Don't think of vengeance - NRC
Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nana Owusu Nsiah on
Tuesday began a series of meetings with chiefs, opinion leaders and a
cross-section of people from the Dagbon Traditional Area in Accra and Tema to
flush out potential national security threats.
The discussion was
held behind closed doors and was attended by Commanders, Commissioners and
other high-ranking Police and intelligence officers from the Police
Headquarters, Tema, Nima and other Divisions within the Accra-Tema Region.
The IGP said security
authorities world wide recognised the important role that civilians played in
effective policing, hence the need to develop and strengthen existing Police
and civilian relationship for effective crime combat and neutralising of
potential disruption of public peace.
Nana Owusu Nsiah, who
was interacting with leaders from both the Andani and Abudu Gates of the Dagbon
Traditional area living in Nima, Madina, Kokomba Market, Tema and Ashaiman,
said the Police Administration would explore all lawful avenues to maintain
peace and order without discrimination.
He said regular
interaction between the Police and the civilian public would help build
confidence, open communication channels to address grievances and offer the
public the opportunity to scrutinise and judge the Police in a constructive
way.
Nana Owusu Nsiah, who
is also a chief at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region, noted that the meeting
would be institutionalised at the national, regional, district and local levels
to ensure transparency and maintenance of public peace. The IGP commended the
media and the public for the various roles they had played in the maintenance
of peace in the country.
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Kumawu (Ashanti
Region) 19 March 2003- Barima Asumadu Sakyi II, Kumawuhene, has petitioned
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, to call Nana Abayie Ntori Nimpah II,
Kwamanghene to order by restraining him from establishing claims over parts of
the Kumawu-Beposo lands on which there had been judgements in favour of Kumawu
Stool since 1919.
He also appealed to
the Asantehene to dissolve the seven-member committee headed by Nana Oduro
Numapau II, Essumejahene, which Otumfuo Osei Tutu set up to find an amicable
settlement to the disputed boundary.
Barima Asumadu Sakyi
was addressing a press conference at Kumawu after an emergency meeting of the
Kumawu Traditional Council to deliberate on the attack on the people of Pepease
last Wednesday by the people of Kwamang in connection with a boundary dispute.
He said the timely
intervention of the Asantehene would avert a bloody clash between Kumawu and
Kwamang judging from the tension that was mounting as a result of the attack.
Giving the background of the matter, Barima Asumadu Sakyi said when Sir Francis
Fuller, the then Chief Commissioner of Ashanti, fixed a boundary between Beposo
and Kumawu stools the Kwamang stool was found not to have any boundary with any
other stool in the area since they were not entitled to land.
He said the Chief
Commissioner took the decision because the Kwamangs were settlers on Kumawu
stool lands and that the Kumawus allowed them to settle on the land. The
Kumawuhene said subsequent decision of the Court of Appeal in 1967, the Stool
Lands Boundaries Settlement Commission in 1981, Stool Lands Boundaries Appeal
Tribunal in 1994 and an appeal which Kwamang lodged against the decision of the
Appeals Tribunal but which was struck out on 21 July 1998, were all in favour
of the Kumawu stool.
He, therefore, called
on Otumfuo Osei Tutu to stop him from arrogating to himself the power to
appoint sub-chiefs in the areas under dispute, adding that the Kumawuhene has
the prerogative over the disputed area.
The Kumawuhene
declared his resolve not to accede to any course of action that sought to take
away, without any legal justification, portions of Kumawu lands in which the
allodia title rested in Kumawu stool.
Last Wednesday, the
youth of Kwamang were alleged to have invaded Pepease, a farming community and
destroyed an oil palm plantation, livestock and set some buildings on fire.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 003- Four countries- Brazil, Egypt, Mexico and Turkey - are the main
candidates to host the next World Water Forum scheduled to be held in 2006, a
statement from the World Water Forum e-mailed to GNA on Tuesday said.
"The World Water
Council has contacted countries who earlier expressed interest in hosting the
Forum and has received definite confirmations of interest from four of them --
Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Turkey," Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President of the
World Water Council and Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation
said.
"The Council
will continue discussions with these countries and others who may express
interest during the coming weeks, with a view to making a preliminary selection
at our Board meeting on June 27th in Marseille, France, and a final selection
at its General Assembly October 1," Dr. Abu-Zeid says.
