GRi Press Review 03 - 03 - 2003
Parties ready
for Wulensi polls
Accra
(Greater Accra) 03 March 2003 - Nervous Telenor
International officials in Norway have summoned their representatives in Accra
to Oslo to explain why the company should continue honouring the Management
Service Contract under which the Norwegian firm is being paid twice the wages
of the entire 3,900 Ghanaian workforce to manage Ghana Telecom (GT).
Under
the contractual agreement, the seven management personnel from
Public
Agenda can
report authoritatively that worried top officials of the mother company in
A
crisis meeting was called in
As
at Friday, the paper learned that Oystein Bjorge, the Norwegian Managing Director of GT has also
flown to
Meanwhile,
a number of Norwegian journalists have inundated The Public Agenda
e-mail address with requests for information on the knotty points in the Telenor deal. The Agenda has learned that while the heat is
yet to abate on the Telenor deal, Telekom
Malaysia (TM) are also applying pressure to reap maximum benefit from the 30
per cent investment in GT.
Representatives
of the Malaysian company scheduled to meet with other board members of GT in
Close
observers in the telecommunication industry are interpreting this to mean that
TM are more interested in pressing their claims before the International
Arbitration Court in London where they are seeking $300m for their 30 per cent
share than to fly to Accra for a meeting that would not yield any positive
results, from their point of view.
Apart
from the $300m TM are also demanding a reimbursement of $50m allegedly paid to
the government of the National Democratic Congress in 2000 for a further 15 per
cent share to bring their total investment in GT to 45 per cent though the
money was paid, the deal could not go through. TM are
also demanding an outstanding $7.5m for managing GT from 1997 to April 2002. – Public
Agenda
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Sunyani
(Brong Ahafo Region)
The
unfortunate incident has created a big vacuum in the proceedings of the court with
litigants agitating to have their cases heard without further delay. Although
the book had gone missing for about three years, the loss came to light only
last year when a High Court judge, Justice Baffoe Bonnie, then quite new in
Sunyani, called a case involving “Opanin Kwabena Gyau and 12 others versus Opanin
Kwabena Nsowaah and three others,” which had reached
its peak.
A
son of Opanin Nsowaah was
said to have petitioned the Chief Justice over the delay in continuing with the
case, prompting Justice Baffoe Bonnie to call up the case contained in the
book, titled Volume 28. A former deputy chief Registrar, C.K. Buor was questioned by the judge but he mentioned the
senior typist, F.K. Mensah, who confirmed in an open court that, the book could
not be found.
When
The Ghanaian Times contacted the new Deputy Chief Registrar, Joe Onyina Antwi, he confirmed the
incident but could not through any light on it as he had just taken over from
the former deputy Registrar.
For
his part, Mr Mensah admitted that the loss of the book had not only halted
proceedings of over 100 cases, but had also created a big vacuum at the court.
According to him, the case in question was about a licensed surveyor, S.W.K
Osei, who made a Will but his brother, Opanin Gyau, caveated and filed a suit
with himself as plaintiff.
The
case saw many adjournments until it was detected that an evidence of a witness
of the plaintiff was omitted when hearing had reached its zenith. He said that
when was typed, the entire record book was nowhere to
be found.
Meanwhile,
the case is still pending and has been adjourned to 19 May. The Judicial
Service says it is leaving no stone unturned to unravel the circumstances that
led to the missing of the book and bring whosoever is behind the plot to book.
– The
Ghanaian Times
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Tema
(Greater Accra)
Several
people, eager to travel outside in search of “the golden fleece” are reported
to have fallen victim to the fraudulent group. Felix Nartey
and Adamu, also known as Adams, believed to be the
masterminds behind the deal, are on the run.
Offering
alluring promises of securing lucrative jobs for clients in
A
statement issued by the police in
The
statement warned the public to stop any further transactions with the company.
It further requested members of the public who had paid monies or given their
passports to the said company, to contact the Police Public Relations. – The
Ghanaian Times
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For
the past few days, workers of the plantation, Volta River Estates Limited
(VREL) which exports one of the best fair trade bananas to the European market have
locked their management because of inability to pay off all its workers, who
were laid off after the rainstorm.
