002 - Honourable S.K. Sarfo, Chairman of the Parliament Select Committee on Roads and Transport presented a ceremonial stool, kente stoles and copies of a pictorial brochure entitled Ghana-One year into positive change to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London.
Hon. S.K. Sarfo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ashanti Mampong, made the presentation while in London for the 45th session of the sub-committee on stability, Loadlines and fishing vessels safety of IMO, held from 22-26 July 2002.
Making the presentation, Hon. S. K. Sarfo said the government's commitment to the maritime industry was manifested by its efforts to promulgate a new maritime law to promote among other things the safety of small fishing vessels.
Mr William O Neil, Director general Of IMO received the items, which were in appreciation of the IMOs support for the development of the maritime industry in Ghana. He expressed appreciation for the gesture and pledged the IMOs continued support for the industry in Ghana especially in the training of Ghanaian seafarers.
Dignitaries present at the ceremony include Mr Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Ghana's
Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, Mr E.C. Hammond, an engineer of the Ministry of Roads and Transport, who accompanied Hon. Sarfo to the session and other senior officials of the Ghana High Commission.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kpando (Volta Region) 29 July 2002 - Mr John Henry Mensah, Senior Minister and Chairman of Government Economic Team, on Saturday gave the assurance that education would continue to feature prominently in the country's investment programme but much would depend on students to make constructive use of such an opportunity.
Mr Mensah was speaking at the Bishop Herman College at Kpando as part of its Golden Jubilee Celebration under the theme, "Capturing the national vision; investing in education."
He said a total of 99 billion cedis were being invested in projects to facilitate teaching and learning at the college. The senior minister told the students to take their studies seriously and to set and pursue clear visions.
Mr Mensah also urged students to employ dialogue and compromise in solving problems in their schools, reminding them that the democratic atmosphere in the country was no licence for destructive and unruly behaviour.
He commended the college for distinguishing itself as an institution of disciplined students, which was a true reflection of its motto, ''soldiers of Christ.'' Mr Mensah said the college's motto was a applicable to the country because it called for truth, unity and strength, saying, the country went through bad times but "we are pointed in a direction upwards.''
The senior minister gave the assurance that he would assist in addressing the infrastructure problems of the college. He presented a cheque for 20 million cedis as President John Agyekum Kufuor's personal donation to the school.
Professor Ernest Dumor, Chairman of the Jubilee Planning Committee, called on government to create a favourable environment for teaching and learning in the country. He asked school authorities to place emphasise on the teaching of science and technology and literature to prepare students for the future challenges.
Prof. Dumor appealed to government to consider transforming the college into an institute of science and technology. He called on old students of the college to assist in creating opportunities for others to attain the heights they have achieved.
Mr Theodore Dzavor, the headmaster of the college called on individuals and organisations to assist the college to build more bungalows for tutors and to put up sufficient classrooms for the student population of 600.
He mentioned that the college did not have regular water supply, faced transportation problems and hoped that the authorities, old boys and the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) would continue to assist the college in solving its problems.
The climax of the celebration was the launching of a novel entitled ''Hope at sunset'', written by Dr Kudzo Agamasu, an old student of the college. The first five copies were auctioned for 16.6 million cedis. The total proceeds from the sales would be paid into the college's Jubilee fund.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Half Assini (Western Region) 29 July 2002-The Jomoro District Assembly, spent 27.6 million cedis, digging trenches in parts of Half Assini township to allow the easy flow of stagnant water, after torrential rains early this month. The affected areas included, the Presbyterian Church and mission house, Cambodia and parts of Half Assini Senior Secondary School.
Mr. Ketiboa Blay, District Chief Executive announced this when Mr. Joseph B. Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, accompanied by Mr. Padmore K. Nyekopa-Arthur, Regional NADMO Director and Mr. Gustav Dzokoto, Regional Hydro Engineer, visited the affected areas.
According to him the absence of drains in the township, was a major cause of flooding. So far, 100 houses have either collapsed due to the effects of the floods or were standing in large pools of water. Mr. Blay said it was unrealistic to re-locate the victims due to the cost involved and pledged to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Mr. Aidoo, said the district would need about six billion cedis, for the construction of drains to reduce flooding. He advised people still living in their flooded homes to dig trenches to enable the water to flow. He called on the district assembly and health administration to monitor the health of the victims to reduce the outbreak of cholera, malaria and dysentery.
At Wassa Manso in the Mpohor Wassa East District, the bridge over River Whin, had been secured temporarily by the NADMO, Ghana Railway Company (GRC), Ghana Bauxite Company and Ghana Manganese Company, tofacilitate rail transport and to maintain links to Takoradi and Tarkwa.
Mr. Nyekopa-Arthur said the victims of 500 houses, which collapsed are temporarily being accommodated in tents provided by NADMO. He said they had been supplied with blankets, mattresses, hurricane lamps, cooking oil, and rice. Mr. Nyekopa-Arthur urged the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Army, to re-construct a bailey bridge over the River to restore rail transport permanently.
