African regional leaders to take a decision on Liberia
Interior Ministry to rehabilitate Police stations
nation-wide
New Board of Directors for NTC inaugurated
Man strangles girlfriend and commits suicide
Kentucky (USA) – 26 June 2003 - A total of 7,040 Ghanaians have won the
2004 edition of the US Diversity Immigration Visa Lottery (DV-2004), an
increase of 707 over the figure the 2003 figure of 6,333.
Ghana’s figure comes close to Nigeria’s 7,145 which topped the list of
countries whose citizens participated in the lottery.
According to a release announcing the results, approximately 111,000
applicants have been registered and notified. The winners may now make an
application for an immigration visa.
However speaking to Ghana Review International on the basis of
anonymity, a handful of winners in the 2003 draw claimed that they were
rejected visas on very flimsy excuses.
The Immigration and Nationality Act makes available 50,000 persons out
of winners of the diversity lottery permanent resident visas annually to
persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Applicants registered for the DV-2004 programme were selected at random
from approximately 7.3 million qualified entries but an additional 2.9 million
applications were either received outside of the mail-in period or were
disqualified for failing to properly follow directions.
When the results for 2003 were released and eventually the winners
attended interviews for their visas the outcome sparked off varied reactions-
some very harsh while others were blunt without apologies.
A number of people who called at the Chronicle offices in Accra
accused the United States Embassy of denying many who legitimately win visa lotteries
from entering America. The public affairs section of the embassy in a swift
reaction denied all the allegations.
Their major concerns among others centred on the payment of assorted
fees, bearing expensive medical tests and also the often-flimsy excuses for rejecting
an applicant a visa. The whopping sums they lose are breaking marriages and
forcing some victims to lead wretched lives, it was gathered.
A teacher Kofi Atakorah who failed to mention offhand the name of the
pupil who placed last in his last terminal examination, was denied the visa, it
was reported. An accountant who failed to answer to the satisfaction of an
interview panel a question on the profession was also reportedly denied a visa.
For soliciting the assistance of someone to fill some forms relevant to
the visa acquisition, others were denied the visa. "What they at times do
is they ask you to copy from the original papers you have filed with them, just
to test whether you wrote them yourself.
And if, because you are unable to write well, you make somebody help
you to fill the form, they disqualify you," was a complaint from one of
them.
Others included disqualifications on the grounds of omitting the
minutest detail such as a dot in a signature and that was Dinah Duah’s plight. A
father and the whole family missed the visa because, "the child did not
resemble the father" and spent ˘1.7 million each for HIV/AIDS test.
Additionally they paid ˘120,000 to obtain a police report and another
˘3,918,000 each at the interview stage at the embassy and the fees have to be
paid –including babies still breast-feeding.
In all, an average family size of five that applies for a visa lottery
ends up paying about ˘30 million for various services, it was gathered.
"If you raised a loan to pay all these because you trusted in the
lawful lottery, you won and at the last minute were rejected on some dubious
fault, you would feel hopeless and helpless," another said.
But the public affairs section of the US embassy denied the allegation
that it deliberately subjects some Ghanaians who have won the DV lottery to
frustrations, in a bid to refuse them entry into America.
Susan Parker-Burns, the information officer, explained that the embassy
considers high education and specialized occupations as well as experience as
the two determinant factors for the issuance of entry visas to a DV lottery
winner.
She further stated that the embassy thoroughly studies all the
documents of various winners some of which, she noted, turn out to be forged by
the supposed winners.
She explained that it is the exposition of such fraudulent deals that
results in refusal of entry visas which some applicants do not understand and
for which reason they accuse the embassy of deliberate frustration. Parker-Burns
suggested that no physical features were used to refuse any applicant,
"except proven by a DNA test."
She maintained that the embassy puts premium on the visa lottery in Ghana,
as the country ranks quite high among the world's stakers. She revealed that
over 5,000 people won the lottery last year, while about 6,333 people applied
for this year's DV lottery.
On specialized occupations, she said, such applicants are trained in
America, in order to meet the American labour standard requirements.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The French Foreign Minister, Dominique
de Villepin would visit Ghana on Friday 27 and 28 June, an official statement
issued by the French Embassy on Wednesday said.
While in Ghana, the Foreign Minister would meet with President Kufuor,
Nana Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of
Defence and Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Interior Minister, with whom he would sign
an agreement for the provision of French assistance to the Ghana Police
Service.
Bruno Joubert, Director of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the French
Foreign Ministry, Mme. Nathalie Delapalme, Advisor, Africa Affairs and members
of the French media would accompany Dominique de Villepin.
He would later hold a press conference for the Ghanaian media.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 26 June 2003 - The Convention People's Party
(CPP) will not align with any party for the 2004 elections, the National
Chairman of the Party, Dr Abubarkar Alhassan said at Koforidua on Wednesday.
He said the party had developed a policy to rejuvenate activities of
the youth to make them a more dynamic force. Addressing the Eastern Regional
branch of the Party, he said the "CPP has a vision and a mission in moving
forward to ensure that the party wins the 2004 general elections".
Dr Alhassan, who is also the leader of the party, said the party would
resist any attempt to disband it, adding that, "CPP will continue to
express its views on national issues since it is committed to democracy".
He said if the party assumed the leadership after the next elections,
the country would witness a great change and called on CPP members to be steadfast.
The CPP Chairman called for a debate on national issues instead of
personalities devoid of religion, tribe and class and expressed the party's
displeasure over the high fees being charged at the country's universities.
He also criticised the privatisation of the Ghana Commercial Bank and
the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) among other state owned enterprises,
which he claimed were some of the conditions of the World Bank and called on
all Nkrumaists to join the party to win power in 2004.
No date had been fixed for the party's national congress to elect a
flag bearer, he said. Dr Gamel Nasser Adam, Chairman of the Youth Affairs
Committee of the Party, pointed out that although the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
made promises to the electorate in the 2000 elections, it had failed to fulfil
them.
He said the country "is facing crises of unfulfilled
expectations," saying, "despite the promises, the economy is still in
a serious crises, which has made the cost of living unbearable".
"The work of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) is
dividing the country instead of uniting the people," adding, "it has
rather created tension, which is dangerous for the nation," Dr Adam
observed.
He spoke against the mode of selecting witnesses by the NRC and claimed
that, "the main objective of the Commission is to destroy the National
Democratic Congress (NDC), after which the CPP would be the target". Dr
Adam, who is a Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, blamed the media for
some of the lapses in the country.