The World Water
Forum, organized by the World Water Council to address the global water crisis,
is held every three years in a different country. The First World Water Forum
was held in Marrakech, Morocco, in 1997, the next in The Hague, the Netherlands
in 2000 and the Third is being held in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan, from
16-23 March.
The statement said at
the Second World Water Forum in The Hague, the Council's Board accepted a
proposal from an independent organizing committee to host the Fourth Forum in
Montreal in 2006.
It said in the
interim, the Board decided that because of the growing importance of the World
Water Forum and its associated Ministerial Conference, the government of the
host country must offer formal support.
The statement said
the Government of Canada informed the Council that they did not feel they had
sufficient time to coordinate the effort necessary to host the Forum, so that
the Council decided to consider the other proposals.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Mr Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General on Tuesday
expressed deep concern over recent developments in the Central African Republic
(CAR) and condemned the military coup that took place over the weekend.
In a release issued
in Accra by the United Nations Information Centre, Annan consequently expressed
regrets that such an act comes at a time when the Central African people and
government were embarking on an inclusive national dialogue.
He has therefore,
called for a speedy restoration of the constitutional order and for the respect
and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the civilian
population in that country.
In a related
development, Annan has also expressed his worry over the rapidly deteriorating
situation in Ituri region of DR Congo and in particular the dangerous rise in
the tensions between Rwanda and Uganda.
Annan says:
"everything must be done to ensure that further military confrontations do
not erupt in this region, as they would undermine the recent hard-won gains in
the peace process". He has also called on all concerned to immediately
establish the Ituri Pacification Commission (IPC) and work within the framework
towards a peaceful solution to the situation in Ituri.
The Secretary-General
further called on all foreign forces to withdraw from the territory of the DR
Congo, in accordance with their previous commitments, in order to pave the way
for lasting peace in the region.
Meanwhile, Annan has
strongly deplored Israel's continuing raids in the Gaza Strip. He said:
"these have already killed at least 12 people in the course of Monday and
Tuesday, including a four-year-old girl shot in the chest and a young American
peace activist run over by a bulldozer".
"The
Secretary-General is especially troubled that Israel appears to be flouting a
central tenet of international humanitarian law, which requires it to take all
possible measures to protect the civilian population during military
operations", it said.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Vice President Aliu Mahama on Tuesday, urged the media to
highlight poverty reduction and the growth of the economy, the main issues
confronting Ghanaians.
"In my view,
this constitutes the third critical and unavoidable assignment of the media in
its struggle to assert itself as an indispensable partner in the socio-economic
development of the country".
"While we
congratulate our media for the work they are doing, it will appear that our
good friends in the media have become obsessive with inter party disagreements
and politics of personalities. The critical third assignment appears not to
have caught the full attention of the media yet," he said.
Vice President Mahama
was speaking at the first "Minister of the Year" awards ceremony in
Accra, instituted by the "Spectator" weekly newspaper of the New
Times Corporation (NTC) to honour Ministers of State whose actions and initiatives
made a positive impact on the people.
Doctor Kwame Addo
Kufuor, Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Interior and Major Courage
Quarshigah Rtd, Minister of Food and Agriculture were the "Minister of the
Year 2002" and runner-up respectively at the awards, sponsored by
Checkpoint Ghana Limited, a security printing company.
Vice President Mahama
stressed the government's commitment to free expression and the media, saying,
"our government may be faulted in some areas but let it never be said that
we curtailed anybody's right to free expression".
He said even though
there were instances the government had been criticised by a section of the
media, it was committed to the building of a "new and fair Ghana".
Vice President Mahama said President John Agyekum Kufuor selected men and women
of high theoretical and practical knowledge as Ministers and noted that the
awards would spur them on to give up their best since people were watching them
from the "touchline".
The government
expected the media to scrutinize its policies objectively within the context of
the challenges of Ghana's efforts to develop, he said adding, "We are open
to constructive criticisms and suggestions from all".
Dr Addo Kufuor
received a year's free subscription of the Spectator, a television set for any
charitable organisation, 1,000 exercise books for any school of his choice and
a plague as his prize, while Maj. Quashigah received a year's free subscription
of the weekly, a plague and exercise books for any school of his choice.
Dr Kufuor expressed
gratitude for the award and commended the NTC and staff of the paper for the
initiative, which he said threw public searchlight on the work of Ministers.
