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Establish the
whereabouts of Saakodee Addo
Tema (Greater Accra) 27 March 2003- The L'air Liquide Ghana Limited
(LLGL) has appealed to the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and the Factory
Inspectorate Division to step up inspection of establishments and mechanical
shops to ensure that safety measures are put in place in the use of Liquefied
Petroleum Gas (LPG) to prevent industrial accidents.
The call followed the spate of accidents resulting from gas explosion in
some mechanical shops.
George Sefah-Boateng, Sales/Marketing Director of the LLGL was speaking
at a day's seminar organised by the company for 30 welders drawn from various
establishments at Tema on Tuesday.
The seminar, which was under the theme "Safety, no
compromise", was aimed at educating the participants on the proper use of
LPG and other explosives. The seminar forms part of annual activities planned
by the LLGL to educate the public on the handling of explosives. Alfred
Nyarko-Dokyi, National Marketing Manager of the LLGL, urged the public to learn
the correct handling of gas.
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Besides, some MDAs do not even employ the services of professional and
competent PR Practitioners but rely on the services of Journalists and media
organizations to publicise and promote their work. But these come no near to
what the PR professional does.
These summed up the sentiments of participants on the final day of the
16th Conference of the Federation of African Public Relations Associations
(FAPRA), which was under the theme: "Investment, Economic Development and
Public Relations".
Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Monday opened the Conference, the
third to be organised in
The participants challenged governments in
Presenting a paper on: "Investment, Economic Development and Public
Relations - Challenges and Prospects" Mrs Joyce Wereko-Brobby, Chief
Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, said though Africa was riddled with
many problems, it must be perceived from the perspective of the great potentials
it had and not from the negative impressions it had become infamous for.
She said as PR practitioners they must know what must be compromised and
what must not. This, she said, would enable them to correct the misconceptions
and misunderstandings of the governments and institutions they worked for.
They could also be in the position to interpret the actions and motives
of others in such a way as to present African nations as entities with laws,
practices, ethical values and skills. Mrs Wereko-Brobby said as PR
practitioners they must be guided by the basic tenets of telling the truth in
their quest to promote or defend whatever government or corporate organisation
they belonged to.
"Investors in
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Tsikata's case adjourned to Friday.
Accra (Greater Accra) 27 March 2003- An Accra Fast Track Court (FTC) on
Wednesday adjourned proceedings in the case involving Tsatsu Tsikata, former
Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), to Friday
28 March following a power failure at the court.
Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, Appeal Court Judge with an additional
responsibility as a High Court Judge, announced the adjournment because the
electronic recordings gadgets at the court could not function.
"Due to the power failure, we have to adjourn the case.... Both the
Prosecution and the Defence teams would have to bear with the situation."
Mrs Justice Abban at the court's last sitting adjourned the case to Wednesday
to enable her to rule on a submission of "no case" by counsel for
Tsikata, which the Prosecution replied.
The former Chief Executive is standing trial for causing financial loss
to the state. He is alleged to have caused the loss of 2.3 billion cedis to the
state during his term of office. Tsikata is charged with four counts of
wilfully causing financial loss to the state and intentionally misapplying
public property. He has denied the charges and the court, has admitted him to a
700 million-cedis self-recognisance bail.
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It said the 1992 constitution ensured the equal right to education for
all as well as the accessibility of higher education to all on the basis of
capacity by every appropriate means and in particular by progressive
introduction of free education.
Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, President of the NUGS, said this at a press
conference on Wednesday in
The NUGS president said although the government stated that about 40
percent of its recurrent expenditure went into the educational sector which
represented a greater chunk of government expenditure, "our commitment as
a nation is less than three percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a
contravention of the Association of African Universities (AAU) Policy of five
to seven percent of GDP".
He said although students in
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She expressed regret some Ghanaian women have unfortunately grossly
misconstrued the concept of equality the
The workshop, being attended by 50 participants from all over the
country is aimed at empowering women with pragmatic strategies to enable them
to contribute economically, towards national building.