He said a CPP government would pursue an alternative economic programme
including a national industrialisation programme, which would use local
talents. The acting Eastern Regional Chairman, Nana Owusu Sekyere, said a youth
conference of the Party would be organised to plan strategies for the 2004
elections.
He expressed concern about unemployment, poverty, cost of education and
hardship facing the people and called for a "re-direction and focus to
build the country's destiny".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - Women leaders in Africa have urged
the African Union (AU) to step up the implementation of all protocols
pertaining to women, which were adopted by the body at their last meeting.
This formed part of an outcome of a meeting in South Africa of leaders
of various women groups on the continent who met to deliberate on issues
concerning women and development.
Speaking to Journalists on arrival at the Airport, Madam Hawa Yakubu,
MP for Bawku West, who was one of the three West African women representatives
to the conference, said the meeting which was hosted by Marcia Gracell, wife of
the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela was a prelude to the
forthcoming AU summit to be held in Maputo, Mozambique next month.
She said the one-week meeting aimed at assessing the status of women
and some of the progress made so far on gender related issues to be presented
to the AU at their next summit meeting.
Madam Hawa said the meeting discussed the need for maternal mortality
to be reduced drastically and for women in agriculture to be assisted,
including the removal of all constraint such as access to land.
The meeting also discussed NEPAD, HIV/AIDS menace, and conflict in
Africa as well as human rights issues, which mostly affect women and children.
She said they also asked the AU to set up a mechanism to implement the 60 per
cent quota of women representation on the African Commission.
Other members of the West Africa delegation include Kafui
Adzamagbo-Johnson, West African Co-ordinator of Women in Law Development from
Togo and Binta Diop from Senegal.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - African Regional leaders have up
to Friday to decide whether to continue with the Ghana Peace Talks on Liberia,
following major violations of the Ceasefire Agreement signed by the three
warring factions in Accra on 17 June.
Former Nigerian Head of State and Chief Mediator at the ECOWAS brokered
talks, General Abdulsalami Abubakar told a Press Conference at M-Plaza Hotel in
Accra on Wednesday that the regional leaders, including Ghana's President Mr
John Agyekum Kufuor, were the conveners of the three-week-old talks and had to
take a political decision on the issue.
He said the agreement signed by the Liberian Government and the two
rebel groups, Liberians United For Democracy And Development (LURD) and
Movement For Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), was a prelude to plans for a
comprehensive peace agreement for the war-torn West African nation.
"I hope that the peace talks will continue after the
consultations," he said, after he gave an overview of reported violations
of the ceasefire agreement.
General Abubakar said last Tuesday when the agreement was signed there
were consistent reports of ceasefire breaches that could not be independently
verified since the ECOWAS-led Joint Verification Team (JVT) could not be
deployed to Liberia because of lack of cooperation from the warring factions.
The LURD rebels, cited for the renewed fighting in Liberia, have not
submitted names of their two representatives to join the 15-Member JVT that
should have left Accra last week to Liberia to map-out the pre-ceasefire
locations of the belligerent groups to facilitate monitoring of ceasefire
breaches.
"The present military action by the LURD and Government forces has
resulted in panic throughout the capital with the population fleeing to
diplomatic areas and the offices of other international organizations in search
of safety and protection."
He said the shelling of Monrovia by LURD had resulted in civilian
casualties while agencies offering humanitarian services were fleeing the
conflict. He said the decision for an Interventionist Force to end the
humanitarian crisis would have to be taken by the political leaders of the
African Union and ECOWAS.
The Former Nigerian Leader described the fighting in Liberia as
"senseless" and called on the warring factions to respect the peace
accord they voluntarily endorsed.
"If they finish killing every Liberian who will they rule?"
Reacting to a question on the indictment of President Taylor by the UN War Crimes
Tribunal, he said the issue had now assumed a political, rather than a legal
dimension and had to be resolved by the international community.
He said the mediation team would consider other options, including
asking for the indictment to be lifted if that was the only means of ending the
over 12 years conflict. General Abubakar, however, reminded the rebel groups
that they were also liable of indictment in future in apparent reference to the
reported human right abuses.
He also referred the rebels, whom he said "were bent in fighting
their way to the Monrovia Executive Mansion", of the 1999 AU declaration
in Algeria that frowned on unconstitutional changes of government.
"The ECOWAS 'Protocol On Democracy And Good Governance' provides
that every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent
elections and that there will be zero tolerance for power obtained or
maintained by unconstitutional means.
"Come back to the negotiating table. Even if you fight a war,
there is time for peace talks," he told the factions. General Abubakar
also called on the International Community and Liberians who have influence on
the warring factions to prevail on them to halt all hostilities.
GRi…/
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NPP Constituency Chairman causing confusion
Ejura (Ashanti Region) 26 June 2003 - Dr. Joshua Ayarkwa, Presiding Member
(PM) of Ejura-Sekyedumase District Assembly and a staunch member of the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) has debunked the allegations that he has been suspended
from the party by the Constituency Chairman and his executive members.
He said the wide circulation of the news item in both the print and the
electronic media was an attempt by Samuel N. Abagna, the constituency Chairman
and the Executive members to sow seeds of discord among members of the NPP in
the constituency.
In a statement issued to the Press at the Ejura on Tuesday, Dr Ayarkwa
said though an emergency delegates congress was convened, voting took place as
to whether he was going to be suspended or not as confusion broke out when
delegates were told of the agenda of the congress.
He indicated that the agenda for the congress was not stated in the
invitation to the congress and when it was announced that the purpose was to
suspend him from the party, some of the delegates did not understand it.
Dr Ayarkwa wondered how Abagna and his supporters managed to get the
names of some delegates and their signatures to a resolution, which he
described as fictitious.
"No polling agent supported the failed attempt to suspend me and I
challenge the Constituency Party Executives to publicise the resolution",
he said.
The Presiding Member stressed that the claim by the Executive that he
refused to appear before a disciplinary committee was a blatant lie and that
will only come out from the mouth of the ungodly.
"No letter of reminder inviting me to appear before the
Disciplinary Committee ever got to me from the Expedite Mail Service (EMS) as
is claimed", he said.
Dr Ayarkwa said the whole problem in the constituency was that certain
people approached him to make things difficult for Madam Elizabeth Owusu, when
she became the District's Chief Executive (DCE).
