More
power from Tarkoradi Power Project
Kufuor’s
headache in choosing a Veep
Accra
(Greater Accra) 21 May 2003 – Cabinet has approved a draft bill on long-term
savings schemes towards retirement, the Minister of State for Finance and
Economic Planning, Dr Samuel Nii Noi Ashong has said.
Under the
scheme, workers in the public, private and especially those in the informal
sectors, will be encouraged to make savings towards their retirement. Dr Ashong
who said this at a press conference in Accra on the upcoming National Economic
Dialogue (NED), said the scheme is targeted at the informal sector of the
economy.
He added
that the proposal structure has been sent to the Ministry of Finance to work
out the details and expressed optimism that the bill will be passed by
Parliament before the end of this year.
Explaining
further, Dr Ashong said the aim of the scheme is to attract long-term capital
to facilitate investments in the economy and stressed that the scheme will be
tax-free. On the NED, the minister said there have been success stories of
actions and results as well as challenges over the years.
“Between
the last annual review and now, there have been quarterly assessment sessions
to keep track of the implementation process,” Dr Ashong said. He said NED has
played a key role, among other things, in initiating the National
Identification System, action for employment generation, mobilisation of
resources from non-residential Ghanaians as well as the restructuring of the
domestic debt.
The
minister said the major concern of participants at the previous dialogue was
that there might not be the political will by government to vigorously implement
the recommendations. He said further that in fulfilment of its promise,
government machinery has been set in motion to actively implement the
recommendations, while specific projects have been initiated at the NED
secretariat.
Dr Ashong
said some of the challenges facing the implementation of the recommendations
include the active participation of some of the stakeholders and the new
reporting format of quarterly assessment session among all the stakeholders in
implementing NED. On the National Identification System, Dr Ashong said good
progress has been made to ensure the implementation of the programme.
He
expressed the hope that the process of implementation, co-ordination,
reporting, monitoring and evaluation of the new recommendations that will emerge
from this year’s NED annual review will improve and help to build a
non-partisan and prosperous economy.
The next
annual review of the NED will take place at the Accra International Conference
Centre on Tuesday, May 27, this year. The NED (its organisation and
implementation of recommendations) has been the government’s initiative to
build consensus and set a broad agenda in collaboration with key stakeholders
in the country’s efforts at national development. – Graphic
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi
(Ashanti Region) 21 May 2003 An Ex-Chief Superintendent of Police, Jacob Jebuni
Yidana, has appealed to the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to
recommend the rehabilitation and compensation of all the police officers who
investigated the abduction and murder of the three High Court Judges and the
retired military officer.
He said
most of the investigators who are currently scattered in exile are very
desirous of returning home. He told the commission that the rehabilitation and
compensation of these people will serve as motivation and encouragement to serving
officers to put in their best in the discharge of their duties.
Yidana, who
was testifying before the commission yesterday, mentioned some of the officers
as Inspector Adu Darko, ASP Oduro, Edmund Ohene Ansah and Cpl Musah. He told
the commission that although all principles of proper investigations were
thrown overboard as a result of the excessive external pressure, the team did
its best to establish the identities of the perpetrators.
He said
although Amedeka, Senya, Tekpor and Dzandu were the principal perpetrators,
later investigations led to the implication of Amartey Kwei and Capt (rtd) Kojo
Tsikata. Yidana said just as the team was awaiting the issuance of the final
report from the Special Investigations Board (SIB), which had the authority to
do so, he was picked up on 6 March 1983 for allegedly harbouring Capt Korah in
his house.
He
explained to the commission that during the investigations, he got to know that
his house was under surveillance and so he stopped sleeping there. He said it was
only when he was arrested that he got to know that Capt Korah, who was then
wanted for subversion, had ever been to his house in transit.
He said he
was convicted by a tribunal and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
According
to Yidana, just when he was about to be released, the officer in charge of the
Nsawam Prisons informed him that he (officer) had received a letter from Accra
directing that he (Yidana) should not be released as he was a threat to
national security.