Sources
close to the management indicate that confidence would be returning to the
plantation and profitability would be seen if financial assistance of ¢700m
from the Agricultural Development Bank is received on time. The bank has
already provided a loan of nearly ¢300m.
The
Volta River Estates needs $1.3m to return to profitability. The sources said
the first batch of organic banana would be ready before the end of this year
adding that this would enhance the viability of the plantation.
However,
280 workers who have been laid off are yet to be resettled. The source thanked
the government for its intervention in the aftermath of the storm and appealed
for a quick resolution of the financial issues to enable peace to be returned
to the Asuogyaman District.
Meanwhile,
the management has assured laid off workers that
arrangements are being made to pay them off tomorrow (Tuesday). – The
Ghanaian Times
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 03 March 2003 - Jude Bucknor,
chairman of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) council has indicated that for the
‘golden age of business’ to be achieved there should be recognition that the
success of the private sector in attracting capital through the financial
markets is key.
Bucknor said because most sub-Saharan African countries have not been able to
do this, only 3 per cent of all long term private capital flows to developing
countries have been attracted into
“The
GSE’s primary goal therefore is to create an
environment that encourages domestic capital formation as the driving force for
He
said for a capital market to stand firmly, there should be a robust stock
market that reflects the size and growth potential of the economy where
equities are actively issued, traded, priced and settled.
Secondly,
he said, there should be in place a fixed income market populated with
securities issued by governments, government agencies, corporations and
municipalities seeking access to debt funding of various maturities ranging
from anywhere from one month to “at least 5 years.”
He
said currently, the Ghanaian capital market structure comprises the GSE which
has 25 listed equities. “The GSE’s market
capitalisation stands at around ¢6.4 trillion, which is small by international
standards,” he said.
He
reflected that the GSE continued to operate a manual trading and settlement system,
which limited its ability to handle large trading volumes. Factors such as this
limit the expansion of the capital market. – High Street Journal
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A
statement issued by the NRP and signed by its General Secretary, Kyeretwie Opoku, disclosed that
the theme of the congress will be, “Building an Activist Party.” Highlights of
the congress will include the presentation of the General Secretary’s report
and the subsequent deliberations and drawing of conclusion on it by the
delegates.
Others
are the discussion of the national situation, the state of the Reform party,
the formulation of an organisation development programme and the state of the
progressive community and the issues of mergers and alliances.
The
congress will begin with the address of the National Chairman and end with the
adoption of a resolution by the delegates. – Daily Graphic
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Bimbilla
(Upper East Region)
According
to the Namumba District electoral officer, Mensah Tegah, his outfit has received election materials for all
the 65 polling stations in the constituency. There are about 28,721 eligible
voters in the area. Tegah gave the assurance that
everything possible will be done to ensure free and fair elections at all the
polling stations.
In
this regard, police and military officers have been stationed in the area to
maintain law and order to facilitate the smooth conduct of the polls. The male
dominance in the political culture of the country has again manifested in the
filing of nominations as none of the contesting parties has put a female up for
the post.
The
contestants are John Sadaan Njigur,
48, a teacher, for NDC; Wumbei K. Karimu,
47, an educationist, for NPP; Mumuni Dawuda, 27, a teacher for DPP; and Okpanul
D. Niwumbei, 33, a social worker, for the PNC. The
rest are Inusah Natogmah,
30, a teacher, for Egle Party, Alhaji Musah Ziblim, 46, a businessman,
and Ogah Magan Peter, 35, a
teacher, both independent candidates. The CPP gas decided not to contest in the
election.
The
Wulensi seat became vacant following the Supreme
Court majority decision to the effect that Samuel Nyimakan,
former MP for the area was not qualified to stand as a candidate for the
election to Parliament in the constituency.
Nyimakan’s review application against the court’s ruling on 15 January this year
that it had no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal in an election case was
subsequently dismissed.