After not giving in to their demands, Abagna led the Executives to
undermine my bid to be elected as the PM, adding that he has the full support
of the people in the constituency.
Dr Ayarkwa expressed worry that the party hierarchy was not trying to
solve the problem brewing in the constituency to bring peace and unity in the
area.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - Representatives of the United
Nations Security Council would visit Ghana on 29 and 30 June to confer with President
John Kufuor and other Government officials on the crisis in the West African
Sub-Region.
Members of the 15-member Council, who would first visit Guinea-Bissau,
are expected to arrive in the country from Abuja, Nigeria, a statement issued
by the UN Office in Accra on Wednesday said. The statement said the Council
would also visit Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone during their
10-day mission.
Led by Jeremy Greenstock, the Permanent Representative of the United
Kingdom to the UN, the mission is intended to demonstrate continuing Security
Council interest in the Sub-Region, encourage more cooperation among the
countries and identify any obstacles to improve cooperation.
"Also, the mission would examine the links between the conflicts in
Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone and their impact on neighbouring
countries, including the question of mercenaries, arms trafficking and
refugees," it said.
Among its other aims is a review of the activities of the Office of the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and an
assessment of progress towards Council objectives on the protection of
civilians and children affected by armed conflicts.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Parliamentary Committee on Government
Assurances on Wednesday broke a 10-year report-drought amidst cheers from
members. The standing committee is tasked with the tracking of assurances,
promises and undertaking made by public officers to the House.
P.C. Appiah-Ofori, Chairman, said Ministers were to taking the
Committee's mandate seriously. He said the Committee would be compelled to
summon such persons to appear before it in the future. He said efforts were
being made to pursue all assurances, promises and undertakings given by Ministers
on the floor of the House.
Appiah-Ofori said Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, former Minister of
Education, Edward Osei Kwaku, Former Minister of Youth and Sports and Dr
Richard Anane, Minister of Roads and Transport, responded to the inquiries of
the Committee.
He said Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Former Minister of Local Government and
Rural Development, Papa Owusu Ankomah, Former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
and Yaw Barimah, Former Minister of Works and Housing, did not respond to
letters sent them.
D. Y. Mensah, Ranking Member, said during previous Parliaments of the
Fourth Republic, the Committee was greatly misunderstood as a bunch of people
organised to ridicule Ministers.
He said the Committee did not enjoy the needed cooperation as it should
and added; "this Committee is of help to Ministers and a source of
information for the House.
Abuga Pele, NDC-Chiana/Paga, said the work of the Committee would help
Ministers and other officials to make well thought-out pronouncements. He asked
that the constitutional powers of the Committee should be translated into
standing orders to guide the House.
Papa Owusu Ankomah, Attorney - General and Minister of Justice,
apologized to the House for failing to respond to Committees letter when he was
the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
He called for the definition of assurances and promises to guide
Ministers in the future. The Attorney -General said the House could pass a vote
of censure on any person who failed to respond to the Committee enquiries.
"We should find out whether such a practice does not amount to
contempt of Parliament. Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker, reminded the House that the
Committee had the powers of a High Court.
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Tamale (Northern Region) 26 June 2003 - Lance Corporal Braimah
Mohammadu on Wednesday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in Tamale
that Corporal Giwa lured him to join him to overthrow the Rawlings regime for
him to be re-instated in the army.
Testifying before the Commission, Lance Corporal Mohammadu, said:
"My Lord, in 1983 Carlous Giwa invited me to join him to stage a coup and
that if we succeed, he will make sure that I was re-engaged in the army".
He said soldiers, including Iddrisu Abukari, Awudu, Anaba and Seidu and
to two others whose names he could not mention, were among those recruited to
carry out the coup. Corporal Mohammadu said Giwa planned the coup in Tamale and
supplied them with guns and military uniform to execute it.
He said they left Tamale in the night and got to Accra the next morning
and went to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Offices (GBC) and started firing
to disperse the soldiers on guard.
Corporal Mohammadu said: " My Lord, we ran short of ammunition and
had to escape to Burma Camp and when we were approaching the 37 Military
Hospital, we heard that Major Courage Quarshigah had taken over the GBC
Studios.
Corporal Mohammadu said from there, they escaped to the Shai Hills in
the Greater Accra Region where they took refuge in the forest for three days.
The petitioner said while in the forest, Giwa suggested to them to escape to
Cote d'Ivoire but he declined while the six soldiers followed him to that
country.
He said he managed to come back to Tamale but had to flee to Togo where
he engaged in farming along the Ghana-Togo border. He said he stayed in Togo
for four years and returned to Diare in the Savelugu-Nanton District of the
Northern Region to hide for fear of his life.
The witness said after the 2000 elections, he went to Accra to ask for
his pension and luckily for him, he was paid five million cedis while 5,000
cedis was also paid him as gratuity. He said he was told that Former President
Rawlings had ordered that suspected coup plotters should not be given their
gratuities.
Corporal Mohammadu said he was enlisted into the Ghana Army in 1963 and
after his training, he was sent to the 4th Battalion of Infantry in Kumasi as a
Weapons Instructor. The petitioner said during the 1966 coup he was involved in
a lorry accident while on duty, adding that seven soldiers died while he
sustained spinal injuries.
He was admitted to the Cape Coast Hospital but was later transferred to
the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for further treatment Corporal Mohammadu said
when he recovered; he was sent to the Officers' Mess at the 4th Battalion but
was later transferred to the 6th Battalion of Infantry in Tamale.
He said his superior officers wrongly declared him unfit and he was
discharged after 12 years of service. Prof (Mrs) Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, a
member of the Commission, asked Corporal Mohammadu: " If somebody
approaches you today and asked you to help to stage a coup will you
volunteer?"
"My Lord, if Giwa had not escaped to Cote d'Ivoire and had
remained in Ghana, we would have succeeded", he said, adding, " I was confident that we were going to
succeed because I was sure to fight my way through since both Giwa and I were
marksmen".
Asked whether in the Army he was not trained to be loyal to the state,
he said: "My Lord, I was also told to shoot and kill and defend the
nation".
He said Rawlings always wanted to rule the country and that he and his colleagues
wanted to cleanse the country because Rawlings was unfit to rule the country.
"We were also prepared to hand over to civilian government if we had
succeeded"
Prof. Mensah-Bonsu again asked whether he could run a government. He replied: "I am an illiterate and
cannot run a government but Giwa was educated and a better soldier than
Rawlings because he attended the "Boys' Company" where he was well
trained.