Men would also be sensitized to accept women as their partners in
progress during the discussions. Topics to be discussed include: "Why
Women are Important for Peace and Reconstruction, Mobilising Women for National
Building, Gender Interdependence for Socio-economic Development and the Role of
Financial Institutions in the Economic Empowerment of Women".
Mrs Kufuor said "the impression created so far by most women under
the
Mrs Kufuor said this new stand and action by women have therefore,
displaced the focus of the
According to the First Lady, men in their resentment and disapproval of
the actions of some women have targeted series of human right abuses and atrocities,
including rape, battery, divorce and neglect of children against them.
She said most of the social problems like the street child,
prostitution, teenage pregnancies and waywardness among the youth could be
attributed to the marginalized status of women all over the world.
Mrs Kufuor therefore, called on all, especially women to work together
with men in humbleness and with respect to bring development to the nation
because "if women continue to be poor, the quality of development that we
all look forward to would elude us".
She said "To me and many other people, women are good companies,
helpers and comforters who bring warmth and happiness to men. Women are unique creatures of God, who
contribute a lot towards growth and development of societies".
She asked, "if women turn our homes to places of comfort, happiness
and hope if women truly use their presence to restore calm, emotional stability
and spirituality to the men why then should women and girls particularly in
It was regrettable that many women have become sex objects and punching
bags to irresponsible men and husbands and thus rendering many women powerless
and relegated to the background, she said. Mrs Kufuor said it was against those
unfortunate incidents that the
Christian Adu Atiemo, Chief Director at the Office of the President, who
stood in for the Chief of Staff urged all to redouble their efforts in the
fight initiated to emancipate Ghanaian women. He said government on his part
would do all possible by working closely with NGOs interested in women
advancement to bring the necessary development in them.
Miss Gertrude Opare-Addo, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the
NGO who chaired the function, advised women to see themselves as unique who
could rise to any level that they aimed at. She also advised them to stop
enticing and soliciting for favours from men and rather love themselves and
help each other.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 March 2003- The Inspector-General of Police,
Nana Owusu Nsiah, on Wednesday invited the leader of the People's National
Convention (PNC) over an alleged statement he made that the New Patriotic Party
(NPP) had armed its agents with AK-47 rifles to cause mayhem, during Tuesday's
bye-election in Navrongo Central.
A statement signed by ASP David Eklu of the Police Public Relations
Department said the invitation was to enable the IGP take appropriate action.
It said Dr Mahama denied ever making such a statement saying it was one of his
supporters who telephoned him from Navrongo that an NPP supporter had indicated
that if they did not win the bye-election, he would use an AK-47 rifle to cause
mayhem.
According to the statement, Dr Mahama said he advised the caller to
report the threat to the police and expressed surprise about the publication.
Dr Mahama assured the police that he would always preach peace and impress upon
his supporters to remain calm even in the event of losing an election.
The statement said the IGP urged politicians and the media to ensure
that their pronouncements do not disturb the peace in the country.
"Statements from politicians and the media wield enormous influence on
their audiences hence the need for greater circumspection in order to avoid any
rash actions by the public," Nana Nsiah said. The police said nobody has
reported the alleged threat to the Bolgatanga police
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
The new districts proposed are Tano North with Duayaw-Nkwanta as
capital, a rural district to be carved out of Sunyani district following the
elevation of Sunyani to a Municipal status, Tan, Pru and Jaman North.
Amadu Sulley, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of EC on Monday told Ghana
News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani that Nsoatre had been recommended to be the
capital of the new rural district because of its central position and
accessibility by most of the communities within the district.
He said Tan and Pru are in Wenchi West and Atebubu North respectively,
while Jaman North covers half of the Jaman district. The Regional EC director
explained that the Commission's team in consultation with stakeholders
recommended Sampa as the capital of the Jaman North district because of its
booming commercial status and availability of social infrastructure.