Meanwhile,
the hitherto quiet town of
The
large number of party functionaries, who have pitched their camps in the area
for more than a week now in their frantic efforts to capture the seat,
indicates the importance of the seat to all the parties.
Indeed,
all of them have the majority of their executive members firmly on the ground.
Some former and present ministers of state, members of Parliament, district
chief executives and staunch party followers have all joined in the campaign.
It
is alleged that some of the parties are using money, cloths bicycles and other
items, including food, to lure the unsuspecting voters to vote for their
candidates. Even though some of the parties are playing the ethnic card, there
is no tension, as they seem to be addressing issues rather than whipping up
sentiments. The Nanumbas and the Konkonbas are the
two major ethnic groups in the constituency.
According
to the national youth organiser of the NPP, Mustapha Ahmed, the party is “going
to win because of our track record and the numerous development projects that
have been put in place in the area since the NPP government assumed power.” – Daily
Graphic
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 03 March 2003 - The Ghanaian Chronicle has gathered that in
less than one month since the installation of systems by the new management at
Ghana Telecom, revenue has multiplied six fold and the leakage that was costing
government billions of cedis every week has drastically reduced.
The
unprecedented positive swing of the earnings ratio appears to confirm Chronicle
earlier reports of questionable practices in the sector.
What
was not discussed, as the core issue during the recent controversial and
frenzied media reports over Ghana Telecom-Telenor was
the issue of the source of Telecom’s failure to control losses and return
meaningful returns to the government and the taxpayer.
But
today (Monday), as the telecom industry examine the sector at the controversial
M Plaza (hotel) in Accra, one issue that is likely to come up is called the
‘Bypass’ operation and the enormous revenue that it generates.
However
rather than Ghana Telecom or Government coffers, the phenomenon of the ‘bypass’
Telecom’s operation has been benefiting private pockets instead of government
via Ghana Telecom.
For
example, it has emerged that one operator alone, the loudest in the industry,
Dr Nii Narku Quaynor, Chief Executive of Network Computer Systems,
Network Herald, and a host of other companies possesses as many as 800
telephone lines from Ghana Telecom when most businesses including The
Chronicle are having problems getting more than two telephone lines in
certain parts of Accra. (Quaynor is a part owner of
Ghana Telecom, has indecent advantages through his work and association at GNPC
which owns Westel,etc). Dr. Quaynor has an additional 60 telephone lines from Westel.
It
has been established that forces in the Telecom industry who are most likely to
be affected by Telenor’s management system have been
loudest in kicking against Telenor which beat six
other companies in a competitive bidding process last year.
Inquiries
through sources at the Bureau of National Investigations have confirmed that
there is a recognition of the phenomenon of
high-technology in short-changing the system to the detriment of the national
interest. The legal challenges are still unclear however.
How
the technological short-changing blossomed under the previous government which
pursued the business of Telekom Malaysia, continued
even under the second half of the Rawlings administration with the installation
of Hon. John Mahama as Minister of Communications during which a few telecom
operators like TinAfa were accosted by the National
Communications Authority (NCA) and had their satellites and technological
gizmos seized has again become a subject of curiosity and high level
examination.
The
full extent of Dr. Quaynor’s stranglehold and
continuing role is a baffling development that appears to raise suspicion that
top men in Government, including possibly, the Minister of Communications Hon.
Felix Owusu Adjepong himself may be complicit. He has
not done anything to right the wrong and Chronicle is dusting up for a
showdown.
There
is an obscene amount of foreign exchange to be made in this ‘invisible’
high-tech ‘fraud’ and the speculation is that maybe too many people are being
attracted. An industry player explained the way some Internet Service Providers
operate though the telephone bypass system.
The
‘bypass’ market route operators like NCS typically have their networks set up so
that they do not go through the traditional Ghana telecom infrastructure.
In
a typical arrangement calls made from say united States of America are sent via
satellites operated by private telecom operators in the US to a landing point
in Ghana operated by Ghana Telecom which is then expected to transmit the call
to its final destination in KorleBu or Takoradi and
be paid in dollars for that service. This US based company then pays GhanaTel an amount based upon the agreed tariffs between
the countries.
