Serious Fraud Office challenges media houses
Accra
(Greater Accra) 15 July 2003 - The Flagbearer of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof John Evans Atta-Mills
says no one can justifiably blame ex-President Rawlings for his recent
statements, which incidentally, have drawn intense public ire and opprobrium.
According to Prof Mills, since the ex-President is a great newsmaker, the
crowds surge to meet him wherever he goes and ask him questions. “It would be
imprudent for him to refuse to talk”, he said.
He
said the widespread criticism of the ex-President stem from the fact that
issues about the NDC and its top operatives are often blown out of proportion.
“Even the things that are often said about me, sometimes I ask: from where do
people draw such wild conclusions?” Prof Mills said.
He
said the NDC will never ask ex-President Rawlings to keep quiet or remain at
home. “We’ll try to derive appropriate advantages from his charisma. We’re
going to make sure we magnify our strengths while minimizing our weaknesses”,
the law Professor intoned.
He
said the NDC will define what roles each individual will play, adding that “the
focus will be on the flagbearer, while the Founder
will be assigned supporting roles”. – Myjoyonline
Serious Fraud Office challenges media houses
A
press release dated 11 July 2003 and signed by Ms Eevelyn
Bekoe, Head of Public Relations on behalf of the
Acting Executive Director of the SFO, explained that it had become necessary
for the SFO to clarify the situation in view of recent press reports which had
alleged the existence and or completion of certain “reports” or “memos” of
Serious Fraud Office investigations in both the electronic and print media.
“Among
the functions of the Serious Fraud Office, is the investigation of suspected
white collar crimes in which the State has interest. Invariably persons
affected by the investigation are interested in knowing the results of the
investigations.
However,
it is unlawful to publish findings of investigations, which make criminals and
convicts of persons who have not been found guilty by a court of law. The
findings of the Serious Fraud Office are still the SFO’s
view of the facts and they must be confirmed by a court of law”, Ms Bekoe underscored.
Thus
the practice of the press in publishing alleged “reports” of cases investigated
by the Serious Fraud Office and attribute the sources of their information to
the SFO is highly objectionable and unlawful, she stressed. The only lawful
source of information from the Serious Fraud Office on investigations conducted
is the Ag. Executive Director or the Head of Public Relations, the duly
authorised persons to release any findings, to the press where and when it
becomes necessary to do so, she added.
“Currently
making the rounds in both the electronic and print media and attributed to the
SFO are alleged “reports” from investigation of three cases, namely Ghana Free
Zones Board (GFZB), Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) and
SSNIT’s acquisition of shares in Obotan
Developers Limited. We state as a fact that, we have investigated these matters
but categorically deny that we have issued and released “reports” and or
“memos” to any journalists or media houses to publish same.
We
accordingly challenge any media houses or journalists to prove the authenticity
of the “reports”, she challenged. The SFO stated emphatically that it does not
release “reports” to the press as is being trumpeted or stated both in the
electronic and print media.”
“The
SFO after investigations build dockets and prefers charges and forwards the
dockets to the Attorney General’s office for advice and the authority to
prosecute”, Ms Bekoe observed.
“Indeed
whilst appreciating the interest shown by the press in the work of the SFO, the
SFO appeals to the public and press in particular to verify information on cases
being investigated from the SFO through Head of Public Relations before using
it in their articles, etc”, she concluded. – The Crusading Guide
Accra
(Greater Accra) 15 July 2003 – Capt. (rtd) Baah Achamfour, a former member
of the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) – the 1979 military
junta headed by ex-President Rawlings, has strong challenged Mike Adjei for a factual misrepresentation made about him (Achamfour) and his role in the erstwhile AFRC, in his (Adjei’s) book.
In
the book, which is entitled: “Death and Pain: Rawlings’ Ghana – The inside
story”, Mike Adjei had stated inter alia: “Boakye Djan,
in the first few days of June Forth, controlled everything and even though he
was the number two man in AFRC, he seemed to have had real authority
centralized in his hands…Besides, the number of two man had appointed the top
people in the government.
