Deputy
Commissioner of Police (DCOP) and Director of the Criminal Investigations Department
(CID), David Asante-Apeatu, who confirmed Malm’s arrest in an interview yesterday, however, declined
to give details of how the joint operation between the Ghanaian and Togolese
security agencies was carried out to ensure Malm’s
capture.
“It
is too early to give the details of how the convicted robber was rearrested in
The
CID boss was, however, full of praise for the Togolese Police for their
wonderful and collaboration which resulted in the capture of Malm. According to Asante Apeatu, the Togolese authorities also want to highlight the
capture of Malm to send a signal to criminals in the
sub-region that the security agencies are ever prepared to pursue and arrest
them.
He
said the capture of Malm goes to reinforce the
security protocol within the sub-region and “we are grateful to the Togolese
Police for acting swiftly to arrest the escaped convict”.
He
also thanked INTERPOL for the professional assistance it offered, which helped
in the capture of Malm. He said Malm
will be brought down to
Malm’s escape from lawful custody in Nsawam, which
was allegedly planned and masterminded by his mother, Sarah Malm,
and four others, caused embarrassment and anxiety in security circles such that
the government set up a committee, chaired by the Deputy Minister of the
Interior, Thomas Broni, to thoroughly investigate the
matter.
The
Minister of the Interior, Hackman Owusu
Agyemang, has indicated that any prison officer found
to have been involved in Malm’s escape will face the
full rigours of the law.
Meanwhile,
the police have arrested the convict’s mother, Sarah Malm,
Richard Kofi Taylor, Frank, alias Finger Lee, Chicky and Issahaku Musah, a Mallam at Kasoa, for allegedly plotting Malm’s
escape.
According
to Chief Superintendent Bright Oduro,the
Regional Crime Officer, investigations so far have revealed that Malm’s escape was allegedly facilitated with the active
connivance of the five arrested persons. He said Mallam
Musah allegedly provided spiritual fortification to
facilitate the escape.
Police
investigations have revealed that the initial escape was to have come off on 16
June. However, when the escape team got to Nsawam, it
realised that there was a big police presence in the area, as a result of a
motor accident. Taylor, who was aware that Malm was
to be taken to the hospital on that fateful day, went with three others in a
Peugeot car to wait at the hospital junction.
Malm, on seeing
They
then flunged the back door of the car open, affording
Malm the opportunity to jump into it and they drove
away at a terrific speed. The gang went to the house of Mallam
Musah at Kasoa who
performed the final rituals to facilitate an escape through Aflao.
In another development, the police have impounded the Peugeot car used by John Malm to escape from the Nsawam
Medium Prison.
The
car was traced to a fitting shop at Kasoa where it
had been sent for welding and possible spraying. According to the Commissioner
of Police in charge of Operations at the Police Headquarters, Dr K. K. Marfo, the welder working on the car has been arrested
while the vehicle has been towed to
The
welding of the vehicle with a foreign number plate embossed on it had been
completed by the time the police patrol team arrived to seize it. The police
have intensified their search for all those connected with the escape of Malm from lawful custody.
John
Malm was on 12 April, this year, convicted and
sentenced to 15 years in hand labour by an Accra Regional Tribunal, chaired by
Justice Adu Gyamfi, for
breaking into a Ford car within the premises of the Vanguard Assurance Company
and stealing ¢25m and other valuables being the property of the company. – Graphic
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Techiman ((Brong Ahafo) 07
July 2003 - The Former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has stated that
the reign of the NPP Government will come to an end next year as the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) is poised to win the 2004 general elections and offer
Ghanaians better governance.
He
said God ordained the victory of NPP in the 2004 polls in order to show the
difference between the current and the NDC administrations. Flt Lt Rawlings,
who was addressing a large number of NDC supporters and sympathisers at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region on Friday, advised them to be disciplined and
work hard to ensure an NDC victory in 2004.
The
former President noted with concern that since the Upper West Region was
created during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) whose offshoot
is the NDC, it would have been proper if the current government had invited
some of the leading members of the party to attend the 20th anniversary
celebration of the region.
“Flt
Lt Rawlings, who was on his way to Wa to attend the
activities marking the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Upper West
Region, asked, “How can the national reconciliation the NPP is talking about be
realised when the NDC which is a vibrant opposition party in the country was
left out in such an important occasion?” he asked.
He
said the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Upper West Region would
have been a fine opportunity for the NPP Government to promise oneness and
unity.
Dr
Josiah Aryeh, the General Secretary of the NDC
bemoaned the high cost of education, citing the Faculty of Law at the
University of Ghana, Legon where students pay ¢5m per
academic year while those at the Ghana Law School pay ¢15m.
Dr
Benjamin Kumbor, the NDC member for Lawra-Nandom, alleged that the NPP has launched a book
entitled “NPP — Two Years of Positive Change” in which the NPP claims that it
has completed the construction of the Kambai
Irrigation Project, a claim, which is not true. The function was also used to
introduce Alhaji Collins Dauda
as the new regional chairman of the NDC.