Drobo will remain as capital of Jaman South district, he added. Sulley
said Tan district was named after the river Tan, which flows across the
district and Nsawkaw has been recommended as the capital due to its central
location and proximity to other major towns in the area, including Wenchi,
Seikwa, Banda-Ahenkro and Badu.
The EC Director explained that Pru district derived its name from river
Pru, which runs across the district that consists of four paramountcies of
Prang, Abaase, Yeji and Konkoma and surrounding towns and villages.
He, however, added that, the Pru district's capital was yet to be
recommended because there was a strong contention from Prang and Yeji. Kwame
Damoah-Agyemang, Chief Director of EC and leader of the Commission's team that
met the stakeholders later confirmed the creation of the new districts in an
interview with GNA in Sunyani whilst on his way to Navrongo for the
bye-election.
He said following the government's proposal for the creation of the five
new districts, the EC tested and found the move feasible.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 March 2003- The Christian Council of Ghana on
Wednesday, appealed to Christians and other religious communities to continue
praying for the restoration of peace in Iraq and other war torn areas.
A statement issued by the Council and signed by Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah,
the General Secretary in
It expressed shock and dismay at the
The statement deplored the loss of lives and property and lack of food,
water and medicine which are staring at the people, adding" the billions
of dollars that are being channelled to destroy human lives and property in the
war could have been used to help alleviate suffering, which could have resulted
in promoting a more peaceful world than we are experiencing at the
moment".
In another development, the World Council of Churches (WCC) had appealed
to the governments of the
In a statement issued to all the 342 member churches, Reverend Dr Konrad
Raiser, the General Secretary, said it was not the first time that the
"Our world seems to be governed by the law of the strongest and we
find ourselves in a sad reality that the international legal order and the
functioning of the UN, which has founded upon the commitment to "liberate
the world from the scourge of war is being undermined", it added. The
statement called on all parties to the conflict, including
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The UNSCR already adopted by the Council provided authority under
international law for use of force against
The statement was in response to questions from the Ghanaian media and
other reported comments on the war. It said before the Gulf War, the Security
Council adopted UNSCR 678 that authorised the use of "all necessary
means" to uphold UNSCR 660 that demanded
"This was the basis for use of force against
It said because
The statement said in 2002 under UNSCR 1441, the Security Council
unanimously decided again that
In the same Resolution, the Security Council recalled that it had warned
It gave the assurance that US and
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Atta Kuma, brother of Samuel Boamah Panyin who was executed for
allegedly attempting to overthrow the government of the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC) in 1985, said the Commission should investigate where
his brother was buried to enable the family to give him a fitting burial.
He said he himself was in detention at the cells of the Bureau of
National Investigations (BNI) for 57 days. Atta Kuma said his wife became
mentally retarded due to his imprisonment and the state must help take care of
her. The state should also return to him his brother's car that was
confiscated.
He said Boamah was alleged to have conspired with his siblings to supply
arms to overthrow the PNDC government. He said Atta Panyin was executed
together with Kyeremeh Gyan, Mawuli Goka and Brefo Berko who were all alleged
to have conspired to buy guns to overthrow the PNDC government.
He said in November 1985, Boamah's wife informed him that police and
army personnel arrested Boamah around 0200 hours but she did not know where
they had sent him. Atta Kuma said in the morning, he and his siblings went to
the Police Headquarters, Kaneshie and Accra Central Police stations but did not
find Atta Panyin.
He said at about 1000 hours the next day, a young man informed him that
Atta Panyin had been sent to the Gondar Barracks where he was beaten and his
clothes were torn. Atta Kuma said upon enquiries at the Gondar Barracks, he got
to know that his brother had been sent to the BNI.
"At the BNI, the soldiers collected the toiletries I brought for my
brother but did not allow me to see him." He said two days later, some
army personnel arrested him adding that when he boarded the vehicle, he found
other young men in his neighbourhood who had been arrested as well.
