GRi Newsreel 30 - 07 -
2003
Select Committee inspects water supply system
Chief accuses assembly members of illegal timber felling
"I am ready for probe" - KMA Chief Executive
NRC begins in-camera hearings
Teenage pregnancy on the increase in Gomoa District
Acquit my client - Tsikata's Counsel
Ho Police investigate assault and arson cases
Football fan loses forefinger in argument
Libya, Ghana Ministers discuss cross-border crime
Tackle environmental issues holistically - Kasanga
Select Committee inspects water supply system
Wenchi (Brong Ahafo) 30 July 2003 - The Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing has expressed satisfaction with the management and operation of the ¢3.4bn Wenchi Small Town Water supply system.
The Committee commended the management board for the effective distribution and sale of potable water to the people. Members of the Committee expressed the sentiments at a meeting with the Wenchi water management board after a day's inspection tour of the project site at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The tour took the Committee to similar projects in other parts of the region to enable the members to find out the progress of work on such projects, review either their success or failures and suggest ways forward.
Sampson Otu Darko, MP for GA North and Chairman of the Committee commended the management board for doing "a very good job, since everything is under control".
He said the project was laudable, but cautioned that it would only serve the people's interest if only they ensured good, proper and periodic maintenance and repairs of the equipment.
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, MP for Wenchi West and a member of the Committee advised the board not to be content with the success they had achieved, but to assess the general progress of the project's execution since its completion to determine if the success conformed to expectation.
He explained that the assessment should be based on the progress being made with respect to the actual economic rates that consumers ought to pay by engaging the services of a consultant to work out an economic and acceptable tariff that would satisfy both the consumers and the management board to sustain the project.
Alhaji Amadu Seidu, MP for Yapei and a ranking member of the Committee advised the board to rid itself of any partisan nature for the people to understand and reason with them about the management of the project.
He explained that the board required absolute moral authority and acceptance by the general populace in its determination and fixing of the tariffs and that could only be possible when it was seen as a neutral body with no political inclinations, the ranking member added.
Michael Kwantwi, Wenchi District Planning Officer and Secretary to the Board in a progress report said the Wenchi water system, the largest in the country was started in October 2001 and handed over to the community in June 2002.
The Government of Ghana and the European Union (EU) jointly funded it, while the community provided five per cent of the total cost.
Kwantwi explained that the water system consisted of eight mechanized bore holes drilled at different locations and connected to a transmission line through which water is pumped and transmitted into a central tank from which water is distributed for consumption.
The system has 58 public dual standpipes with 105 distribution points for private connections (DPPC) and other fittings at various vantage points in the town.
The Secretary said the Board had so far made ¢250m from the sale of the water at ¢100 per bucket and 4,000 for the first 20 cubic meters of water per private household, while institutions pay ¢5,000 for the first 20 cubic meters and ¢6,000 for the first 20 cubic meters for commercial users.
He said though the Board was facing a number of problems in the management of the project, "outrageous" electricity bills was particularly taking about 50 per cent of the revenue.
Kwantwi explained that between January and May this year, the Board paid ¢138m as electricity bills and expressed the hope that it might reduce to a reasonable cost from June because they had started using meters to determine electricity consumption.
Francis Kwasi Enu, Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) explained that the system had a capacity to produce 800 cubic metres of water daily but currently supplied between 400-500 cubic meters of water every day.
The Committee also visited Derma in the Tano District where it held a meeting with the management of Derma Water and Sanitation Development Board about the state and progress of a similar project in the town.
The project, completed about three years ago at the cost of ¢550m, was funded by GOG and EU with five per cent component of the cost coming from the community. The system is designed with an overhead concrete tank that can store 35,200 gallons of water pumped from three mechanized boreholes.
Ayirebi Baffour, Secretary to the Board told the Committee that since the beginning of its operation they had made ¢70m out of the sale of water. Modestus Ahiable, MP for Ketu North and a member of the Committee suggested to the Board to acquire a permanent office accommodation since the project was a long term one.