Nana Katakyere II, Chief of Wassa Manso at a durbar, said all low lying lands in the area, would not be habited to save lives and property. He appealed to the District Assembly to provide roofing sheets, cement and other building materials for the affected persons.
Mr. Gustav Dzokoto, advised communities not to build in buffer zones and near streams, adding that, all water ways should be dredged periodically, to reduce the impact of flooding. He urged district assemblies, to construct proper drainage systems to reduce disaster.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Women development to be main focus of
Japanese assistance
Bolgatanga (Upper East) 29 July 2002-The development of women in the area of income generation, capacity building and skill acquisition will form the priority area of Japanese assistance to Ghana, Mrs Kazuko Asai, Japanese Ambassador said on Saturday.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, at Bolgatanga, as part of her maiden working visit, Mrs Asai pledged her country's readiness to support Ghana to develop her economic and cultural potentials to an appreciable level.
She recounted the bilateral relations between Japan and Ghana and said the two countries had so far demonstrated their determination to strengthen this relationship through social, cultural and economic ties.
Mr Salifu called for the strengthening of the co-operation between the two countries in technical manpower and tourism development. He said the region abounds in tourist attractions and needed support to tap and refine this potential to create jobs for the youth.
The ambassador had earlier visited the Single Mothers Association Project, funded by the Japan government at Kpantanga, near Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga District, and also paid a courtesy call on the paramount chief of Paga, Pe Charles Awia Awampaga at his palace.
The paramount chief mentioned the slave transit point, the Paga crocodile pound and other tourist attractions, which he said could be developed to create jobs for the people.
He said the unfavourable climatic conditions of the area could not support all year agriculture and appealed for Japanese assistance in the construction of small irrigation dams to facilitate dry season farming. The ambassador also visited the Paga Crocodile Pond and the Ghana-Burkina Faso border post.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareviw..com
Mankessim (Central Region) 29 July 2002 - Traders at the Mankessim Market have decided to boycott the forthcoming district level elections because the Mfantseman District Assembly is not sensitive to their plight.
The traders stated categorically that they would not exercise their franchise in either the district assembly or the unit committee elections stating that they did not see the need to waste their "precious time" to go and vote for people who would not seek their welfare at the assembly.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the traders had embarked on a demonstration to press home problems facing them in the market, Nana Ekua
Bedigua, Queen mother of Mankessim Market Women's Association expressed disappointment that though the survival of the Mfantsiman District Assembly depended on the Mankessim Market it did not pay due attention to what she called "the hen that lays the golden eggs.''
Nana Bedigua said many fishmongers who had been doing business at the market had now deserted the place because they could not find comfortable places to occupy and had now turned to Techiman, Asamankese and other markets.
She said traders at the market had been recording very poor sales because fishmongers who made trading flourish had refused to patronise the market. Nana Bedigua said when the attention of the district assembly was drawn to the plight of the fishmongers, the assembly tipped some poor quality latrite, at the place making it worse than it used to be.
According to her said the place becomes muddy and waterlogged during the rainy season making it impossible for the fishmongers to get appropriate places to do their business. She accused the staff of the assembly for showing favouritism in the allocation of sheds and stores at the market. The queen mother said in June last year, a workshop was organised by the village infrastructure project for some identifiable groups including market women.
She said at the workshop they were told that two thirds of the revenue generated at the market should go to the district assembly whilst one-third be retained for the development of the market but said up to now this decision has not be implemented as the assembly had refused to release the quota for the market development to the authorities at the market.
Nana Bedigua said traders were doing business under fear because of harassment by thieves. When contacted, Mr Kofi Wilson, the District Chief Executive for Mfantseman said his administration inherited numerous problems at the market and said the problems were being addressed one after the other.
On the gravelling of the place allocated for the fishmongers, the DCE said it was unfortunate that the laterite was found to be of inferior type. According to him a new place had been identified where high quality laterite could be obtained but said work has been suspended now due to the rains. He assured the traders that work on the rehabilitation of the place will resume as soon as the rains subside and urged them to exercise patience.
Mr Wilson said the assembly was seeking funds from donor agencies for the construction of a modern market complex for the town and appealed to the traders to rescind their decision not to vote in the district level elections.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Neighbourhood watch committees should be
registered.
Tema (Greater Accra) 29 July 2002-The Tema District Security Committee (DISEC) has decided that neighbourhood watch committees should be registered at the various police stations in the municipality before they could start operating in their areas.
Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive who announced this at the final sitting of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) at the weekend, said this would help weed out criminals who infiltrate this laudable system to execute their diabolical activities.
He said as a step to prevent excesses in their operations, the committee members should be registered and their background investigated to assure the police that they were dealing with genuine people.
The members should also be told what operational implements they should use and ensure that they hand over to the police, persons they arrest during their operations.
In another development, the general assembly endorsed a report of the justice and security sub-committees through the executive committee for the creation of police posts in the newly developed communities, especially Ashaiman.