Atta Kuma said Peter Nanfuri, the BNI boss was sitting on the vehicle
that was being used. He said they were sent to the BNI head office where he saw
Serwaa, the wife of his brother Atta Panyin, and a tailor in their
neighbourhood, who had also apparently also been arrested.
He said he was told that Esther, the second wife of his brother, who had
given birth a few days earlier, was also arrested and brought there but was
later sent to the Castle. Atta Kuma said the people were interrogated and were
released at around 1400 hours with the exception of himself, his cousin and the
tailor. That was the beginning of his 57 days' stay in detention.
He said it was at the BNI that he met Agyeman Badu, Brefo Berko, Braimah
Kankani, Mawuli Goka and Kyeremeh Gyan who were alleged to be conspirators
trying to overthrow the government.
"I saw that Gyan's back was cut and Mawuli had burns all over his
back. According to Mawuli, an iron blade was heated on fire, placed against a
wall and his back was pressed against it, resulting in the burns."
Atta Kuma said Mawuli Gyan could not walk properly. He told him that he
was blindfolded and something like a candle was used to burn his private parts
and an instrument was used to cut the tip of his penis. He said usually at 1300
hours, some men in mask came to take Mawuli and his colleagues to a place they
described as Asutuare where they were tortured. This continued for about four
days and the pains became so severe that they were unable to talk.
Atta Kuma said the soldiers one day brought his brother Atta Panyin to
the BNI cells where he saw that his eyes were bloodshot while his fingers and
toes bled but could not confirm whether the nails were removed. His brother
came for his clothes and they took him away.
He said a week later about 20 men led by Nanfuri interrogated him at the
BNI where he was charged with joining some men including Mawuli Goka to overthrow
the government. He said he told the panel that he knew nothing about the
charge.
Atta Kuma said the panel called him again the following Monday where
they informed him that investigations they conducted revealed that he knew
nothing of the charge. He was then released and warned never to reveal to
anybody the torture he saw people go through at the BNI.
He said he later heard that his brother was being kept at the Nsawam
Prisons. On
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Accra (Greater Accra) 27 March 2003- Relatives of Lance Corporal Bamfo
Sarkodee Addo, a former member of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC),
on Wednesday appealed to the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to help
establish the whereabouts of the man who they believe was summarily executed.
In an emotional language, the father and two wives of Sarkodee Addo
expressed disbelief of his possible death, and appealed to the Commission to
help them locate the remains of their kin for a fitting re-burial if he had
been killed.
Madam Mary Yaa Adjei, one of the wives of Sarkodee Addo, said after he
passed out of the Boys Company in
She said after the AFRC had handed over power to the Limann Administration,
her husband and some soldiers, namely Lance Corporal Atiemo, Warrant Officer
Obeng, Corporal Owusu Boateng and Private Owusu Adu were offered scholarships
to study abroad. Sarkodee Addo went to the United States (US) for his studies.
Yaa Adjei said Sarkodee Addo studied Administration of Justice and was
invited by the then Head of State and Chairman of the Provisional National
Defence Council (PNDC) to join the Armed Forces when he returned in 1982.
She said Sarkodee Addo was initially reluctant to join the Armed Forces,
but acquiesced explaining, that his friends Gatsiku and Gbedemah had rejoined
the forces. "He bade us farewell and left, and we never saw him again.
Later we heard on the air that Sarkordee Addo and Giwa were executed," Yaa
Adjei said. "Things were not moving smoothly" in the country at that
time, she said, and the family was scared to investigate the truth of the
announcement.
When the Commission asked Yaa Adjei how the "disappearance" of
her has affected her and the baby she said she was then nursing, she sobbed
uncontrollably. When she recovered her composure, she replied that her father,
who provided for he baby had died. Her sobbing made a counsellor of the
Commission, a reverend minister, to move to her side to offer comfort.
Madam Emelia Ampoma, the second wife, said she got married to Sarkodee
Addo in 1983 and was pregnant by him when she last saw him. Ampomaa said
Sarkodee Addo could not attend the handing over ceremony from the AFRC to the
Limann government because he was on admission at the 37 Military Hospital
nursing an injury.