He said he
stayed at the prisons for almost four years before he was released upon which
he left the country.
He told the
commission that it was only when he returned in 2001 that he got to know that
it was Capt Tsikata who signed the letter requesting that he (Yidana) should
not be released.
Yidana said
prior to his prosecution and conviction, he heard, while in detention, that
other members of the investigation team were being persecuted for no apparent
reason, resulting in most of them leaving the shores of the country.
In response
to a question from Professor Mrs Florence Dolphyne, Yidana said his family life
was shattered as his ex-wife, who is now married in Canada, was also convicted
in absentia, and his eldest child died while he (Yidana) was in detention.
The
chairman of the commission, Justice Amua-Sekyi, noted that it is unfortunate
that Yidana’s team, instead of being commended by Ghanaians for the excellent
job done, was rather haunted, stressing “but for your good work, the nation
would not have known who killed the judges and the military officer”. He said
the Judicial Service will forever be thankful to the team for the excellent
work it did.
On his
part, an Anglican priest, Rev Fr Emmanuel Asante Antwi, pleaded with the
commission for compensation for his wrongful detention and dismissal from the
Ghana Armed Forces after the 1981 coup d’etat. He also requested that he should
be put on pension.
He told the
commission that as a former Military Intelligence officer, he was tortured and
detained for 11 months at the Usher Fort Prison after he reported at the Signal
Guardroom as directed by the coup makers. He said after his release from
detention, he was discharged from the Ghana Armed Forces and given ¢50,000.
Another
petitioner, Nana Kofi Yeboah, told the commission that two fishing vessels
belonging to his late brother were seized by soldiers and later given to GAFCO.
He said some soldiers impounded the vessels at the Coutonou Harbour in Benin
for discharging fish in that country when they were not supposed to do so as
Ghanaian operators.
Nana
Yeboah, however, told the commission that the Beninois government to fish in
Benin’s waters and that although his brother, Alexander Yaw Anim, registered
his firm, Alpha Fisheries in Ghana, registered the vessels, the vessels fished
in the Beninois waters.
He said
when efforts made to retrieve the vessels failed, his brother left for the US
where he died later. Nana Yeboah said it was published in the Daily Graphic,
with an accompanying picture on 15 July 1987, that the government had donated
some vessels to GAFCO, which vessels were found to be those of his brother.
When he
took his turn, a trader, Benedict Kwabena Anokye, narrated how two soldiers,
who he identified only as Anack (sic) and WO Mary Teye, ransacked his carpet
shop at Adabraka in Accra.
He said
after the goods were taken to the Gondar Barracks, he was also detained for
nine days before being released but the goods were not returned. He, therefore,
pleaded with the commission to help him find his goods, which he valued at ¢8m
at the time in 1982. On his part, Abdul Aziz Teiko Tagoe, pleaded with the
commission to help clear his name of being associated with bomb throwing in
1962.
He said he
was arrested at Bukom with a parcel he had been sent with to deliver to one
Antwi by a friend, Kwei Mensah.
He said it
was during his trial that he was told that the parcel contained a bomb.
When asked
if he knew the difference between a bomb and a grenade, he answered in the
negative. Another petitioner, Larteef Abdul Gafer, told the commission how his
father was allegedly framed up by his General Manager, a Major Hayford, and
detained for almost a year.
He said his
father later got paralysed after he was allegedly wrongfully injected at the 37
Military Hospital and his three cars, 22 cows and fishing vessels seized. He
said despite the fact that a committee of enquiry set up by the government
exonerated him, Lt Gen Quainoo allegedly directed that his late father, Samuel
Kofi Larteef, be detained. Gafer said his father was detained for almost a year
and died while in detention. – Graphic
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Dormaa
(Brong Ahafo) 21 May 2003 - The Dormaa District Chief Executive (DCE), Emmanuel
Duku, has stressed that it is the policy of the NPP Government to empower
organised women’s groups to embark on income-generating ventures.