Corporal Mohammadu called on the government to reopen the Boys'
Company, saying "we could produce clever soldiers for the nation if the
Company was re-established." Asked whether he would advise that
ex-servicemen should be recruited to overthrow the government. He said no, the
government was good adding, "we wanted to push out Rawlings because he was
not a good leader"
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The full-scale war in Liberia
among the belligerent forces that had committed themselves to a ceasefire
agreement in Accra on 17 June is threatening COWES' determination to bring
peace to that country.
Backdoor negotiations among stakeholders towards a political
reconciliation to consolidate the ceasefire agreement were overshadowed by
informal discussions on the alleged shelling of the Gbarnga by rebels and the
extension of hostilities into Monrovia, the capital.
Tiah Slanger, Leader of the Movement For Democracy in Liberia (MODEL),
rebel group, told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday at the M-Plaza Hotel in
Accra that "what is more important now is how to ensure the exit of
President Charles Taylor to ensure lasting peace".
He disagreed with a suggestion that MODEL had violated the ceasefire
agreement he signed for his group, but admitted that MODEL was very close in
taking over the Robertfield International Airport at the outskirt of Monrovia.
Liberian Women Pressure Groups attending the talks called for an
International Stabilisation Force to enforce the ceasefire agreement.
"As mothers and women, who want to live and die in our country, we
are calling for the immediate deployment of a Stabilisation Force in Liberia to
stop the torture and the killing," Mrs Theresa Leigh Sherman, Leader of
the women's delegation told the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
"Liberian women are talking very seriously with the rebels and the
Liberian government for peace but nothing seems to be working. "We are
together again as women to strategise to see what we can do and at the end of
the day we will come out with something to see how we can end the human
suffering."
Mrs Sherman later presented a "Position Paper" of the Women
to the GNA that suggested that a transitional government should be in place in
August and stay for 24 months. The document called for disarmament,
demobilisation and re-integration of the combatants, repatriation and
resettlement of internally displaced people and refugees as well as the
commencement of the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction of key
infrastructure and basic social services.
It also called for free and fair general election. Meanwhile the Chief Mediator
at the Peace Talks, General Abdulsalami Abubakar had expressed concern about
"the pathetic humanitarian situation" in Liberia.
General Abubakar, who was meeting with s six-member Panel Of Experts of
the UN Security Council in Accra, urged the warring factions to comply with the
ceasefire agreement.
This would enable humanitarian agencies to return and provide relief to
the distressed populace and enable the parties to focus on the continuing
efforts to ensure the resolution of the crisis in Accra.
The panel, which is headed by a Senegalese diplomat, Atabou Bodian was
set up under the UN Security Council Resolution 1478 to conduct a follow-up
assessment mission to Liberia and neighbouring States to investigate and
compile a report on Liberia's compliance with the demands set out in resolution
1343 of 2001.
The Panel has a five-month mandate to investigate whether the ban on
illegal diamond mining in Sierra Leone that led to the escalation of conflict
in that country had been contravened. Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr Mohamed
Ibn Chambas said dialogue was the only way to end the Liberian crisis.
Bodian said the current fighting in Liberia had delayed their departure
to Liberia. In a related development, Sonny Ugoh, ECOWAS spokesperson, told the
GNA that the ECOWAS-led Joint Verification Team (JVT) would be joined in Sierra
Leone by two representatives each of the Liberian Government and the LURD
rebels in Liberia to map up the pre-ceasefire locations of the combatants.
The 15-member JVT would comprise seven members of ECOWAS and
representatives from the African Union, UN, the International Contact Team on
Liberia and the three warring factions.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - Two constituencies of the
Convention People's Party (CPP) in the Greater Accra Region have elected
officers with the objective of rejuvenating the party.
A statement signed by Jonathan Attoh, Regional Secretary, said Ms
Thelma Lamptey, chairs a 13-member Executive of the Ga South. P. K. Akuamoah
Boateng is the Secretary, Samuel Afful the Treasurer, and S. N. C. Nyarccah is
the Organiser.
The 13-member Kpone Constituency has Nicholas Akwetey as Chairman, with
Kofi Afram Adjei as Secretary. The Treasurer is Ms Cecilia Dzama while the
Organiser is Joseph O. Tetteh.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Ministry of the Interior is to
establish camp prisons at Damongo, Akaa, Yeji and Forifori to cater for minor offenders
as a measure towards decongesting the Nsawam Medium Security Prison and others
throughout the country.
The Ministry is also in consultation with the Attorney - General's
Department for the appropriate legislation to be drafted for the introduction
of non-custodial sentences such as parole, probation, suspended sentences and
community service.
Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of the Interior, said this on
Wednesday when he appeared before Parliament to answer a number of questions
asked by members of the House.
Seth Dankwa Wiafe, NPP- Akwapim South, asked the Minister what steps
the Ministry was taking to decongest the Medium Security Prisons at Nsawam
where some accused persons have been on remand for many years without trial.
Owusu-Agyemang said the Nsawam Prison with a capacity for 717 prisoners
had at present locked up 2,360 inmates and this confirmed that the prison was
overcrowded.
"Almost all our prisons have various levels of overcrowding, some
as high as over 300 per cent and there was evidence that there was over
crowding in almost all the country's prisons".
Owusu-Agyemang said the Ministry was to collaborate with the Judicial
Service, the Ghana Bar Association, Attorney General's Department, Police
Service and all principal players in the Criminal Justice System to review the
country's sentencing policy.
This is to ensure that the courts dispensed with misdemeanours outright
by the institution of fines and give bails and limit remands.
Owusu-Agyemang said it was hoped that through this arrangement, it
would be possible to speed up the trial of offenders and reduce the time they
had to spend as remand prisoners.
The Minister explained that there had been a rise in the number of
persons committed to the country's prisons due to the increasing crime wave.
He said because of the state of some of the prisons and the need to
convert them to their original purposes, there had been a decrease in the
number of prisons with the closure of the Ussher Fort, Anomabo, Keta and the
Cape Coast Castle Prisons.
Owusu-Agyemang said there had also been an increase in the number of
remand prisoners. At present there are 482 remand prisoners at the Nsawam
Prisons and some of them have been there for a long time.
Kwakye Addo, NDC - Afram Plains South asked the Minister how many
children and pregnant women were in the Nsawam Prison and the Minister said at
present there were three children and two pregnant women.