In
a ‘bypass’ arrangement however, the US based company will send their traffic to
a partner, like NCS (Dr. Narku Quaynor)
who has satellites. In his case his satellite is mounted right opposite the
head office of BNI in
The
international call from
Ultimately,
the Ghana Government and Ghana Telecom would be the only ones that will be
suffering the financial loss. NCS or operators like them who may have such
arrangement plus the requisite infrastructure would be enriching themselves
instead. They will split the dollars r pounds between them and the overseas
partners after paying for the cedi local rates to GT.
According
to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as much as 50% of a
country’s stated incoming traffic may be attributed to these types of ‘bypass’
operators. The only way out for a country like
Chronicle
holds a database of the players in the Telecom saga obtained through patient
compilation and monitoring, and intelligence evaluations over the years
complete with official Serious Fraud Office documentation obtained when the
only genuine man ever to head the SFO Dominic DeGraft
Aidoo became the only legally and constitutionally
appointed Acting Executive Secretary of the SFO.
Names
like Commander P.G. Griffiths, Mavis Sintim Misah (until recently Mavis Ampah)
a US trained/former World Bank consultant at the Ministry of Communications
during the Rawlings administration (now operating from South Africa) and Dr Quaynor are some of the many names that may help shed light
on the chaotic porous environment that has dogged the telecom sector over the
years.
The
authorities have not regularized Dr Quaynor’s brazen
conflict of interest situation. According to the experts because of the immense
financial benefits ‘it is difficult to regulate the telecoms due to the large
economic incentives given to all the links in the chain’.
Dr Quaynor was not only a consultant based in the office of Tsatsu Tsikata’s GNPC, he benefited through the allocation
of GNPC properties which he is alleged to have bought. He benefited from GNPC’s ownership of Westel when Tsatsu put his ‘now’ brother –in-law Dr. Cobbah (senior brother of Esther Cobbah
nee Baah Boakye) as the defacto chief executive of Westel.
He obtained 60 telephone lines when most businesses could not get even one line
from Westel too.
Then
the coup de grace: Narku Quaynor
owns Ghana Telecom by virtue of him partnering with Telekom
He
owns an astonishing 800 telephone lines! Game keeper, poacher and consumer all
rolled into one. He owns Network Herald newspaper too which was noisiest in the
Telecom-Telenor debate. Could it be that he was
likely to lose out when the holes are plugged as Telenor
has already started to do, and reaping the rewards for the taxpayer.
(The
Ghanaian Chronicle has more details that is holding for now like who was
playing which role even within Government and the use of a press officer of the
NDC, and a Ghana Telecom executive in media exploitation and manipulation for
an angle.)
Dr Quaynor is expected to play a role at the ITU conference
now taking place at the controversial M-Plaza hotel. But questions in the telecom, and the obvious lack of action by the authorities
in the NPP government is raising concern.
How
could Danny Ofori-Atta already indicted by SFO report also walk tall and have
his questionable rural telephony business returned to him?.
His cousin, Nana Akufo-Addo, is now the
Attorney-General and only he can order action into this near bankrupt schemer
who has been in and out of police hands like the most celebrated client of the Akufo-Addo Prempeh and Co chambers- Nana Anim Addo, the ultimate gold con
man.? Akufo-Addo is said to have formally
disconnected from his chambers, but questions simply do not go away.
Anim Addo’s whose antics have shamed
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Tema
(Greater Accra)
The
government of
In1958,
the government was compelled to forcibly move residents of Tema to a new
resettlement at Manhean (New Town), while new
communities developed. History has it that apart from Ga
Mashie, the people of other Ga states, such as Tema, Nungua, Teshie, Labadi and Osu, arrived in this country
differently.
The
chiefs from the Ga states used to swear oaths of
alliance among themselves in times of war to ward off external aggression,
notably from the
Lt-Gen.
J. A. Ankrah, who hailed from
Documents
available show that prior to the 1966 coup, Tema was among a number of
paramount states that constituted the then Eastern Regional House of Chiefs,
headquartered at Dodowa in the Shai
Traditional Area. It was learnt that the chief of Tema, Nii
Oninku died in 1979.