He said as
part of the poverty alleviation strategy, the government has provided 19
hairdressing equipment to the Dormaa District branch of the Ghana Hairdressers
and Beauticians Association (GHABA) at heavily subsidised prices of ¢1 million
each. The equipment includes steamers, ovens with curling irons, wheel chairs
and telephone pipes.
Duku was
speaking at the first ever Dormaa District GHABA graduation ceremony for 45
apprentice hairdressers at a ceremony at Dormaa Ahenkro at the weekend. He
assured members of the association that the government will provide them with
more of the hairdressing equipment, in addition to soft loans for the expansion
of their businesses.
Madam Agnes
Owusu Serwaa, the District President of GHABA, in her report, said the association,
which was inaugurated in 1995 with 10 members, now has a membership of 60 and
500 apprentices. She said the objectives of the association, among other
things, are to improve upon the skills of women, find means of raising capital
to start life with and also to improve their competence in the profession.
Madam Owusu
Serwaa said members of the association and their apprentices have been trained
at various workshops on the prevention of the dreadful HIV/AIDS disease. She
appealed to the Dormaa District Assembly to take drastic action against “quack”
hairdressers who operate at street corners without paying taxes to the
government.
Nana Akosua
Fima Dwabeng, the Queenmother of the Dormaa Traditional Area, advised the young
seamstresses to comport themselves, be dedicated to their profession and
refrain from having multiple sexual partners in order not to contract HIV/AIDS.
Madam Janet
Abena Asantewaa, the Regional Secretary of GHABA, advised them to be wary of
irresponsible men who would entice them with money and gifts and eventually
ruin their lives. – Graphic
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Tarkoradi (Western
Region) 21 May 2003 - The nation can now enjoy more power from the Takoradi
Power Project, the Volta River Authority (VRA), has announced. The good news
follows the completion of the 112 kilometre transmission line from Prestea to
Obuasi.
A statement
by the VRA said an additional 200 MW of electric power can now be provided by
the Takoradi Thermal Power Station as well as imports from La Cote d’Ivoire to
improve the availability and reliability of the power supply system in Ghana.
The
Prestea-Obuasi project, estimated at $8m, with ¢10bn component, is the first
major project by Ghana’s power sector to be funded, constructed and supervised
by the VRA without recourse to external donor funding.
The
statement said that the decision to construct the Prestea-Obuasi line was taken
in April 2002 by the current board of directors and the chief executive.
It
explained that the major reasons for the construction were the severe reduction
of power generation from Volta and Kpong Hydro Power Stations due to the low
level of the Volta Lake for the past two years, and the need to increase the
availability of thermal power from the Takoradi Thermal Power Station and power
import to make up for the shortfall in generation from the Volta Lake.
The
statement said the Prestea-Obuasi transmission project was executed as one
package consisting of the design, manufacture, testing, delivery to site,
erection and inauguration of the Prestea-Bogosu-Dunkwa-Obuasi transmission
line, diversion of 2.6 km of the existing 161 kv from Dunkwa to Obuasi and the
provision of OPGW to enhance telecommunication and teleprotection and SCADA
systems facilities.
It recalled
that the VRA has been able to meet all the power requirements of the nation
without having to undertake any systematic load shedding at the time that the
Volta Lake is at its second lowest level in history.
“With the
Prestea-Obuasi line now in operation, VRA can now take more power from the
Western corridor and therefore be able to reduce generation from the Akosombo
Plant and thus protect the integrity of the lake and also contribute to efforts
to resuscitate and revive the lake to its normal operating levels,” it said. – Graphic
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Wassa West
(Western Region) 21 May 2003 - There was considerable spillage of cyanide into
rivers and the natural environment in the Wassa West District of the Western
Region last Sunday night as a result of mining activities by Gold Fields Ghana
Limited.
The
spillage, which was realised by the affected communities on Sunday, has caused
fear and panic amongst the people, who suspect that the streams and wells which
serve as sources of drinking water as well as fish and crabs in the rivers and
other natural resources might have been contaminated.