The Committee members also paid a courtesy call on Nana Owusu Asante II,
Chief of Derma and also undertook another tour.
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Chief accuses assembly members of illegal timber felling
Wenchi (Brong Ahafo) 30 July 2003 - Osagyefo Ampem Abrefa Mmore-Bediatuo VI, Omanhene of Wenchi, alleged on Monday that some members of the Wenchi District Assembly were involved in illegal timber felling in the area.
The Omanhene said attempts he made to find a solution to the problem had proved futile because those involved had refused to respond to his invitation on several occasions.
He said the problem was also aggravated by the fact that a section of the assembly members were not giving him the necessary co-operation to bring the perpetrators to book.
Osagyefo Mmore-Bediatuo made the allegation when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing led by its Chairman, Sampson Otu Darko, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ga North, called on him at his palace.
The Committee visited Wenchi as part of a two-day tour of Brong-Ahafo to ascertain the state of the various water projects undertaken in recent years under the supervision of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
Osagyefo Mmore-Bediatuo praised the government for the execution of the water project in Wenchi but said that the town was expanding very fast and the capacity of the system might not be enough for the residents and satellite communities.
He complained of the poor drainage system in the town resulting in excessive flooding during the rainy season and called for the expansion of the drainage facilities under the Urban Five Project to bring the situation under control. The Chief called for the completion of the Wenchi market to give a boost to trading activities in the town and commended the government for the proposed creation of Tan District to cover the Wenchi West Constituency.
Darko assured the Omanhene that his concerns would be forwarded to the
appropriate quarters in government for redress. Joe Danquah, District Chief
Executive for Wenchi, said the assembly would investigate the allegation of
illegal timber felling and bring the culprits to book.
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"I am ready for probe" - KMA Chief Executive
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 30 July 2003 - Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, says he welcomes a probe into his administration because he had nothing to hide or fear.
A statement issued in Kumasi on Tuesday by the Public Relations Department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) in reaction to publications by E. Akuamoah-Boateng, chairman of the Asokwa Sub-Metro Council, calling for his resignation and a probe into his administration, said, however, that the call for the MCE's resignation was "a dream wish".
The statement said the KMA acknowledged and appreciated the deliberative, legislative and watchdog roles of assembly members because they are necessary for the promotion of accountability in the administration of the metropolis.
In spite of this, the assembly would, however, not countenance any unjustified attacks on the Metro Chief Executive, it added.
The statement described as false the accusation that the MCE has not executed a single physical project with funds from the Assembly's internally generated resources since he assumed office, saying the Metro Engineer's office would prove otherwise.
The statement catalogued a number of projects executed with internally generated revenue. They include the construction of a 240-feet metal footbridge to link Ahinsan to Atonsu, the construction of two classrooms, an office, kitchen and store at Patase, the construction of a four-unit classroom block and a toilet and the renovation of a six-classroom block at Emena.
This year the KMA is spending over ¢500m on the replacement, repairs and procurement for streetlights in the metropolis from internally generated revenue, it added.
The statement said over the past two years, the assembly spent about ¢1bn as payment of allowances on assembly sittings, while it spent over ¢2bn on fuel for waste management and administrative obligations from locally generated revenue.
Currently, the assembly spends an average of ¢400m a month on fuel alone, principally for the evacuation of refuse in the city of Kumasi. For the first time in many years, the statement noted, the electoral area of Akuamoah-Boateng was virtually free from flooding and attributed this to dredging works on the Susan stream which was being maintained and operated at a huge cost to the assembly from its own resources.
"But for the judicious use of its internally generated funds for such interventions, Kumasi as a city would have grinded to a halt." The Assembly, however, admitted that majority of its projects were funded by the European Union, Social Investment Fund (SIF), the District Assemblies common fund and other donor and government interventions.