Two
ex-members of the traditional council who for unexplained reasons were destooled, Shippi Adjetey Naawu and chief fisherman Adjei Tsogmer,
reportedly capitalised on the absence of a chief and from one of the royal
families, Koklotse-We, picked Samuel Adjetey Kraku and confined him and after a number of days rushed
him to swear an oath of allegiance to the Ga Mantse in Accra under the stool name Nii
Adjetey Krakue III.
He
was then given a police escort to Tema Manhean where
tension was mounting as a result of the alleged illegal installation. The
funeral of the late chief remained unperformed. He was gazetted and admitted
into the Greater Accra House of Chiefs at Dodowa but
soon trouble began.
The
Tema Kingmakers instituted action to look into how Nii
Adjetey Krakue III was enstooled.
Investigations led to his name being expunged from the Registrar of Chiefs.
This happened in the 1980s. In 1992, one Adjetey, also from the same Koklotse-We, but from one of the two sub-gates, aligned to
the royal clan, was installed chief of Tema to succeed the late Nii Oninku under the stool name Nii Adjei Kraku II.
The
Ga Mantse, Nii Amugi II, had sometime in the
90s announced the re-instatement of all demoted Ga
state stools to their former paramountcy status.
There
had been a number of bloody clashes between supporters of the two factions
every year during ‘Kpledzoo’ and ‘Homowo’
festivities, as they both claim to be chiefs of Tema. About four years ago,
journalists who attended a press conference organized by Nii
Adjetey were attacked by supporters of the other faction.
Two
years ago, police had to shield him from being lynched by an angry crowd when
he went to sprinkle ‘Kpekple’ (Ga
traditional food) during the annual ‘Homowo’
festival. During the celebration of Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA)
centenary anniversary, the two factions again clashed at the Children’s Park.
Just last year a group of persons besieged the
Fortunately,
the attacking group met an empty palace, but one could imagine the result if
there were people there. This reporter’s investigations revealed that the Ga Traditional Council has given recognition to Nii Adjetey Krakue III as chief
of Tema and invites him to their functions as such, whereas the Tema Municipal
Assembly (TMA) and other bodies recognize Nii Adjei Kraku II as chief of Tema.
Information
gathered has it that, because of this twenty-one year old chieftaincy dispute,
annuity to be paid to the Tema Traditional Council (TTC), being the council’s
money for part of the 63 square miles acquired for the construction of the port
and industrial city, cannot be released.
The
Ga-Dangme Council is reported to have initiated move
to settle the protracted chieftaincy dispute between an uncle and a nephew. At
least, 10 sittings were recorded and elders from the two sides testified and
just as all was heading to an amicable end, the Adjetey Krakue
III faction reportedly failed to honour the subsequent invitations, creating a
stalemate.
In
the next two months, the traditional area will be celebrating its annual ‘Kpledzoo’ festival and the possibility of a clash cannot be
overruled. Government as at the end of last year committed ¢60bn into the
Dagbon crisis by way of intensifying security in the area and the Wuaku Commission that sat on the case.
Media
reports, last week, had it that a meeting by members of one of the Dagbon
groups at Tema saw platoons of the police there to avoid any clash. It is a
truism that government does not interfere in chieftaincy matters; all the same,
it is government’s responsibility to be proactive in matters that are likely to
endanger the relative peace we are enjoying.
Apart
from the Tema issue, which is as deadly as a landmine, investigations revealed
equally simmering troubles at other spots just at arm’s reach from the seat of
government. Nungua, Manya-Krobo,
Effutu, Akim Bosome, New Juaben, Akwamu are just a few among the chieftaincy disputed areas
which nobody seems to be bothered about but are equally volatile, like Dagbon.
A
cross-section of people this reporter spoke to were of the opinion that the
regional and national houses of chiefs should be faster at handling most of
these explosive disputes by ensuring that the rightful people are installed as
chiefs. – The Ghanaian Chronicle
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