The Minister of
Defence attributed his success to "solid cooperation, teamwork, swift and
timely implementation of agreed policies and the supremacy of the national
interest" and urged other public office holders to adopt his philosophy to
enable Ghana to reach the middle-income status before 2020.
Nanabanyin Pratt,
Managing Director of NTC called for investment in the media to empower them to
play their role in mobilising the people for national development. Pratt said
in spite of problems, NTC was slowly but steadily making strides and some
modest profit from an average loss of two billion cedis per annum since last
two years.
The Corporation had
rehabilitated its printing machines and invested in new pre-press equipment
with resources generated internally. "The enabling environment has been
more positive than before. Let the word therefore go out to all our friends as
well as our competitors alike, that the New Times Corporation tempered by
culture of silence, nurtured by its own history and motivated by the golden age
of business is poised and ready to unleash its creative potential unto the
market".
He said the Article
62 (5) of the 1992 Constitution placed a special obligation on the media,
especially the state owned to ensure that government was responsible and
accountable to the people, adding, "let us therefore feel free to
criticize but let us not use the freedom to criticise out of ignorance or
mischief".
Francis Assuah,
Editor of the Spectator stated that the weekly did not have a hand in deciding
the winner and said the award was based on nominations received from the public.
He said the weekly was of the opinion that the role of the media was not only
to criticise but also to acknowledge and encourage good efforts as well.
Present at the
ceremony were some Ministers and MPs, members of the diplomatic corps, Service
Commanders and some senior officers of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Inspector
General of Police, senior civil servants and heads and Editors of some media
organisations.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Jonathan Acquah, Legal Consultant of Consumer Concerns
Initiative (CCI) a Non Governmental Organisation, on Tuesday said Ghanaians
should be adequately informed on the kind of goods and services they acquire.
He said such
information would enable them to insist on their rights as consumers since they
were the ones to be affected if the quality was below standard. Speaking on
"Consumers' Rights and Responsibilities," at a seminar in Accra, he
said the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection call on governments
to develop and maintain strong consumer policy and protection and called for a
law to redress consumer grievances.
Steven Ahiawordor,
Chairman of the Legal Sub-Committee of CCI, noted that consumers were faced
with abuses in the market, adding that, "Shoddy goods, expired goods,
drugs, food items, fake information and adulterated news are some of the
injustices meted out to consumers by producers and providers of goods and
services".
Ahiawordor called for
education to enable consumers to insist on the right kind of service to correct
the situation. He said consumer protection organisations all over the world
were noted for using education as a tool for fighting injustices in the market
place.
Yaw Brobbey Mpiani,
Deputy Director General Health Administration and Support Services Division of
the Ghana Health Services, stressed the importance of patients knowing their
rights and responsibilities to insist on them.
Speaking on "The
Rights and Responsibilities of Patients as enshrined in the Patients Charter,
Ghana Health Services," he urged patients to "politely" insist
on their rights if they were abused while seeking treatment and to report any
form of maltreatment at the hands of health personnel.
Mpiani urged health providers
to respect the rights of patients and to be conscious of their socio-cultural
background, age, gender and other differences such as disabilities. The seminar
was in commemoration of the annual World Consumer Rights Day, which fell 15
March.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Dr Justina Ansah, Head of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Blood
Bank, on Tuesday, said the bank needed 100,000 units of blood annually to serve
patients in need of blood throughout the country.
She said that could
possibly be achieved if two percent of the Ghanaian population would enrol as
blood donors and donate regularly twice a year. Dr Ansah said this at this
year's launch of the Freemasons Sponsored Blood Donation Campaign in Accra.
The campaign, which
is the 11th in the series have been solely supported by the Freemasons to
recruit students to voluntarily donate blood to save lives. Dr Ansah noted that
the bank's target of having 100,000 units of blood to serve the country have
never been achieved due to the decline by donors.
She said "apathy
of the citizenry towards blood donation activities accounts for the
decline". This year's campaign, which has targeted 2,000 units of blood,
is under the theme "Donate Blood: Help Save the Lives of Women in
Childbirth".
About 1,650 Ghanaian
women die each year at childbirth due to severe anaemia and excessive bleeding
which could be avoided. The maternal mortality rate in the country on the
average is 214 deaths per 100,000 live births.
"We should
therefore, take safe Motherhood seriously and help prevent the avoidable deaths
of women who are only performing their physiological duty of bearing their
communities future generation", she added.