According to Ampomaa, her husband told her that members of the AFRC had
agreed before they handed over power to the Limann government, that never
should the military take over the government again.
She said her husband and other soldiers were offered scholarships to
study in the United States (US) when the Limann Administration took over
political power, but added that her husband told her their scholarships were
cancelled in 1982 when the PNDC came to power and one Huttington financed his
education.
Ampomaa said Sarkodee Addo told her Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings gave him
a vehicle to bring his things from the Airport, but he refused to join the
Armed Forces when Flt. Lt Rawlings Rawlings invited him.
She said when she joined Sarkodee Addo in exile in
Ampomaa said in 1984, Sarkodee Addo showed her an Air Afrique ticket
that he was travelling to
Ampomaa spoke of a number of threats she said she received from agents
of former Chairman Rawlings after her husband's disappearance. She alleged that
Flt. Lt. Rawlings was behind her near arrest at Sampa border in 1987 when she
was returning form Cote d'Ivoire, a number of attempts by soldiers to kidnap
her son in 1999, and the kidnapping of her cousin who was then accompanying her
to the 37 Military Hospital when on a mission to find her husband.
Christopher Adu Sakodee, father of Sarkodee Addo, said his son told him
Flt. Lt. Rawlings wanted to kill him because they had had an argument when Flt.
Lt. Rawlings told him to go into farming. Adu Sarkodee said after that
information in 1984, he never saw his son again when he went to
Adu Sarkodee described Flt. Lt. Rawlings as a "fearful tiger".
He said Rawlings was very cordial on a number of occasions when his son took
him to greet him at the Burma Camp. However, he began to fear him when his son
told him that the former PNDC Chairman wanted to kill him and he disappeared,
Adu Sarkodee said, adding that he was very cautious in the search for his son.
Adu Sarkodee said he became alarmed after the evidence of Kweku Baako,
Editor of the Crusading Guide, to the NRC that his son was summarily executed.
Adu Sarkordee said he had surrendered the loss of his son to God, but his
mother, an old lady, was very worried, and at times went into the bush to
grieve.
He prayed the Commission to be directed to where Sarkodee Addo was
buried "if possible, collect his hair or any part of the earth of his body
for reburial."
Another witness, Aliane Adjongba from Takoradi said he had not seen nor
heard of his nephew, Martin Adjongba since
Aliane said after the 4 June Uprising, Martin went into exile in
Aliane said Martin's wife was pregnant with their second child. Aliane
requested six things from the Commission
- to establish why Martin Adjongba was executed
- officers who ordered his execution
- the men who did the execution
- where they were executed
- the proper education of his two children
- restoration of his property he left in Arakan Barracks.
John Apatinga from Navrongo appealed to the Commission to establish the
cause of the alleged execution of his younger brother, Corporal Gabriel
Apatinga in 1984. John said he had information from one Mr Isaka through an
official at the office of the Sunyani District Chief Executive that Gabriel had
been executed.
John said his personal investigations revealed that Gabriel was executed
at the Air Force Station, but he had no information on his whereabouts from the
Ghana Armed Forces. He said he went to the Takoradi Station, where his brother
stayed and had information that his brother was killed on the quiet.
He said he took the matter up again in 2001 with the Ministry of Defence
and wrote to the Directorate of Military Records. He was directed to the Chief
Clerk of Military Records who brought a file from which he read that Gabriel
had deserted the Armed Forces in 1983, reported in 1991 and was discharged and
given an End of Service Benefit (ESB) and gratuity.
John said he requested the clerk to write a formal letter to him on the
discharge of Gabriel Apatinga, but after two months when he had received no
reply, he followed up to the Chief Clerk. He was told by the Chief Clerk that
there was no need to send a reply, and if he searched for Gabriel he would find
him.
John said he came upon one Opare Sarpong of the Air Force Station who
told him Gabriel was executed on
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