"Even Ghana, as a country, has close to 70 percent of its development budget supported by donors. "This, not withstanding, it would be preposterous for anyone to downplay the input and initiative of the MCE and the assembly in the unprecedented number of roads, streetlights, schools and other projects being undertaken in Kumasi."
The statement said since his assumption of office, the MCE has adopted an aggressive lobbying strategy and presented forcefully the case of Kumasi at the least opportunity to every person of influence who has a say in the sharing of the national cake.
This greatly accounts for the numerous projects the assembly is now enjoying and a typical example is the on-going ¢4.2bn Kejetia streetlights projects.
It said there was no doubt that KMA's share of the common fund had risen substantially since Jumah assumed office, due to improved performance by the assembly, especially in the area of local revenue generation.
"It is worth noting that from ¢5bn in 2000, the assembly's share of the common fund shot up to an unprecedented figure of over ¢11bn in 2003.
"Therefore, if more and more projects were being executed in the metropolis from the use of the fund, it would be fruitless to discount the contribution of the Chief Executive to this healthy development."
The statement said this was the last time it was going to respond to what it
described as recycled, frivolous and scurrilous allegations from anybody as it
had more pressing issues of land use practices, waste management and congestion
among other problems to grapple with.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July 2003 - The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Tuesday began conducting in-camera hearings into human rights abuses. The in-camera hearings, which would run from Tuesday to Thursday, are the second since the Commission's public hearings began in January.
The first in camera hearings were held from 28 April to 1 May 2003. The National Reconciliation Act, Act 611, grants the Commission the discretionary power to hold in-camera hearings for a good cause.
Witnesses appearing in camera have a duty to preserve and assist in the preservation of the confidentiality of any matter, which the Commission may designate as confidential and to which such persons have become privy, including, in appropriate circumstances, the identity of Witnesses.
Where the Commission decides to hear a case in private, it has the power to direct that no information from the proceedings shall be made public.
Under the Act, a person shall not disclose the identity of a Witness in the proceedings and records of proceedings be kept in such a manner as to protect the identity of the Witness.
A decision by members of the Commission, using their collective wisdom and experience, to hear a case in private triggers a number of statutory obligations on members and staff of the Commission, as well as any other persons, who might be present at the private hearing.
The Commission might issue an order prohibiting the publication of any identifying characteristics of a Witness. The Commission might "for good reason" direct the disclosure or publication of some information about the identity of a Witness or the proceedings.
This may be the case, for instance, where the Commission believed that such a publication was in the national interest. After the camera hearing, the Commission would move to Sekondi from 5 to 15 August.
The venue for the Sekondi hearings would be the West African Examinations Council Hall. Eighty-three cases of human rights violations, including killings, abductions, torture, ill treatment and seizure of property have been listed for hearing.
The Sekondi hearings would be the third time the NRC would be sitting outside
Accra after Kumasi and Tamale.
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Teenage pregnancy on the increase in Gomoa District
Mumford (Central Region) 30 July 2003 - Teenage pregnancy is on the increase in the Gomoa District, a survey conducted by National Population Council in the district has said.
According to the survey women above the age of 19 in the area who had no children were often taunted and ridiculed for being barren.
Eric Akobeng, District HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Persons who made this known at a workshop at Mumford on Tuesday said out of 1,979 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic at Apam in 2001, 242 were below the age of 20, representing 12 per cent of the total attendance, while last year, 234 out of 1,539 representing 12.20 per cent was recorded.
The Apam Salvation Army Youth Club, a community based organization engaged in the anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in the district, organized the workshop.
Eighty barbers and hairdressers from Ankamu, Apam and Mumford attended the workshop, which was sponsored by the Ghana AIDS Commission. On the recent importation of anti-retroviral drugs into the country, Akobeng advised Ghanaians not to regard it as panacea for the disease.
He reminded them that no cure had been found for disease yet and that the drugs were only meant to prolong the lifespan of patients for a certain period. He appealed to the people to be compassionate with AIDS victims to avoid driving them into seclusion and advised married coupled not to seek divorce in the event of one of them testing HIV positive.