Dr Ansah called for
the reintroduction of the "Pledge 25 Concept" where those leaving
school would continue to donate blood at least 25 times in their life.
Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister for Education, in a speech read
for him, regretted that seven out of every ten maternal deaths was due to
either profuse bleeding, obstructed labour, unsafe abortion, hypertension and
sepsis (infection of the womb).
He, however,
entreated the public to adopt voluntary donation as a civic responsibility,
adding "this is a reliable source for the provision of safe blood to save
lives".
The Freemasons
Schools blood donation competition for 2002 was divided into the northern and
southern, secondary and tertiary schools respectively. The Bolgatanga Girls
Secondary emerged the first with 362 units of blood donation followed by Osei
Kyeretwe Secondary School in Kumasi with 254 units and Ghana Secondary School
also with 240 units.
For the tertiary, the
Bolgatanga Royal Secretarial School won with 208 units. Saint John's Grammar
Secondary School for the southern sector, won with 181 units, followed by O.L.A
Secondary School in the Volta Region with 175 units and Ebenezer Secondary
School with 149 units. A.R.S. Technical Institute at Pig Farm in Accra won with
119 units of blood. They were presented with trophies, table funs, shields and
ghetto blasters.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday expressed its
outrage at the high-handed and repressive methods being employed by the NPP's
administration to intimidate, harass and persecute its critics.
The NDC said it would
not sit down unconcerned for NPP to erode the country's democratic gains. A
statement signed Dr Josiah Aryeh, NDC General Secretary described the arrest of
Ms Dzidzo Tay by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) as another example
of the 'level of political intolerance of the Kufuor administration'.
The statement said
compared to many others, the views expressed by Ms Tay in a contribution to a
phone-in programme on Metro TV was nothing extraordinary to warrant her arrest
and interrogation.
"It is clear
that, the arrests and interrogations were carefully orchestrated by the
government's security agencies to silence critics and in the process manipulate
the private electronic media to black out voices that are critical of the NPP
government.
"It is ironic
that the clampdown on free speech is being carried out despite the repeal of
the law on criminal libel". The statement said, "Sadly, the NPP
government's blatant assault on free speech using the BNI and the Police CID
has been greeted with a disturbing silence by hitherto vocal civil society
groups and identifiable bodies".
The NDC said its
leadership was considering options to actions it would take in the face of
unjustified arrests and harassment by the government and its security
operatives.
The party urges its
supporters to remain steadfast and continue to exercise their democratic rights
as enshrined in the constitution. The NDC again has described the arrest of
Riad Hozaifeh, an associate of former President Jerry John Rawlings as a
serious indictment on the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).
The NDC said in spite
of denials by the Director of CID, David Asante-Apeatu to the contrary, it was
apparent that the arrest of Riad Hozaifeh was directly connected to the
allegations made by Kweku Baako, Managing Editor of the 'Crusading Guide' at
last week's sitting of the NRC.
"Indeed the
circumstances leading to the arrest of Riad Hozaifeh have confirmed the earlier
fears expressed by the party that the NRC would be used by the Kufuor
administration as a platform to prosecute its political agenda aimed primarily
at the NDC, which is seen as a successor to the AFRC and PNDC regimes.
"In fact, the
arrest that followed the carefully choreographed appearance of Baako at the NRC
has introduced a new and disturbing dimension to the abuse of the
reconciliation process", the statement added.
The NDC said the
statement issued by Asante-Apeatu on the arrest of Riad Hozaifeh was meant to
throw dust in the eyes of the public and cover up the conspiracy involving the
NRC and the NPP security apparatus.
The party urged the
Director of Police CID to desist from making statements that undermined the
credibility and impartiality of the Police Service. The statement said about a
fortnight ago, Asante-Apeatu allegedly made some prejudicial statements in a
case involving Nana Alex Asamoah, Western Regional Chairman of the NDC and
three others, which was before an Accra Circuit Court.
It said the lawyers
of Nana Asamoah and the Korle-Bu Mobil Filling Station had refuted the
statements. The NDC said the arrest of Mr Riad Hozaifeh was part of a sinister
plot and that the party was closely monitoring developments.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- The Supreme Court will on Wednesday, 2 April give its ruling in
an appeal brought before it by Mallam Ali Yusif Isa, former Minister of Youth
and Sports, against his conviction and sentence.