Albert
Boateng, the Director of Technical Support Services of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA); Dr Toni Aubynn the Public Affairs and Community
Relations Manager of Gold Fields Ghana Limited; and Daniel Owusu-Koranteng,
Executive-Director of the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining
(WACAM), an NGO operating in the area, confirmed the cyanide spillage in an
interview yesterday.
Boateng
said that the Wassa West District Officer of the EPA, Ali Sando, has sent a
report on the spillage to the EPA head office in Accra. He said the company
immediately evolved a contingency plan to offset the negative effect of the
cyanide.
Boateng,
who declined to comment on the impact of the spillage, however, said a
pronouncement will be made after the assessment of the situation.
Investigations revealed that officers at the mine did not inform the district
officer of the EPA and the local communities, contrary to laid-down rules.
Sources
said officers at the mine admitted the spillage only when the district officer
of the EPA, following a report by WACAM, confronted them.
Dr Aubynn
however described the spillage as minor and within the operational area of the
company. He said the cyanide did not enter streams, any outlets nor the
environment to cause harm because it was immediately contained. Dr Aubynn
explained that the spillage occurred at an area where an expansion work is
being carried out on a heap-leach. He said the mine workers followed the
approved reporting procedures on accidents.
Daniel
Owusu-Koranteng, Executive-Director of WACAM, told the Graphic that the company
mobilised its workers to clean the affected areas in order to cover up. He
commended the district officer of the EPA for responding swiftly when he was
informed by WACAM.
In October
2001, there was a cyanide spillage by the same mining company, which affected a
number of communities, including Abekoase, Huniso, Samanhu, Terbie and others.
The company subsequently set up ¢1.1bn trust fund to help in the development of
the areas but the chiefs and people of Abekoase rejected the package and
instituted court action against the company. – Graphic
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 21 May 2003 - Workers of the Volta River Authority (VRA) are
starting a nationwide strike action this morning to back their demand for the
removal of their chief executive, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby. Both unionized
workers and senior staff at the VRA’s offices at Aboadze, Accra, Tema and
Akosombo resolved to embark on the industrial action to protest Dr Wereko
Brobby’s continued stay in office.
The
workers’ action follows closely on the heels of the formation of a committee to
investigate various allegations against the Chief Executive, management and the
board of VRA.
But the
workers are arguing that the Chief Executive and the board cannot remain at
post while investigations are underway. They therefore resolved at separate but
co-ordinated meetings to lay down their tools until the Chief Executive is
removed from office. Meanwhile, workers at the Akosombo are also planning to
stage a protest march in Accra. – Myjoyonline
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra
(Greater Accra) 21 May 2003 - President Kufuor is faced with a choice that he
has to make before election 2004 and which has the potential of rocking the NPP
to its very foundations. The President’s headache is who to choose as his vice
President, with factions already emerging within the party for and against the
incumbent, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who is allegedly seen as a stumbling block to a
solution to the Yendi crisis.
Additionally,
the person penciled in as his possible replacement is hesitant because of that
person’s own aversion to ''stabbing’ a fellow northerner in the back and the
opposition by an influential lobby within the NPP against this person’s
selection as vice President.
Alhaji Aliu
Mahama’s expectation of becoming the second term running mate of President
Kufuor will not be automatic as generally assumed but he will have to pass
through the mill.
A sources
hinted that the decision to look beyond the incumbent veep was taken as a
measure to appease a faction in the Yendi conflict who think the government has
done little in connection with a solution to the murder of the Ya Na Yakubu
Andani in March last year. - Heritage
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
31st December Women Movement awakens
Accra
(Greater Accra) 21 May 2003 - The vociferous one-time powerful red beret ladies
of the 31st December Women Movement who propagated the revolutionary philosophy
with zeal and articulated the NDC agenda with power but went underground after
the party's electoral defeat in 2000 are out in arms again to mobilize and
fight for victory in 2004 elections.