Owusu-Agyemang said the Ministry intended to construct a nursing
mother's wing outside the prison's ward to cater for such children, who were
either delivered in the prisons or brought in by convicted women.
Joseph Kofi Adda, NPP- Navrongo Central, asked what measures were in
place to sensitise and improve sanitation in the prisons and the Minister said
water closets and toilet facilities were to be provided since the prisons were
in very bad and deplorable conditions and needed to be decongested.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - President John Kufuor on Wednesday
stressed the need for developing countries to take a cue from Ireland under its
Irish Development Agency (IDA) to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into
their countries.
"My government wants to take a cue from this experience that has
turned the Irish economy round within a short period", he said. President
Kufuor made the call when Joseph Lynch, Irish Ambassador accredited to Ghana
but based in Abuja, Nigeria, paid a farewell call on him at the Castle, Osu.
Lynch is leaving after five years duty tour.
President Kufuor expressed regret that Ireland had great prospects in
economic and cultural relationships but could not be exploited for the mutual
benefit of the two countries.
He said the departure of Lynch should mark a watershed in the
Ghana-Ireland relationship that must be improved and appealed to him to
encourage his successor to pay regular visits to Ghana.
"We need to review and promote the relationship between Ghana and
Ireland", he said.
Lynch said although his five-year duty tour had been fruitful, he could
not visit Ghana to meet the personnel in the various sectors.
He expressed the hope that his successor would improve upon the
relationship between both countries.
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Ho (Volta Region) 26 June 2003 - An eight-member committee has been set
up by the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana to design, implement and
monitor strategies to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS within the Church and
communities in which it operates.
The committee has been tasked to train about 60 people selected from
the nine Presbyteries of the Church countrywide and other identifiable groups
as Trainer of Trainers.
The project is being undertaken by the Women's Desk of the Church as
part of the 60th Synod decision to embark on "a serious well-structured
educational programme on HIV/AIDS in congregations and communities."
The Right Reverend Dr. Livingstone Buama, Moderator of the Church,
inaugurating the committee on Wednesday at Ho said treating HIV/AIDS carriers
with contempt was unchristian considering the fact that "God shows
compassion for although we carry the most horrible ailment, sin."
He said Christians should be guided by the compassion with which Jesus
treated lepers who were regarded as outcasts. Rev. Buama was hopeful that the
project would make a positive and progressive impact on the campaign against
the spread of the disease; "especially as women who naturally plan and do
things with motherly care" were handling it.
Rev Mrs Bridget Ben-Naima, Women's Programme Officer of the Church and
Secretary of the Committee cited traditional practices, such as female genital
mutilation, early forced marriage, systems of inheritance and polygamy as major
factors contributing to the rapid spread of the epidemic among women.
She said the project objectives included reducing infection rates and
making counselling services available to infected patients. Rev Mrs Ben-Naima
appealed for a means of transport to enable implementers reach all kinds of
terrain and a computer and accessories to keep and process valuable data.
Grants from the Ghana Aids Commission (GAC) she said, would not be
sufficient to cover the entire resource needs of the project, which were
crucial in attaining the national HIV/AIDS prevention goals in view of the
immense influence of Church in the Volta Region and beyond.
Rev Mrs Ben-Naima said the ceremony was to herald Women's Week
activities in the Church from June 22 to 29 during which congregations would
discuss; "The Role of Women in Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS."
Mrs Ellen Akorsa, Principal Public Health Officer advised women to
avoid incisions with non-sterilised instruments, overcome the crave for
injections and refrain from punitive denial of sex to their husbands to help
contain the spread of the disease.
She recommended the practice of giving blood for storage at the blood
bank for self-use whenever they were scheduled to undergo non-emergency
operations.
Mrs Akorsa suggested that women who tested HIV positive should refrain
from giving birth to delay the progression of the disease to the AIDS stage.
The Chairman of the Committee is Christian Kokoroko, Nabitha Hospital Tema.
Other members include Mrs Janet Buama, Teacher, Ms Agnes Tawia, Health
Programme Officer, E P Church Headquarters and Ms Maru Akorli, Ghana Education
Service, (GES) Girl-Child Education Division.
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Keta (Volta Region) 26 June 2003 - The Parliamentary Select Committee
on Works and Housing has said the Keta Sea Defence Project was a national
project aimed at protecting the national coastline from erosion and to
stabilise the shoreline against the devastating effects of the sea on
communities living along the beaches.
Members of the Committee, therefore, expressed their satisfaction about
the extent of work and said they were highly impressed that the contractors
have executed the project to meet its huge cost.
Sampson O. Darko, Chairman of the Committee and the members said these
when they paid a day's working visit to the project site to see the extent and
progress of works on the project of which about $84m has been spent to reclaim
the land and provide a sea defence wall for the inhabitants living along the
coastline.
The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, the contractors, have so far
constructed six groynes to create natural beaches, a 733 metres long sea
defence wall to protect the Keta Township. Erected flood control structures and
reclaimed 66 hectares of land for a new township.
Darko said the assurance given by the contractors to complete the
project ahead of schedule was very welcomed since it would reduce the anxiety
and suspense of any further delay in its completion.
He said there was the need for the District Assembly, opinion leaders
and the people to take advantage of the project and undertake useful ventures
to rebuild their devastated communities.
The Chairman expressed concern about the delay of the residents still
living in the low lying areas of Vodza and Adzido to co-operate and evacuate to
the new reclaimed lands to enable the contractors execute the works on time.
Darko said there was the need for the people to be supported with the
Poverty Alleviation Fund to go into useful ventures to reduce the unemployment
in the area and sand winning and migration of the youth to the urban centres.
Modestus Ahiable, Ranking Member of the Committee, said it was
gratifying that the project that was started by the previous administration had
been continued and would be completed soon to bring relief to the people in the
area.
He said the resettlement of the people had been the concern of the
people but now that they were assured of new dwelling places at the reclaimed
lands he expressed the hope that they would willingly move into the new housing
units.
Saddique Abu-bakar Boniface, Deputy Minister of Tourism and
Modernisation of the Capital City and member of the Committee, commended
government for pursuing the plan to reclaim the land and said the work achieved
was worth the investment.
He said the project had ensured great tourist attractions especially
eco-tourism that would engender vibrant commercial activities.
Boniface said the people could derive a lot of benefit from the area on
completion of the project since the reclaimed lands had created bird islands
and the Fort Prinzenstein that was built in 1784 by the Danes when
rehabilitated would be one of the best tourists attractions in the country.