Captain Justice Incoom, Chairman of the organisation appealed to Ghanaians to change their sexual habits to help reduce the spread of the disease.
He said the interventions being put in place to curb the spread of the
disease could only make meaningful impact if the people changed their sexual
lifestyles.
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Acquit my client - Tsikata's Counsel
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July 2003 - Prof Emmanuel Victor Oware Dankwa, counsel for Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Company, on Tuesday prayed the Court of Appeal to acquit his client.
Making his submissions at the court in support of an application of no case, Prof. Dankwa stated that at the close of its case at the Fast Track High Court, the prosecution failed to establish a case against his client.
He submitted that the law did not require his client to open his defence as demanded by the prosecution, and therefore prayed the court to quash an earlier order by the Fast Track High Court asking him to open his defence.
Tsikata is charged with four counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the State and intentionally misapplying public property. He has denied all the charges and is currently on bail.
On 28 March this year, Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, Appeal Court Judge with an additional responsibility for the case as a High Court Judge, overruled the submission of "no case" made on behalf of Tsikata by his counsel.
In his 13-point grounds for the appeal, Prof. Dankwa told the court that the trial judge erred in law in over-ruling the submission of no case without providing reasons.
Counsel stated further that the trial judge erred in law in disregarding pertinent legal and constitutional issues raised before her. Prof. Dankwa also submitted that the trial judge erred in law in calling Tsikata to open his defence when it was clear from the evidence adduced by the prosecution that none of the ingredients of the alleged offences had been established.
Prof. Dankwa submitted that his client had to be acquitted on the first three counts because they are founded on acts that at the time they were done, did not constitute a criminal offence and thus offended Article 19 (5) of the Constitution.
The provision under that section stipulates that "a person shall not be charged with or held to be guilty of a criminal offence, which is founded on an act or omission that did not at the time it took place constitute an offence".
Prof Dankwa submitted that, while the amendment of the relevant section of the Criminal Code came into effect in July 1993, the guarantee was authorised in June 1990 and signed in March 1991. Counsel explained that it was for this reason that in the trial of his client earlier in March 2002, Justice Julius Ansah, on the same facts, dismissed the charge, holding that it was unconstitutional.
Touching on "financial loss", Prof. Dankwa submitted that there was no evidence of "wilful action or omission" on the part of his client through which the state incurred a financial loss.
Counsel stated that no evidence was even led on any "financial loss", resulting to GNPC, much less the State, from the investment in the Valley Farms project.
Rather, he said, the evidence from the prosecution showed a clear intent on the part of Tsikata to create gain. Prof. Dankwa submitted that in his evidence in chief, Jim Wilson, former Managing Director of Valley Farms Company, stated that he invested his own pension to the tune of ¢200m in the project. Wilson added, during cross-examination that the future of the project was "very bright".
Counsel would continue his submissions on Thursday, 31 July, after which the
prosecution led by Osafo Sampong, Director of Public Prosecutions, would
respond. The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal hearing the appeal is
made up of Justice F. T. Lartey (presiding) with Justice Steve Farkye and
Justice J. C. Amonoo-Monney as members.
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Ho Police investigate assault and arson cases
Ho (Volta Region) 30 July 2003 - The Ho police are investigating circumstances leading to the assault of Charles Kafui Klutse of Ho-Heve by alleged group of "machomen" at the Regional office of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday.
Nicholas Blewushie, Ho District Police Commander told newsmen that Klutse, who reported at the police station with a deep cut on his right upper eye, said the group attacked him when he went to the premises of the NPP office to visit Kwame Attah, the suspended Regional Secretary of the party.
He said Attah was not present when he was about to leave the office, he was called back by Tommy Amematekpor, a Presidential Aide.