Earlier
in the day, A.A. Munufie, the former
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 7 July 2003 - The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP), Dan Botwe, has said it is morally indefensible
and a distortion of history for the flagbearer of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof Atta Mills,
to describe the Kufuor administration as incompetent
and corrupt.
He
said the mess that the administration inherited from the NDC Government was
responsible for the number of tough and realistic measures that it outlined to
address the imbalances in the economy and improve the general social conditions
of the people.
Botwe, who was reacting to a news conference held by Prof. Atta Mills in
According
to Botwe, the enormity of economic problems left
behind by the NDC Government was such that it needed a government like the Kufuor administration to meticulously work out an elaborate
programme to stabilise the economy, which was on the brink of total collapse.
“It
is, therefore, nothing but shameless dishonesty that Prof. Mills tried to
create at his news conference when he knows for a fact that the NPP came to
meet an economy that was in shambles,” the NPP General Secretary said.
Botwe said as the chairman of the Economic Management Team, Prof. Atta Mills supervised the rot in the economy under the NDC
Government. Therefore it beats his intelligence that Prof. Mills is attributing
the economic hardships in the country to the Kufuor
administration when it is only two-and-a-half years in the saddle of affairs.
He
said it is ironical that Prof. Mills, who was privy to the granting of loans to
Mrs Juliet Cotton who duped the country, is now criticising the NPP Government
for nothing but taking the necessary measures to restore the economy and ensure
improvement in the quality of life of the broad masses of the people.
“The
loan which Mrs Cotton used for her personal comfort could have provided over
200 boreholes for the people in deprived areas of the country,” he said
The
NPP General Secretary further explained that the administration has never
hidden the fact that the decision to increase fuel and other utilities “was a
necessary bitter medicine” that had to be carried out to reverse the stagnation
of the economy due to mismanagement by the NDC Government.
Botwe said the country had to join the HIPC initiative owing to lack of
resources in the national kitty, stressing “ we have
used resources from the initiative to provide basic necessities of life for the
disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the Ghanaian society”.
He
said the electorate has absolute confidence in the government and will vote
massively for it to enable it to continue with its good work of improving the
lot of the people. – Graphic
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 7 July 2003 - The Convention People’s Party (CPP) will hold a
national delegates congress on September 20, to elect a flagbearer
to lead the party to fight and win the next presidential election.
The
congress will also choose national executive members to prepare the party
adequately for the 2004 polls. This was the outcome of the CPP National
Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the
Highly
placed sources close to the meeting said in an interview that the national
secretariat of the party will open nominations on 21 July for candidates
desirous of contesting the various elective positions to deposit their
respective forms with the secretariat by 8 August.
It
said constituency and regional delegates congresses to
elect officers are expected to be completed before 31 July. According to the
sources, the leadership of the party will vet the candidates between 15 August
and 31 August to select suitable ones to vie for positions at the congress.
The
candidates endorsed by the leadership of the party, the sources said, will be
left with about three weeks to traverse the 200 constituencies of the party to
introduce their vision for the party and encourage delegates to vote for them
at the congress.
It
said the NEC will meet to iron out issues in order to ensure a successful
congress on September 19, after which a delegates
congress will be held on 20 September to elect a flagbearer
and national executive officers.
The
source said in commemoration of Osagyefo’s birthday,
which falls on 21 September, the party will hold a rally to introduce its flagbearer and national executive officers to members and
the general public. – Graphic
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Elmina (
Dr Nduom said this in an interview after a colourful durbar of
chiefs and people to climax the celebrations of Edina Bakatue
at Elmina on Saturday.
Dr Nduom urged aspirants to the parliamentary seat in the 2004
general elections to “fasten their seat belts or forget about the seat
altogether”. He said he is ready to face any opposition from any parliamentary
candidate, saying ‘ it will not be easy as it was in
the previous years”, and added that “things would be a bit rough this time”.
He
said an electrification project to send electricity to 10 villages in the KEEA
District is to begin this week and added that the government will ensure that
all villages in the country have access to electricity. He said a new
transformer will be installed at Elmina to help solve
the town’s problem of frequent power outage and also ensure the smooth
distribution of electricity in the town.
Dr Nduom expressed regret that the Elmina
town does not have access to library facilities and pledged to ensure that the
town has a library. He, therefore, urged the chiefs to release land to him and
his senior friends to enable them to build a library for the town.
The
KEEA District Chief Executive (DCE), Nana Ato Arthur,
in an address at the durbar grounds, urged the people of Elmina
to unite and find lasting solutions to their problems in order to move the
town’s development forward.
He
hinted that the assembly is making efforts to hold a peace conference in the
town to iron out differences among the people and urged all to be part of the
process when it starts.
Nana Arthur said the European Commission has donated 1.5
million Euros to help the assembly in its development programmes. A
representative of the Dutch Ambassador to
The
Omanhen of Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kwodwo Conduah VI, appealed to
the government to give the chiefs a percentage of the revenue that accrues from
tourism at Elmina to supplement development projects.
He deplored the poor communications network in the town and called on the
government to help provide the area with adequate telecommunication facilities
to help facilitate commercial activities.
Nana
Conduah urged the people to be mindful of the
environment and keep Elmina clean to help boost the
tourism industry. – Graphic
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