Gary Schack, the Project Manager, gave the assurance that the project
would be completed in about five months ahead of schedule and that it would not
in any way affect the production of the popular "Keta School Boys"
but would rather enhance the fishing industry as the big rocks would be home
for the production of lobsters, crabs and other bigger fishes.
He said excavated mud from the lagoon had been deposited to create bird
islands to serve as tourists' sites in the area while industry and habitation
would be developed on the reclaimed lands.
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Techiman (Brong Ahafo) 26 June 2003 - A pharmacist has appealed to
druggists and chemical sellers to encourage patients to fight malaria through
the administration of the complete doses of chloroquine.
Daniel Bamongya, a Medical Representative of Kinapharma Limited,
manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, gave the advice at a seminar for chemical
sellers at Techiman in Brong Ahafo.
It was organised by the company with the support of the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the John Hopkins University for 80 participants from
Techiman, Kintampo and Wenchi districts.
The seminar was aimed at equipping them with skills to detect symptoms
of malaria. Bamongya said though choloroquine remained the first choice for
malaria treatment improper administration would not cure the disease.
He deplored the use of drugs commonly called "afra-fra" by
chemical sellers and druggists to fight malaria and asked them rely on
chloroquine.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister for
Communications and Technology, on Wednesday said if Africa were to become a
destination choice for foreign direct investment in Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) then "we must embrace wholeheartedly
commercialisation and private sector participation".
Kan-Dapaah was speaking at the opening of a two-day roundtable meeting
on innovative demand models for telecommunication service research projects
undertaken in Ghana, Botswana and Uganda. He said the liberalisation of the
communication market was no longer a subject for debate.
"African governments simply do not have the capital investments
needed to acquire the necessary backbone infrastructure nor the financing to
operate modern day telecommunication companies," he said.
Kan-Dapaah said caution was, however, needed as Africans placed their
destiny in the hands of commercialisation, private sector participation and
competition adding that if commercialisation and privatisation were not
properly monitored the majority of the people would be left out for economic
reasons.
He said the continent was vast with contrast and non-homogenous
development with the rural urban dichotomy persisting with the divide between
the rich and the poor still widening.
"If we the elite in Africa leave out the poor and the rural folk
and deny them the benefits of knowledge and information society, we would have
done a considerable harm to our people,'" he said.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region) 26 June 2003 - A 59 year-old Principal
Paymaster of the defunct State Construction Corporation (SCC), Godfred Armah,
has appealed to the authorities to pay the severance award of retrenched staff
in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of the divested company.
Making the appeal at Koforidua on Wednesday, Armah stated that when
they were retrenched in December 1997, following the divestiture of the company
by the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), they were each given a lump
sum of 18 months salary across board.
Armah who claimed served the company for 34 years rising from a pay
clerk was among former employees who protested against the "meagre
amount" and took the issue to court after rebuffs from the DIC.
He regretted that despite an order by a Tema High Court on 20 March
2002, asking the DIC and the Ministry of Finance to pay them a total judgement
debt of over ˘18bn, including accrued interest and a letter from the Attorney
General, to the Minister of Finance on 31 July 2002, requesting him to pay the
amount in instalments, nothing had been heard.
According to him, when their solicitors, Jones-Mensah and Associates
went to the court to press for the payment, the High Court, presided over by
Justice Victor Ofoe declined their motion on the basis that the DIC was not
liable to pay the amount.
Armah said he and his colleagues have been facing severe living
conditions leading to the death of over 200 of his colleagues, broken homes,
accommodation problems and dropout of their children from school among other
problems.
According to him, when he recently lost one of his five children,
"I had to rely on the benevolence of well-wishers to be able to bury
her". He urged the authorities that have to pay them to do so without
delay to save them from further embarrassment.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on
Wednesday announced that Eric Armah, relative of the Mr William Armah, who died
in Canary Island, Spain, should report at the Legal and Consular Bureau, Room
310 of the Ministry for an important message.
A statement issued in Accra also invited relatives of Patrick Boutien,
resident in Niger and Adamm Abdulai Yambone, who lived in Malta to the same
Bureau for a message.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Ministry of the Interior has
appealed to district assemblies, traditional authorities as well as
philanthropists to provide assistance to construct or rehabilitate Police
stations in their respective districts.
Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of the Interior, made the appeal in
Parliament on Wednesday in an answer to a question as to when the building of
the Krachi Divisional Police Command would be commissioned and made
operational.
The Minister said the main building that would serve as the Divisional Headquarters
had been completed, but no furniture had been provided due to inadequate budget
allocation.
He said efforts were being made to furnish the building and provide the
barracks and residential accommodation before the Police Command could be commissioned
and made operational.
On the Elubo Police Station Project that started in 1995, the Minister
said the project, which was scheduled for completion in 1996, was still ongoing
due to insufficient funding and irregular mode of payment for the work done.
Owusu-Agyemang said the Ministry realised the importance of the Elubo
Police station and was doing everything possible to have the building
completed.
"Currently 65 per cent of the work has been completed and it is
estimated that about ˘500m would be required to complete the project's external
works."
This year an amount of ˘100m has been allocated for the continuation of
work on the station and that a critical examination is being made on other
activities planned to be undertaken by the Ghana Police Service.
"It is hoped that other resources would be found to add to the
amount currently available so that the station would become operational next
year."
The Suhum police station, he said, was among the list of stations that
had been identified to be rehabilitated as part of the Service's programme to
rehabilitate and renovate as many stations in the country as possible.
Owusu-Agyemang said when the list had been finalised members of the
House would be informed of the stations involved and the resource needed so
that it could assist to secure the needed financial assistance.
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Saudi Prince donates $100,000 to Otumfuo Education
Fund
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 26 June 2003 - Saudi Prince Alwaldeed Bin Tala
Bin Abdul Aziz Al Suad, has donated $100,000 to the Otumfuo Education Fund.
This was in fulfilment of a pledge he made to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,
Asantehene during a durbar in his honour at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi when
he visited Ghana in April this year.
Presenting the cheque for the money at Manhyia Palace on behalf of the Prince,
Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister said the contribution was in
appreciation of Asantehene's efforts to support the provision of
infrastructural facilities in schools and academic pursuit of needy but
brilliant students in the country.
Ibrahim Gyasi, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fund received
the cheque on behalf of the Asantehene and thanked the Prince for the gesture
and said that the money will be put to good use. The Asantehene stated that he
and the other chiefs are committed to the social and educational development in
the country.