The red
beret ladies who stormed the ROXY Cinema hall at Adabraka in Accra last weekend
wearing T-Shirts with inscriptions such as ''Total Liberation by any means'',
''No monkey Business'' among others, had simple message for Ghanaians:
"People of the land don't be afraid for we have the men and women to save
you." The event was a ceremony to award 700 cadres in the Klottey-Korle
Constituency for their dedicated, commitment and resilient to the revolutionary
and NDC political philosophies.
A former
Member of Parliament for the Constituency, David Lamptey affirmed the party's
support for the law on willfully causing financial loss to the state.
''The law
must be maintained in the status book to serve as legal, political and moral
yardstick to measure all office holders, especially politicians and other
political office holders and also serve as deterrent to Ghanaians in general,''
he told the cheering NDC gathering.
Lamptey who
was making his maiden public appearance on a political platform after the 2000
parliamentary elections consoled NDC members over the prosecution of its former
ministers of states and other government officials.
He said,
"we should develop a very big heart to accommodate and tolerate all the
fury attacks of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and other political
detractors meant to break our front, remember that we were born out of a
revolution, strengthened by the process and matured into a democratic political
giant."
The Former
MP who was addressing members of the Progressive Voluntary Organisations
(PVO's) for their dedicated, commitment and resilient to the revolutionary and
NDC political philosophies appealed to all Cadres to come back home and
mobilize for the battle ahead.
Association
of Committee attended the ceremony for the Defense of the Revolution (ACDR),
31st December Women Movement and other PVO's. The Cadres were presented with
certificates and citation, while 11other organisations were also presented with
wall clocks.
He restated
that the NDC is against corruption and said the "wheels of justice will
turn soon" to expose the truth and those who are corrupt and have cost
financial loss to the state.
He said in
as much as the NDC admits that it is made up of human beings, who cannot all be
perfect, he also believes "the so-called angels prior to elections in 2000
have exposed themselves only two years in government." Lamptey expressed
regret that the NPP government does not find it worthwhile mentioning some bold
efforts of the former NDC government to improve the system but only picks on
situations that suit them to castigate the party.
He accused
the NPP government of mismanaging the economy, which has resulted in poverty,
unemployment, diseases and hunger. - Network Herald
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 21 May 2003 – The Police Crime Intelligence Unit is investigating a case in which five suspects including a woman are said to have styled themselves as security consultants of a non-existing multi-national mining company and duped about 800 job seekers of millions of cedis under the pretext of giving them jobs.
They are Thompson Frimpong, 65, a private security officer attached to the Kumasi Central Market branch of the Amansie West Rural Bank, Osei Tutu, 54, John Acquah, 47, both styling themselves as security managers of the company and Emmanuel Takyi, 37, claiming to be sales executive of a private F.M radio station in Kumasi.
The police did not give the name of the lady accomplice, said to be on the run. The four suspects have been granted bail. Briefing the “Times” yesterday, a police spokesman said that sometime last month policemen on patrol duties found the suspects recruiting large numbers of people near the Kumasi Sports Stadium as security men for the company, Belmot Mining Service Company Limited, alleged to have branches all over the world.
Suspicious, the policement confronted Frimpong who claimed to be a security consultant of the company and leader of the suspects, but he failed to produce the necessary documents authorizing the group to undertake the recruitment exercise. Frimpong was said to have named a Jeffry J. C. Delvon, an Autralian, as the managing director of the company but efforts to trace him or the company drew a blank.
Frimpong and two of his accomplices, Osei Tutu and Acquah were dragged to the Regional Police CID where they allegedly confessed that the recruitment exercise was a fluke. Takyi who posed as an official of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) attached to the company, was arrested by some of the victims and handed over to the police.
The group collected various monies ranging from ¢20,000 to ¢30,000 from the victims in addition to their passport size photographs to ‘facilitate” the recruitment exercise. The police has retrieved over 700 passport size photographs of some of the victims. About 235 people claiming to be victims have so far reported to the police. – Ghanaian Times
Send your
comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com