GRi Press Review 08 – 07 – 2003
Notorious armed robber rearrested after 12 days in Togo
Cabinet approves Right to Information Bill
Export Development Fund disburses ¢109bn
Student kills friend over notebook
Notorious armed robber rearrested after 12 days in Togo
Accra
He
was arrested together with his girlfriend, Regina Asiwome
and two other accomplices who aided in the escape plot. They are David Tetevi, a Togolese and Frank Kwame
Amoah.
Two
other suspects who assisted in Baby Nii’s escape are
still at large. They are Emmanuel Malm, alias Paa Nii, a younger brother of
Baby Nii and his wife whose name was given only as
According
to Chief Superintendent Bright Oduro, Accra Regional
Crime Officer, Amoah who was among those who went to Nsawam to assist Baby Nii to
escape and also accompanied him to Aflao, was
arrested on Thursday evening when he returned to pick a few belongings to Aflao.
Oduro said Amoah took Baby Nii
to Tetevi, a Togolese resident at Aflao,
who in turn went to his village, Ahefe-Tsekpo, about
150 kilometres from
The
crime officer said it was Tetevi’s father who helped
Baby Nii and his girlfriend to cross the border to
the village. He said when Amoah was arrested in
Oduro said Amoah took them to Tetevi’s
house at Aflao where he was arrested and after the
necessary formalities with the Togolese Police the team proceeded to the
village where Baby Nii was found sleeping soundly
with his girlfriend.
He
said Tetevi’s father, Emmanuel Tetevi
and his aunt, Tasi Akwele,
were arrested together with Baby Nii, but the
Togolese Police are handling the two. He said after the arrest the Togolese
Police held a press conference in
Oduro said after the press conference the police team proceeded
to
It
would be recalled that Baby Nii, a convicted armed
robber who was serving a 15-year jail term escaped from the Nsawam
Medium Security Prisons on June 25, this year. Consequently, his mother, Sarah Malm and four others, who are suspected to be the brains
behind the escape, were arrested. – Graphic
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Cabinet approves Right to Information Bill
Cabinet
has given policy approval to the enactment of the Right to Information Bill to
enhance democracy and access to information in the country. A draft of the bill
will be sent to key stakeholders to contribute their input prior to its
presentation to Parliament.
The
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Papa Owusu-Ankomah,
who disclosed this at the annual forum of the Takoradi
Polytechnic branch of Tertiary Students Confederacy TESCON of the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) in Takoradi, said the best defence for a
democratic government is to enhance the free flow of information. He stressed
that the time is ripe for key legislations to come from the people themselves.
Papa
Owusu-Ankomah also noted that the government will not
spare wrongdoers in the country. “We will pursue wrongdoers, not out of
vindictiveness but to prove that no one is above the law,” he emphasised.
Papa
Owusu-Ankomah said no one is being pursued because of
his political following or colouring in the country. He stressed the need for
wrongdoers to refrain from seeking solace in political opportunism.
Defending
the rationale behind the setting up of the National Reconciliation Commission
(NRC), the Attorney General said before any country can move ahead in unanimity
and concord, there is the urgent need to come to terms with its past.
He
said there has been so many human rights abuses as a
result of dictatorial regimes in the past. He pointed out that the government
does not believe that the road to freedom is through conflict. “What the NRC is
doing is allowing Ghanaians to tell their story as a healing balm,” he said.
According
to Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the government will defend the
mandate that the people of
The
Western Regional Minister, J. B. Aidoo, said the
government remains focussed and will not allow its attention to be distracted
by detractors.
He
said the government does not believe in the provision of inducements for
elections. Aidoo disclosed that efforts are far
advanced to set up a housing scheme for farmers in cocoa-growing areas.
He
said the operation of the scheme would offer employment opportunities for
products of tertiary institutions. Aidoo announced
that work on the
He
said the contractor is mobilising to start work after the sod is cut for the
project. The Regional Minister said the government is going beyond building
major roads to build feeder roads, as well.
The
Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Sophia Hormer-Sam,
urged the youth, especially students in tertiary institutions, to access the
youth fund. He called on the youth to sustain the education on government
policies. – Graphic
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Export Development Fund disburses ¢109bn
Accra
(Greater Accra) 8 July 2003 - The Export Development and Investment Fund
(EDIF), the fund set up to provide support for export and related activities,
has approved ¢140.79bn in loans to 57 applicants since it started operations in
June 2002. Out of this amount, the fund has disbursed ¢109.76bn as of May 2003.
K.