The five-member panel
presided over by Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Chief Justice, announced the date
at the court's sitting on Tuesday. Not satisfied with the Court of Appeal's
ruling of 23 October 2001, upholding the judgement of a Fast Track, which
jailed his client, Ambrose Dery, counsel for Mallam Isah late last year,
brought the application before the Supreme Court.
His grounds for the
appeal are that his client's conviction for stealing and fraudulently causing
financial loss to the State, cannot be supported in law, having regard to the
evidence adduced by the trial court.
It is counsel's
submission that the trial judge erred in law when he held that there was direct
evidence that his client dishonestly appropriated the 46,000 dollars and
fraudulently caused financial loss to the state when in fact, there was no
direct evidence whatsoever to that effect.
Counsel further
submitted that the trial judge also erred when he decided that circumstantial
evidence adduced by the prosecution, led irresistibly to his client's guilt,
and that the said evidence was not compatible with any other rational
inference, although there was copious evidence to support rational inferences.
According to counsel,
it was also wrong for the trial judge to have held that his client's ex-body
guard who is a serving police officer, and who was present at his client's
office on 23 February 2001 when he left for Sudan, was not a vital witness in
the case.
Dery also submitted
that the trial judge further erred when he held that the evidence of two
prosecution witnesses, namely, Alex Asante and Wolarnyo Agrah, protocol officer
and former general secretary of the Ghana Football Association (GFA)
respectively, were credible, when in actual fact, their evidence raised several
doubts.
Counsel concluded
that it was wrong on the part of the trial judge to have averred that the
prosecution proved its case or discharged its burden of proof beyond all
reasonable doubts, when there were several doubts raised in the prosecution's
evidence.
The other members of
the panel were Justice George Kingsley Acquah, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo,
Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh and Dr Justice Seth Twum. On 20 July 2001, an Accra
Fast Track Court presided over by Justice Julius Ansah, Appeal Court Judge with
an additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, convicted Mallam Isa on two
counts of stealing and fraudulently causing financial loss to the State.
He was found guilty
of stealing 46,000 dollars meant as an imprest and payment of bonuses of
members of the Senior National Team, the Black Stars, during a World Cup
qualifying match in Sudan on 25 February 2001.
Justice Ansah
accordingly sentenced Mallam Isa to four years imprisonment on each of the two
counts, adding that both sentences were to run concurrently. Additionally, he
was fined 10 million cedis or in default 12 months imprisonment.
The court further
ordered the dismissed Youth and Sports Minister to refund the 46,000 dollars to
the State within one month, or serve an additional two-year jail term. When the
case was called today, Mallam Isa was not in court, and Chief Officer Augustine
Arthur, Court Warrant Officer (CWO) informed the panel that the appellant was
indisposed.
CWO Arthur said
Mallam Isa reported at the Government Hospital at Nsawam for medical treatment
where he was referred to the Police Hospital to see a specialist. On Friday, 8
August 2001, a Special Court of Appeal, dismissed an application for bail for
the jailed ex-Minister of Youth and Sports pending the determination of an
appeal filed against his conviction and sentence by his counsel, Ambrose Dery.
Again, on Tuesday,
October 23 the same year, the Court of Appeal dismissed another petition
against Mallam Isa's conviction and sentence filed on his behalf by his
counsel.
The three-member
panel presided over by Justice Omari Sasu with Mrs Justice Sophia Adinyira and
Justice Sule Gbadegbe as members, contended that the "convict's grounds of
appeal failed and could not be entertained."
The court, however,
quashed an order by the Fast Track Court that compelled the former Youth and
Sports Minister to serve additional two years in prison if he failed to refund
the 46,000 dollars he stole. This order, in the court's view, contravened the
provisions of Section Seven (b) of the Criminal Code.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Dr Richard Anane, Minister of Roads and Transport on Wednesday
said the Accra-Kumasi, Accra-Cape-Coast and the Tema-Aflao roads, would be made
dual carriage routes to reduce the high rate of accidents and to improve
transit times on them.
The Minister said
this when he took his turn in the meet the press series and said negotiations
were far advanced with a private concessionaire for the project. Dr Anane said
other roads like the Tamale-Yendi, Axim Junction-Tarkwa, and Kumasi-Techiman
would be tarred.