The assembly agreed that TMA should assist the police service to establish those police posts in those communities, which would be identified. It agreed with concerns raised by the executive committee that the police at Ashaiman were extorting monies from relatives of arrested persons under the pretext of granting them bail.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Amasaman (Greater Accra) 29 July 2002- Houses in the North Legon Residential Area are to be re-numbered soon using the Computerised ZIP Code Street Address system, Mr S N A Attoh, Ga District Chief Executive told the GNA at the Weekend.
He said new House Number plates had been printed for the phased project estimated at 14 Billion Cedis to cover the whole district being implemented by ASI ZIPCODE System Limited. This makes the Ga District Assembly (GDA) one of the first to adopt the system in the country.
Mr Attoh said out of the amount the Assembly was to spend one billion cedis to solicit support from organisations, which would benefit such as the courier services and utility companies. "The support had not been forthcoming but the Assembly is going ahead with the project all the same because of its benefits," the DCE said.
According to him the system would ensure the realignment of the mail system, create postal zones, enhance street orientation into geographical areas such as North West and South East and the facilitate the provision of street signs.
It would also help in the computerisation of landed property tax registries to enable the Assembly to bill, mail and collect taxes cost effectively and more efficiently. The DCE said the ZIP Code Street Address system could be applied in issuance of Identity Cards (ID) including Driving License and the development HIV/AIDS, poverty alleviation surveillance and reporting and other social interventions.
It made for the easy location of residents, businesses, Service-providers and was of great benefit to ambulances, fire trucks and taxis while it would also promote tourism and the hospitality industries, Mr Attoh added. The DCE said the project would enable the Assembly to easily identify unauthorised structures and facilitate both physical and social planning of the District.
He said GDA was working round the clock to make Area, Town and Urban Councils operational, adding that, Weija, Achimota, Pokuase, Kotoku, Ofankor and Mayera had been provided offices, furniture, equipment and staff.
Seven Senior Secondary School students had benefited from the Educational Fund this year, he said adding that, the Assembly would place special emphasis on Vocational Training.
Mr Attoh said the Assembly in conjunction with Action Aid, an NGO, had embarked on an 800 million-cedi Computer Training Centre. The NGO would give 14 computers and build the facility on land provided by the GDA for the start of the project.
The DCE said the construction of a Police Station at Amasaman would be completed in two months and expressed the hope that security in the area would improve when it was opened.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 29 July 2002-A ceremony to mark the official closure of the camp set up at the Mataheko Police Barracks for the recent flood victims was on Saturday held in Accra with the remaining 80 victims out of the original 400 returning to their homes.
The camp was set up by the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) six weeks ago to provide relief for the victims until they were able to return to their various homes.
Mr Ben Brown, Regional Coordinator of NADMO who addressed the victims, said the camp had to be closed down due to the lack of logistics. He said relief items were supposed be given to the victims at their homes but because their homes were seriously flooded, the camp was created to cater for their immediate needs.
He said NADMO had compiled data on the victims, especially the unemployed, and would contact them for further assistance. Mr Brown commended the victims for their cooperation and the manner in which they conducted themselves during their stay at the camp.
Mr Victor Okuley Nortey, Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central advised the victims to correct the "man-made" social errors, which contributed to the flooding on their return to their homes.
Mr Henry Nii Lante Plange, Metro Coordinator of NADMO told the Ghana News Agency that, even though most of the victims claimed that their rooms were still waterlogged, they had to be sent home because the budget allocated for the programme was exhausted.
He said the victims, were also fed twice daily for their one and half months' stay at the camp on humanitarian grounds, contrary to NADMO's relief programme regulations.
Mr Emmanuel Armah, a victim thanked the government for its intervention and assistance from the NADMO for taking care of them during their stay at the camp. Food items, blankets, clothing and buckets, among other things were distributed to the victims.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Tema (Greater Accra) 29 July 2002- A Circuit Tribunal at Tema on Wednesday sentenced Dennis Brown Akoto, a visa contractor, to five years imprisonment in hard labour for fraud by false pretext. He pleaded not guilty to charge.
Chief Inspector Alice Gyamfi, prosecuting, told the tribunal chaired by Mr Ringo Cass Azumah that in December 2001, Osei Agyemang, a soldier, at the Burma Camp, Accra was introduced to Akoto to help him secure a United States visa.
She said Akoto demanded 3,500 dollars and Agyemang paid 700 dollars and later parted with another 200 dollars and 2.250 million cedis in February 2002.
Chief Insp. Gyamfi said in the same month (February) Akoto gave a photocopy of a United States visa bearing the name of Agyemang to the victim and told him to prepare for the trip to the United States and assured him that he would receive the original visa together with his passport within three days.
She said Akoto was never seen again until he was arrested and when a search was conducted on him, 15 passports and fake travellers cheques were found on him. The prosecutor said Akoto in his caution statement admitted having committed the offence.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com