He said he was happy that the money has come at the time efforts were
being made to ensure quality education in the country. The Asantehene stressed
the need for all Ghanaians to play their part well to accelerate the
development of the country.
"If we organise and succeed, it is for Ghana, the development and
progress of the nation first before everything", he said. He expressed his
gratitude to the Prince for the donation and said it is a gesture people should
emulate to bring development to the country.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Volta River Authority (VRA)
Board of Directors on Wednesday described as "regrettable" the
selective release of the findings of the VRA Review Committee and the
orchestrated attacks on them in the media as if the Board was the problem in
the Authority.
The Board said to date it had not seen a copy of the report upon which
the Minister of Energy, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom made the recommendations to the
President.
A statement signed by Dr Jones Ofori-Atta, Board Chairman, said their
comments were also not solicited on any finding in the report to enable the
Minister to make a fair and considered recommendation.
The Committee was formed after industrial disturbances at VRA during
which the workers demanded the removal of the Chief Executive Officer, Dr
Charles Wereko-Brobby from office.
The Minister of Energy intervened and set up a review committee to
investigate the allegations made by the workers. It has since submitted its
findings.
The statement rejected the Committee's findings that "the Board
did not exercise enough control over policy-making and the activities of the
Chief Executive Officer to ensure good results and their inability to take
adequate steps to resolve the conflict at VRA".
The statement said the second charge that the Board had not taken
adequate steps to resolve the conflict at VRA that had existed during its
tenure was both "untrue and ridiculous".
"What was the Board expected to do to enforce a benign change in the
lifestyle of a 50-year-old Chief Executive Officer, when the Committee itself
concluded that the management style was the main factor that has caused the
industrial conflict between the workers and management."
The Board noted that the Volta River Development Act 1961, Act 46, gave
too much power to the Chief Executive and the Review Committee itself
recommended its immediate amendment.
"In view of this how could anybody seriously lay blame of
ineffectiveness on the Board or a charge of engagement of conflict with the
CEO, when inevitably such conflict was in relation to the respective roles of
the CEO and the Board under the Act."
The Board also rejected the accusations in the media that they had
approved huge allowances for themselves, adding that the proposal by Management
to review members' allowances for 2003 had not been approved by the Board.
"Allowances for Board Members travelling outside Ghana on official
business are based on government approved rates," the statement said.
It said the approved allowances for the Board in October 2001 were
monthly allowance of 1.4 million net for the Chairman and 1.12 million for
members. For Committee sittings, the Chairman's allowance was 1.12 million
cedis while members had ˘840,000. The transport allowance was the equivalence
of 40 litres of fuel in Accra, 80 litres for Koforidua and 160 litres for
Kumasi.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - Francis Boison, Coordinator, Ghana
Society for the Deaf, on Wednesday called for the promotion of the sign
language in Ghana for the deaf to enjoy equal rights in education and access to
information.
He said the deaf, who found themselves in courts, hospitals, police
stations and other public places were found wanting because they lacked
translators.
"The deaf in our society even suffer communication barriers
between their parents and siblings. There is unemployment and there is a
negative attitude towards the deaf," he said.
Boison said this at the launch of the Ghana Sign Language Project in
Accra. The project seeks to offer sign language training and interpreting
services to the public and private sectors in order to facilitate the rights of
all persons in Ghana to have equal access to goods and services.
He said sign language dissemination, recognition and support was very
important in the development of every nation, adding: "Deaf persons have
their own culture that cannot be destroyed."
Kwame Tay, a representative from the Ghana Education Service, who
chaired the occasion, said communication was a big problem facing the Deaf, hence
the need to promote the sign language. An interpreter of sign language assisted
at press conference.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The New Times Corporation (NTC)
has returned to profit making from an average yearly loss of two billion cedis
as a result of cost cutting and improvement in advertising revenue, Nutifafa
Kuenyehia, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) said on Wednesday.
He said consequently, the Corporation's credit worthiness had improved
greatly making the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) to remove NTC from its list of
distressed companies.
Kuenyehia was inaugurating the new Board of Directors of the NTC for a
two-year tem with Professor Kwesi Yankah of the University of Ghana as its
Chairman.
The members include Squadron Leader Justice de-Graft Ellimah,
Engineering Management Consultant, Dr. Buffer Agyeman Duah, Political
Scientist, Eddie Adiin Yansah, a Lawyer and Togbe Avudzega Soga, Traditional
Ruler.
The rest are Mrs. Genevieve H. Haruna, Chartered Accountant, Gilbert
Awinogoya, Trade Unionist, John Derby A. Arthur, Engineer and Nanabanyin Pratt,
Managing Director of NTC.
Kuenyehia however, said to enable the Corporation to achieve its set
plans, the board must urgently address the issue of re-capitalization,
acquisition of computers to complete the computerization programme and develop
effective credit control mechanism.
He said the NMC would create the right environment to insulate the
state-owned media from governmental control and private manipulation to ensure
its independence.
He said the Board had the responsibility to pursue policies that would
encourage the editorial staff and the other units to assert their independence.
Kuenyehia said the board must ensure that the staff was guided by the
principles of objectivity, fairness, good judgment and courage in the
performance of their duties. He said the NTC must increase its circulation of
all its newspapers by an average of 20 percent to improve on its profit margin.
Prof Kwesi Yankah, Chairman of the new board said it would formulate
new policies to address the problems of the corporation and promised to make
the necessary impact in order not to overburden the taxpayer.
He said they would execute their responsibilities to the best of their
ability to ensure that the NTC becomes a leading newspaper in the media. Evans Andrew
Quayson, Chairman of the immediate past board said the board set out a
development co-operation plan for the Corporation during its tenure of office
and expressed the hope that the new board would develop it.
He said it was able to turn the corporation from losses to profit
making one and urged the new board to improve on it. Nabanyin Pratt, Managing
Director of NTC said the Corporation was in the process of acquiring colour
separation facilities that would enable the newspaper to be printed in colour
before the end of the year.
He said despite the constraints the Corporation was facing, workers
would still work hard as their contribution to the development of the country.
He thanked the old board for their competence and expressed the hope that the
new would build on it.
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Ex-workers beseech Railways premises
Takoradi (Western Region) 26 June 2003 - Over a thousand retrenched
workers of the Ghana Railway Co-operation on Wednesday beseeched the
co-operation offices in Takoradi in an attempt to meet management and discuss
payment of their severance package.