M. Nkrumah, Director of Credit and Projects, who disclosed this in an
interview, said ¢24.5bn went to agro-processing, ¢21.6bn to salt mining and
processing, ¢18.5bn went to wood processing while ¢13.7bn went to other
agricultural production.
He
said handicrafts had ¢10.6bn, plastics received ¢13.1bn with ¢13.9bn going to
garments and textiles; ¢6.7bn to health products while ¢17.7bn covered other
areas.
In
terms of grants, which cover 20 per cent of the fund’s assistance, ¢12bn has
been disbursed out of ¢21bn approved applications since the fund started full
operations. Agyabeng Antwi-Agyei,
Director of Export Development and Promotion, who disclosed this, said the
grants went to institutions and groups that provide export related services.
He
said the beneficiaries include the Ghana Standards Board, the Ghana Export
Promotions Council, the Ghana Trade Fair Company and all the secretariats of
the President’s Special Initiatives.
The
rest are Kakum Co-operative Citrus Producers, Sheabutter Co-operative at Salaga,
Horticultural Association and Havov-Akomadan Tomato
Production and Processing. The setting up of the fund has come as a great
relief to exporters as it is very easy to access and has the most competitive
interest rates in the country.
Nkrumah
earlier explained that to access the credit, an applicant needs to apply
through any of the Designated Financial Institutions (DFIs),
made up of 14 banks and two non-banking financial institutions. The two are
Export Finance Company Ltd and Empretec Ghana
Foundation.
However,
applicants for grants need to contact the EDIF Secretariat directly. He said
since the DFIs bear all the risks in borrowing, the
fund gives the credit to them at five per cent for onward lending at 15 per
cent.
He said
the fund could be accessed only by export-oriented companies,
and that as for grants they go to institutions, associations or bodies, such as
the Ghana Standards Board, Ghana Investment Promotion Council and research
institutions that render export-oriented services.
Additionally,
the beneficiaries of the credit must be either 51 or more per cent or wholly
Ghanaian owned, Mr Nkrumah said, adding that both the DFIs
and the fund ensure strict monitoring and evaluation of the backgrounds of the
potential borrowers before and after the approval.
“To
this end, borrowers are required to submit periodic reports through the DFIs to enable us to keep an eagle’s eye on their
operations,” he stated. In addition, approved loans are disbursed in tranches to guard against diversion or misuse of the
credits. – Graphic
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Achiase (Eastern Region)
This year’s competition
produced the first female Ranger, L/Cpl Christiana Otubea,
from the Support Service Brigade, who happens to be the only female soldier to
have taken part in the ten-year old Exercise Tiger’s Path.
The
task force made up of 15 officers and 145 men making up five platoons were
drawn from the Northern and Southern commands, Navy, Airforce
and the Support Services Brigade.
The
Chief of Air Staff, Vice Marshall E. A. Mantey who
was the guess of the honour, congratulated the platoon-sized units of Task
Force Tigers on crushing the Liberate Ghana Now (LGN) forces.
He
also stated that recent events worldwide and especially in Africa indicate that
the nature of armed conflicts is changing dramatically from inter-state to
intra-state ones and the focus of training has naturally shifted to combat
operations against regular or paramilitary forces who operate from jungle bases
or urban areas with various levels of sophistication in arms and equipment.
Such operations usually require small, flexible and independent sub-units, such
as were deployed during the exercise.
He
also urged the school to collaborate with the local government authorities and
traditional rulers to preserve the jungles and forests in a sustainable manner
not just for military use, but also for eco-tourism.
Being
the first female soldier to take part in the exercise, L/Cpl Otubea lived above expectations by making minced meat out
of the dreaded rope obstacle, and through that warmed the hearts of all,
including the Air Vice Marshall Mantey,
Brigadier J. B. Danquah officer commanding the
Southern Command and Brigadier Attipoe, Commander of
the Support Services.
The
competition finally ended at the shooting range. The
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Student kills friend over notebook
A
controversy over a notebook resulted in the unfortunate incident, which took
place at Bremang-Nkontiwima, a surburb
of
Azuma
was said to have borrowed a notebook from Adomako
before the recent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) but failed to
return it. When all efforts to recover the book failed, Adomako
swore heaven and earth to retrieve it.
Armed
with knife, the suspect at about
Bleeding
profusely from the stab wounds, Azuma was rushed to the Komfo
Anokye Teaching Hospital but died soon on arrival.
Obviously sensing danger, Adomako fled home but was
flushed out of his hide-out by the police following a tip-off. The deceased’s
body has been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary for autopsy – Ghanaian
Times
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