Mensah Poku was in charge of Foreign Affairs while Baah Achamfour was the Interior
Minister responsible for arrests…When Commander Apaloo
was appointed a member of the AFRC, he took over the Interior portfolio and became
the Minister responsible for arrests.”
Reacting
to the claims, Capt (rtd) Baah
Achamfour stated categorically in a statement that
Major (rtd) Boakye Djan never appointed him to any position whatsoever in the
AFRC. He said also that Major (rtd) Mensah Poku was never in charge
of Foreign Affairs throughout his (Achamfour’s)
membership of the council.
Continuing
his refutal, he asserted, “I, Baah
Achamfour was not and never the AFRC’s
Interior Minister for arrests as alleged in your book.” According to him,
throughout his membership of the AFRC from 19 June to 24 September 1979, he
never arrested, authorised nor sanctioned the arrest of anybody whatsoever and
that Lt Cdr (rtd) Apaloo’s
memberships of the Council preceded his (Achamfour’s)
own invitation to join the Council by some 15 good days.
He
maintained “apart from the AFRC itself, which operated more or less as a
collective, Legislative and Executive Organ of the last resort, there were only
two other important bodies responsible for the day to day administration of the
country.”
These
bodies were the Cabinet and the National Security Council (NSC). The former,
based at the Castle, Osu,
consisted mostly of civilian Commissioners who had controlled the various
ministries under the preceding Supreme Military Council (SMC II). The Cabinet,
he stated, operated under the direction of General Hamidu,
with Major Boakye Djan as
its chairman.
The
NSC, he said, also based at Castle, comprised the Heads of the various
intelligence and Security Agencies and operated under the general direction of
Ben Fordjour, with Major Mensah
Poku as its Chairman. “It is glaringly obvious from
the above that as Chairman of the National Security Council and Head of the
Intelligence Services, Major Mensah Poku was the effective Minister of Interior”, he
underscored.
Capt
(rtd) Baah Achamfuor contended that if the Author of the book had
consulted other AFRC members, including himself –
instead of citing Major (rtd) Boakye
Djan in his (Author’s) acknowledgements ostensibly as
his source of information on the AFRC – he (Author) would have averted “an
embarrassing and potentially expensive gaffe”.
Baah Achamfour submitted that the bottomline nonetheless is that given the level of the
reputation of the AFRC now, “thanks to Rawlings’ teachery,
I have no wish to wrongly go down into history as the AFRC’s
Interior Minister responsible for arrests” as published in your book.”
He
consequently invited Mike Adjei to make a reaction
and to “expunge from the book the patently untrue, misleading and malicious
information you have negligently caused to be published about me.”
Concluding,
Capt (rtd) Baah Achamfuor emphasised, “… in cognisance of your book for
both present and future generations of Ghanaians, I hasten to add in conclusion
that I seek nothing for myself other than the pursuit of the truth, for the
sake of historical accuracy and our common quest for academic excellence, in
which regard I reiterate my readiness as I publicly did with Major Boakye Djan 22 years ago in July
1981, to help establish the true facts of AFRC rule without any
pre-conditions.” – The Crusading Guide
Accra
(Greater Accra) Barely, 24 hours after the “Times” published the plight Of
Madam Ayi Kpakpa, 73, who
was being detained at the at the Korle Bu Teaching
Hospital due to her inability to pay ¢2.2m hospital bill, a philanthropist,
Samuel Adusu Mensah of Abossey Okai in Accra has come to
her aid.
The
President of Ghana-Parkistan Friendship Society, then
decided to give ¢4m to cover the total cost of the further treatment for Madam Kpakpa at the Radio Therapy Centre of the hospital; but was
told it had already been cleared. Siddique said that
his society is planning a collaborative programme with the various health
institutions in the country to see how best it could assist such people in future.
It
is not certain how the case fits into the exemption policy announced by the
government for senior citizens, pregnant women and children under
five years.