Most of them who wore red arm bands were disappointed when they were
told the managing director, deputy managing director and all union executives
were attending an emergency meeting in Accra with the Sector Minister,
Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi.
The meeting was therefore postponed to Friday 27 June. Briefing the
leaders of the group Grant Biney deputy administrative and personnel manager
said the situation was unfortunate and appealed to the affected workers to
exercise restrained.
A Sekondi high court, presided over by Justice O.K. Sampson on 9 March
2001 in his judgment ordered the management of the railways to pay all the 1333
workers their severance award as contained in their collective bargaining
agreement at the current commercial bank rate and a cost of ˘4m awarded against
the Ghana Railway Cooperation.
A courts' ruling has not been complied with, compelling the affected
workers to petition the sector minister who asked the GRC management and the
concerned workers to meet and find an amicable solution to the problem.
Lawrence Oteng, Chairman of the Railway Retrenched Workers Association
said since their retrenchment in 1993, the GRC has not paid their severance
award and all attempts by the affected workers to get their rewards for the
several years of labour has proved futile.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 2003 - The Ghana Education Service (GES)
on Wednesday warned the public against responding to advertisements from
private teacher training colleges saying candidates who would respond to these
advertisements would be doing so at their own risk.
A statement issued in Accra said despite warnings to the private
teacher training colleges, some of them have started advertising for candidates
for admission in September 2003.
"The Ghana Education Service would like to emphasise that none of
the colleges has accreditation. Candidates who respond to these adverts do so
at their own risk."
The statement said students, who were qualified and were in the private
teacher training colleges would be absorbed into he government teacher training
colleges in September 2003.
It asked affected students to contact the Director, Teacher Education
Division of the GES with the originals of their result slips and certificates
in August 2003. The statement said this would assist the Teacher Education Division
to facilitate their absorption.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 June 26, 2003 - Yidana Sugri, one of two
accused persons standing trial for the murder of Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II,
Paramount Chief of Dagbon Traditional Area, on Wednesday told the Accra High
Court that he had no idea about the assassination of the Chief.
Sugri also denied conspiring with Iddrisu Gyanfo, his accomplice to
assassinate Ya-Na Andani. Sugri, who was opening his defence in the case in
which he and Gyanfo have been jointly charged with conspiracy and murder of the
Ya-Na, said he had only heard the name of Ya-Na but did not know him.
Sugri and Gyanfo have pleaded not guilty to the charge and have been
refused bail by the trial judge Justice Yaw Appau.
Sugri, who was led by his Counsel Nana Obiri Boahene, told the court
that he did not know all the prosecution witnesses in the case and denied tying
a robe on the severed arm of Ya-Na Andani and dancing with it. Sugri said on 25
to 27 March 2002, he never went out of his house at Yendi.
The accused said he heard people running helter-skelter but he did not
ask any of the people the reasons for their action. The accused stated that he
did not enquire from the people because he was afraid and his father had warned
him to stay out of trouble.
When the accused was asked whether he knew the Bolin Lana and where he
lived, Sugri replied: "I know where the Bolin Lana was residing but I have
never set eyes on him and I have never set foot in his house."
The accused denied ever mentioning in his statements to the Police that
he saw Gyanfo holding the severed head of Ya-Na. Sugri further denied ever
mentioning to the Police that he saw Gyanfo presenting the head of the Ya-Na to
Zalanko-Lana.
The accused denied that when
the head of Ya-Na was presented the Zalanko-Lana he recited some incantation on
it and a photograph was taken.
Sugri said soldiers arrested him at Tamale three months after the death
of Ya-Na while he was on a vehicle after purchasing some items. He was escorted
and handed over to the Police.
Counsel: Do you know why you were arrested?
Accused: I was told that the authorities suspected me of murdering the
chief.
Counsel: Can you identify those who interrogated you?
Accused: No.
Counsel: Do you know Charles Adablah, the investigator?
Accused: I don't know him.
Asked whether he had been ever released in connection with the case,
the accused said he was released after his arrest but re-arrested and sent to
Suyani.
During cross-examination by Anthony Gyambiby, Principal State Attorney,
the accused admitted residing at Yendi all his lifetime.
Prosecution: And all these years you do not know the late Ya-Na.
Accused: Yes.
Prosecution: Are you aware of the Damba and the Bugum festivals?
Accused: Yes, I have heard the names of the festivals, but I don't know
how they are celebrated. I don't go near durbar grounds.
When the Prosecution asked the accused person where he was arrested he
stated that he was arrested at Tamale while he was transporting goods to the
neighbouring villages. He disagreed with the Prosecution that he escaped to
Tamale.
The accused further disagreed with a suggestion that he was shown a
photograph of Iddrisu Gyanfo holding the head of the Ya-Na, which he
identified. He denied holding the severed hand of the late Ya-Na. He also
denied a suggestion that Gyanfo also held the head of the Paramount Chief.
Sitting continues on June 26.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 26 June 2003 - Many residents at 'Aboom
Wells', a suburb at Cape Coast were shocked on Tuesday when a young man
allegedly strangled his girlfriend and later hanged himself in a room at a
hotel he had lodged.
The girlfriend has been identified as Nafisatu Yamyolia Ananga, a
22-year-old level 200 student of the University of Ghana, Legon.
A source at the District Police Headquarters at Cape Coast told newsmen
that on Wednesday, one George Lamptey, 26, alias 'Joy Chuqunda', staying in
Accra, was found hanging in his room at about 0630 hours.
The source said Lamptey checked into the hotel on Monday morning at
about 1100 hours and later left for town.
It said later a girl came looking for him but she was told he had gone
out so the girl left a note for him. When Lamptey returned from town the note
was given to him, he went out again, came back at about 2000 hours and went to
his room.
The source said the following day the receptionist at the hotel, who
was on his usual rounds knocked at Lamptey's door at about 0630 hours but there
was no response and since the door was not locked, he went in and found Lamptey
hanging from the ceiling with a bed sheet tied around his neck.
The source said the hotel management reported the matter to the police
and whilst investigations were going on, the police had another information
that the body of a girl was lying in a thicket at '4th Ridge', a suburb at Cape
Coast.
When police examined the body they found that she had been strangled.
The girl's family told the police that her boyfriend came looking for her on
Monday and they identified Lamptey as the one when his picture was shown to
them.
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