Blewushie said he obliged only to be attacked and severely manhandled by the "machomen" who he could not identify. In another development, Johnson Avuletey, Regional Organiser of the NPP reported to the police on Tuesday that he was awoken from sleep by flames of an explosive behind his house near the Kabore School Complex at Ho at about 1 a.m.
He said he suspected a case of arson, adding that the perpetrators were after
his life. Police sources told the Ghana News Agency that initial investigations
revealed that the explosive devices were "Molotov Cocktail", which
were used in the Russian Revolution to cause considerable damage to enemy
territory.
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Football fan loses forefinger in argument
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July 2003 - An Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday remanded into prison custody a 32-year-old trader for biting off the left forefinger of his colleague during a quarrel on the performances of Accra Hearts of Oak and Accra Great Olympics.
Kwesi Appiah charged with causing harm pleaded not guilty and the court presided over Justice S.G. Okraku remanded him in custody to reappear on 12 August.
Inspector Joseph Hemeng told the court that two weeks ago, Appiah and his friend, Alex Okyere watched a football match between Accra Hearts of Oak and city Rival Accra Great Olympics at the Accra Sports Stadium.
After the match, an argument ensued between them on the performance of both teams that nearly ended in a fight but they were separated. The Prosecution said on 21 July, the two of them met at a communication centre and another quarrel erupted which ended in a fight.
In the process, Appiah bit off Okyere's left forefinger.
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Libya, Ghana Ministers discuss cross-border crime
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July 2003 - The Libyan Deputy Minister for Security, M. Mohane, on Monday called for cooperation to fight the upsurge of organized and cross-border crime.
A press statement signed by Mrs Adiza Ofori-Adu, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, said he was speaking at a meeting with the Deputy Minister for the Interior, Thomas Broni in Accra.
Mohane said criminals were using the highest forms of technology to set up institutions for money laundering, drug trafficking and other high level criminal activities and there was the need for the two countries and all African countries to cooperate, in the spirit of the African Union, to fight crime on the continent.
He pointed out that Africa was being used as a corridor for drug trafficking and it had become necessary for African countries to form a security bloc to fight this.
Mohane said Ghana had a lot of expertise when it came to fighting crime and checking drug trafficking and expressed his countries readiness to join efforts with Ghana to fight crime.
The statement said they also discussed the issue of Ghanaian prisoners in Libya. Mohane said 40 Ghanaian prisoners had been granted amnesty in Libya and expressed his government's preparedness to sign a legal agreement with the Ghana government concerning the transfer of Ghanaian prisoners to Ghana to serve the rest of their sentences.
He presented a draft proposal on the transfer of prisoners for consideration
by government. The Libyan Ambassador in Ghana, Mohamed Gamudi, accompanied
Mohane.
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Tackle environmental issues holistically - Kasanga
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July 2003 - Prof Kasim Kasanga, Minister of Environment and Science, on Tuesday said environmental issues should be tackled holistically, saying isolated programmes had yielded little results.
He told the launch of Ghana's National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) Project in Accra that when environmental issues were considered without bringing all the key elements into perspective, it would not augur well for the country.
Prof. Kasanga said over the years, projects in key areas of the environment - climate change, biodiversity and desertification - had been planned and undertaken in separate ways.
The NCSA, which is being funded by the UNDP, intends to assist the country to formulate a strategy and an action plan to strengthen its capacities as well as establish close links between global environmental management and the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Prof. Kasanga said systematic efforts were made to develop a national programme to tackle all the vital environmental issues together.
"This project should also help us to have a better oversight over the capacity needs of the Rio Convention and allow us to address the implementation of the commitment reposed in Ghana under the Convention in holistic, synergistic and comprehensive manner."
Prof. Kasanga said the innovative nature of the project would ensure the effective use of resources, maximise output and offer adequate collaboration with operational focal points of other conventions.
The Minister praised the UNDP for supporting most of its programmes saying:
"Some of the inroads we have made towards good environmental stewardship in
the country can be attributed the cooperative spirit that exists between our
government and the UNDP."
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