When
contacted by the ‘Times’ to clarify the situation, Miss Georgina Adu-Amankwah, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of the
patient’s ward said the policy was not applicable at the Korle
Bu Teaching Hospital. “Here everybody pays for his or her medical treatment
including even doctors”.
Madam
Kpakpa who hails from Ahi
near Agbozume in the Volta Region was officially
discharged on
Madam
Kpakpa told the “Times” that her son paid ¢300,000
last Wednesday and pleaded that she should be released and the rest of the
amount paid later, but the hospital authorities refused. She therefore appealed
to benevolent organizations and individuals to come to her aid. – Ghanaian
Times
This,
he stressed, will help add value to
Addressing
the opening session of an international workshop on the utilisation of cocoa
by-products in
The
three-day international workshop, being attended by farmers, scientists,
entrepreneurs, financiers, government officials and representatives of cocoa
institutions, is, therefore, part of the aggressive marketing strategy by CRIG
to showcase the potentials of cocoa and its by-products.
After
the workshop, which is themed “Enhancing Farmer Incomes Through
Processing of Cocoa By-Products,” interested partners will be encouraged to
team up with CRIG and the Ghana Cocoa Board to set up factories to produce the
12 new products on commercial basis. The 12 new products developed by CRIG
include cocoa butter, toilet soap, body pomade, cocoa jam, jelly, gin, brandy,
vinegar and wine. The rest are animal feed, soft soap (alata
samina), liquid soap and cocoa soft drink.
President
Kufuor said the workshop ties in with the
government’s policy to promote value addition to the country’s raw materials,
especially the Golden Pod, which has sustained the country’s economy for the
past 100 years.
He
said over the years, there has been a symbiotic relationship between government
and the cocoa industry. He said the government has supported the industry and farmers’
activities through various programmes and incentives and by providing support
for research and extension.
The
President said farmers have responded favourably to government’s cocoa pest and
diseases control programmes and have stepped up cocoa production and farm
maintenance operations. This, he said, explains why cocoa beans from
President
Kufuor said the relationship between the government
and farmers has been raised to a new height since the NPP assumed office two
and half years ago and, consequently, this has succeeded in reversing
drastically the downward trend in cocoa yields over the previous years.
He
said cocoa yield for the closing season is reported to have exceeded 400,000
metric tonnes and the level is expected to increase in the coming season.
President
Kufuor said although Ghana ceded its place as the
leading producer of cocoa beans on the world export market to Cote d’Ivoire, it
has continued to be a leader in breaking new frontiers in the maintenance of
cocoa beans in the world.
“This
is to the credit of our cocoa farmers, COCOBOD and CRIG,” he said.
Kwame Sarpong, Chief Executive of COCOBOD, said
the project, which culminated in the development of the 12 new products was
funded jointly by the Ghana Government and the Common Fund for Commodities
(CFC) at the cost of $1.09m. He said the workshop is thus seen as the
culmination of the aspirations of all stakeholders who have played various
roles from the inception of the project to the end. It also provides the forum
for them to assess the achievements of the project and what is to be done with
the results.
Sarpong said in April 1999, the government adopted the Cocoa Sector
Development Strategy Document, which was accepted by the country’s development
partners and became the basis for subsequent programmes with the Bretton Woods institutions. He said one of the key elements
of the strategy document was that the producer price should increase from the
level of 56 per cent of the free on board (FOB) price then to a level of 60 per
cent beginning with the 1999/2000 cocoa season and thereafter, increasing
annually to reach 70 per cent of the F.O.B. price by the 2004/2005.
Sarpong said the government has pursued the objective of increasing the
producer price because of the policy of ensuring that the hard working cocoa
farmers benefit from their labour. He said the government has made provision
for the payment of a bonus of ¢500,000 per tonne to enable it to maintain the f.o.b.
target of 68 per cent (excluding the cost of the cocoa diseases and pests
control exercise) for the 2002/2003 season.
He
said the commitment of government to pay farmers 70 per cent of projected F.O.B
price by the 2004/2005 season is on course. – Graphic