The first phase of
the projects would be launched in April, this year as part of a regional roads
programme, He mentioned the construction of 19 bridges in the Central and
Western regions as some of the achievements of the Ministry.
The Minister said as
part of the road development programme there would be routine maintenance of
the roads. On mass transportation programme, Dr Anane said thirty busses would
be delivered at the end of this month, of which 10 had already arrived at the
port.
Sekondi-Takoradi, he
said, was the next city to benefit from the mass transport system from April,
this year. The Minister urged the Ministry of Finance, Parliament and various
contractors and consultants to continue with their good supportive work. He
appealed to Ghanaians to help achieve the challenge of making the country the
most easily accessible nation within the sub-region.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is collaborating with
other public and private institutions to develop Airport City Project (ACP)
which is a one-stop complex to support its activities as well as complement the
government's gateway programme.
The project when
completed will have facilities for hotels, multi-storey car parks, office
complex, shopping malls, a hospital and market apartments. Dr Richard Anane,
Minister of Roads and Transport said this when he met the press on Tuesday in
Accra.
He said the Kotoka
International Airport (KIA) was being fitted with requisite security,
information and customer friendly facilities such as lounge bars and
aerobridges to make the Airport a modern one that befits the nation.
He said there was
also an increase in parking capacity for cargo aircraft to boost export of
non-traditional and high value products. He said the GCAA has also extended the
runway by 416 metres at the cost of 20.18 million dollars to allow non-stop
long haul flight by wide-bodied aircraft from Accra.
Dr Anane said GCAA
has been able to improve upon customer delivery at the Kotoka International Airport
(KIA) by the expansion of the departure check-in and waiting lounge at the cost
of 24.63 million cedis.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- Ex-Warrant Officer Class One Joseph Kwabena Adjei Boadi, a
former member of the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was
on Tuesday mentioned at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) hearing,
to have sprayed bullets and killed five soldiers who were in detention at the
Border Guards Headquarters on June 23 1983.
Counsel for Adjei
Boadi, Agyare Koi Larbi, however, denied the accusation, saying the five whom,
he described as dissidents trying to overthrow the PNDC, died during an
exchange of fire between them and troops loyal to the government under the
command of Adjei Boadi.
The witness, Fred
Gyimah, a farmer resident at Adenta in Accra, was a son of the late Samuel Kofi
Gyimah, one of the five, said to have been shot by Adjei Boadi. Fred told the
Commission that, his father, a former Military Intelligence Officer, after
hearing a radio announcement from the PNDC government for all former military
intelligence officers to report, he was consequently detained for three months
at the Base Workshop Guardsroom and then transferred to the Nsawam Prisons.
He said on 19 June
1983, after having stayed in Nsawam Prison for more than a year, one Giwa
staged a military coup and declared a jailbreak. Fred said his father, Kofi
Gyimah, Sgt Atta and three other soldiers fled to Dormaa Ahenkro where they
slept in Sgt Atta's house to continue their flight into exile in Cote d'Ivoire
the next day.
The following day,
they were refused entry into Cote d'Ivoire at the border and they were arrested
and sent back to the Border Guard Headquarters, and detained in the guardroom.
Shortly, his mother
heard the repatriation of Kofi and his colleagues and she sent them food on 21
June1983. Just as the woman had left and the detainees were having their meals,
Adjei Boadi arrived, asked of the people brought from Dormaa Ahenkro, why they
were fleeing, and sprayed the bullets on them and killed them, Fred said the
gateman told his mother who in turn told him.
According to Fred,
his mother who died eight years later, upon hearing of the tragedy of his
father went to the Border Guard Headquarters and saw a pool of blood at where
his father and others were supposed to have been shot dead.
He said the Officer
Commanding the Achiase Jungle Warfare gave instructions to his grandparents,
who were staying at Achiase not to organize any funeral for their son. Fred
stated that after almost 20 years, the family was yet to organise a funeral for
his father. He demanded to know where the Military had kept the body since
then.
He attributed his
mother's death to excessive thinking after the father's death, adding that
since the death of his mother, he had to take care of his five siblings with
great difficulty. Their education, as well as learning a trade was a problem
for him.
Fred indicated the
plight of the family had been a guarded secret for almost the 20 years and said
he had only voiced it out because of the establishment of the Commission.
Members of the Commission unanimously expressed their sympathy to him and his
siblings over the loss of both parents.
Gilbert Victor Kudjo
Baku, formerly of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), complained of torture
and wrongful dismissal from the service and denied his benefits from January
1981. Baku of Leklebi Dafor in the Volta Region said he was dismissed after being
framed up of having misappropriated funds.
John Jacob Atagba of
Anloga, a former cigarette distributor, prayed the Commission for the return of
his vehicle that was seized after being framed up for not paying his income and
other taxes.
GRi.../
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday sent a message of
condolence to the government and people of Serbia in respect of the
assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister, Mr Zoram Djindjic.
Unknown assassins
assassinated Djindjic last Wednesday in Belgrade. A release issued in Accra by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Kufuor said: "On behalf of the
government and people of Ghana, and on my own behalf, I wish to express to the
government and people of the Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, and in
particular to the bereaved family, our deepest condolences and heartfelt
sympathies".
GRi.../
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Accra (Greater Accra)
19 March 2003- The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) on Tuesday
registered its gratefulness to a witness who indicated that he had dropped his
intention to let his children join the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to avenge the
brutalities he suffered from the hands of the Military after the 31 December
1981 revolution.
"The good people
of this land join me to say thank you for your decision", Uborr Dalafu
Labal II, a member of the Commission told Enock Anim Mpare, the witness.
Commissioner Dalafu added that it was necessary to remove any bitterness,
hatred and anger that he might have against the Military, for it would only
perpetuate the cycle of disunity and plunge the country into chaos.
Mpare had earlier
told the Commission that he had developed a strong aversion to soldiers, and
any sight of them put him off, and he has vowed that his children would join
the military to retaliate his painful losses, including the loss of his
vehicle, transport business, loss of his two children and put in extreme poverty.
Just after he got
into the witness seat, Mpare broke into tears. Some of the people in the public
gallery began murmuring "sei sei yi ara?" meaning "just
now?" Mpare said after resigning from the then Cocoa Marketing Board
(CMB), he got into a business of buying from Ghana and selling in Nigeria.
It was then that he
struck an acquaintance with one Moses Olatoji, a Nigerian who assisted him to
buy a Toyota bus which he registered with a foreign number and used it to run
transport from Ghana to Nigeria.
Mpare said one day
after the 31 December 1981 revolution, after returning from a trip to Nigeria,
he was driving the wife to the market, when a group of five soldiers stopped
the bus as he was about to enter the Central Market at Koforidua.
Mpare said the
soldiers asked him where he was going and after replying, they remarked that
while they were struggling he rather was driving to the market. He said the
soldiers told him that one Nkwantabisa had ordered them to bring the vehicle,
and added that the soldiers did not agree to sit in the bus for him to send
them to the one requesting for the bus.
He said he refused to
give them the vehicle and this resulted in a scuffle, during which one soldier
gave him a slap. "The soldiers got down and beat me to the extent that I
felt very weak. My wife shouted for help, but no one came to help for fear of
Nkwatabisa. All that I found was that I was later in hospital. I lost my
teeth."
Mpare said he was
detained for a day in the hospital and after he was discharged, he went to
Nkwantabisa's office to ask him of his vehicle, but he (Nkawantabisa) ordered
him out of his office.
After fruitless
efforts to get his bus back, Mpare said he gave up. He said life became very
difficult for him. He and the wife occasionally sold clothes to make ends meet,
and later left for Nigeria with their three children but unfortunately, just
after three months, two of their children contracted some disease and died one
after the other.
They sold their
personal belongings and finally returned to Ghana. Mpare said during a visit to
the St. Joseph Hospital, he learnt from Dr Nartey of the Hospital that the
beating had affected the main 'vein and had consequently poisoned his blood'.
He has also developed
a lump in his neck, and visited the Swan Clinic where he was referred to the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which recommended surgery of his neck. Mpare said
he had avoided the surgery because a lady doctor told her it would be fatal.
He pleaded with the
Commission to consider his plight and give him appropriate reparation. Mpare
said he did not petition any organisation because he thought the then military
government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) would not help
him.
When Commissioner
Labal reminded Mpare that Ghana entered constitutional rule in 1993, and that
he could have petitioned the government, Mpare remarked that the National
Democratic Congress (NDC), the constitutional government that came into power
after in 1993 was an offshoot of the PNDC he, therefore, did not expect that
that government would consider the seizure of his bus.
GRi.../
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