GRi Press Review 23 – 05 - 2003
Interdict Tarzan – Minority
Boost for PSI garment and textiles
“Peer review mechanism must be compulsory”
Kufuor inaugurates Pentecost Varsity
Police heads to answer for Juniors’ faults
Review our syllabus – Greater Accra students urged
Abodakpi goes wild
It is in the NPP’s that Dr. Brobby is not sabotaged
Call for state funding
Brobby’s 195 cars – he refused to talk about it
Gov't now has all the documents on the presidential jet
Rawlings ordered murder of judges – witness
NDC Has Renewed Strength – Mills
VRA workers hail CEO's decision to step aside
Mice Besiege Takoradi Market
Interdict Tarzan – Minority
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The Minority in Parliament has called on the President to immediately interdict the Chief Executive of the VRA, Dr Charles Wereko Brobby and dissolve the authority’s board of Directors to allow an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of the VRA crisis.
They have described the claim by Dr Wereko Brobby that he has stepped aside and appointed his deputy to act in his absence as administratively unacceptable since he will still be in control of affairs at the authority.
The Minority Spokesman on Energy, Seidu Adamu told the press that the committee purported to have been set up to investigate the issue is only administrative and therefore does not have the legal standing to inquire into a sensitive issue such as the VRA crisis.
He said the NDC deplores the nonchalant response of the government to thedisturbing issues daily revealed at the VRA.
The minority cited among other things, an inordinate increase of 300 per cent in payments to Dr Wereko Brobby from about ¢15.5m to over ¢60m in December 2002 and said the attempt by the Auditor General to clear him from any wrong doing is crude and indecent.
According to Adamu, the office of the President had been alerted by state intelligence agencies of the unreasonable high payments that are threatening industrial unrest in the VRA, long before the commencement of the current impasse. – Ghanaian Times
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Boost for PSI garment and textiles
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The paper reports that, the President’s Special Initiative on Garments and Textiles received a major boost with an order for the exportation of 100,000 pairs of trousers worth ¢43bn to the USA market.
An American investor and President of Sun-Quest International, John Sporidis, who placed the order also promised to increase the order to ¢86bn next year.
He made this known when he called on President Kufuor at the
Castle, Osu, yesterday. – Graphic
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“Peer review mechanism must be compulsory”
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - Dr. Robert Aboagye-Mensah, Bishop elect of the Methodist Conference, has called on African leaders to make the peer review mechanism, one of the tenets of the NEPAD initiative, compulsory to camped their peers to govern their people strictly according to the rule of law.
He was speaking at the opening of a five-day Pan-African Conference on the theme, “Africa in Search of Good Governance” in Accra yesterday. – Graphic
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Kufuor inaugurates Pentecost Varsity
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - President John Kufuor yesterday inaugurated the Pentecost University College at Sowutuom in Accra.
The university, which was constructed at the cost of ¢10.2bn, was financed solely from the tithes and offerings by the members of the Church of Pentecost. It brings to eight the number of private universities established so far in the country.
The Pentecost University College, which is duly registered and affiliated to the University of Ghana, Legon, is yet to receive an accreditation from the National Accreditation Board to begin full-scale operations.
The college intends to offer courses in theology and missions, business administration and management as well as languages, information studies and technology.
The inaugural ceremony also coincided with the opening of the 34th session of the General Council Meeting of the church, which is being attended by representatives from 48 countries.
Addressing the ceremony, President Kufuor who was impressed by the facilities at the campus, commended the leadership and members of the church for their initiative and said “this is the sort of initiative that any government will be proud to be identified with.”
He said the leadership of the church has been supportive of government with their prayers because members of the government need divine guidance to govern the country. President Kufuor said Ghana is a young country and the economic, social and cultural problems that confront her are intricate and difficult.
He said the solutions to such problems are difficult. The President said although the members of government are committed and are making effort to deal with such problems they will need the intervention of God for their spiritual and physical empowerment.
He, therefore, requested the leadership of the church to continue to pray for the government and particularly for peace in the West Africa sub-region and other parts of the world.
The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr Michael Ntumy, said the church decided to establish a university as part of its contribution towards national development.
He appealed to the National Accreditation Board to facilitate the accreditation process for the college so that it can confidently contribute its quota to national development.
Dr Ntumy said already the church continues to show the love of Christ to society through the provision of social services through the network of 13 senior/junior secondary schools, clinics and hospitals in the country.
He commended President Kufuor for his pragmatism, courage, fortitude and divine wisdom and sterling executive leadership.
He said the government’s ability to curb the otherwise
escalating spate of armed robbery and the serial killing of women is highly
commendable. – Graphic
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Police heads to answer for Juniors’ faults
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The paper reports that, the IGP, Nana Owusu Nsiah, has cautioned senior police officers against laxity in the handling of firearms by their subordinates.
Speaking at the opening of the Regional Police Commanders
Conference in Accra yesterday, he warned that any police officer found to have
given out firearms to unauthorised policemen would be charged and sent straight
to court without delay. – Ghanaian Times
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Review our syllabus – Greater Accra students urged
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The Greater Accra Regional Students’ Representative Council (GARSRC) has called for an urgent review of the syllabus for secondary education to be relevant in addressing modern educational challenges.
The syllabus, the council noted “is too overloaded and some aspects of it are too burdensome.” At a new conference in Accra, the council blamed the syllabus for the upsurge in examination malpractices.
It suggested that oral English be removed from the syllabus and sent back to the Kindergarten since it was of little importance to students. – Ghanaian Times
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Abodakpi goes wild
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - MP for Keta Constituency, Daniel Kwasi Abodakpi, has damned whatever the consequences of the court trial he is going through will be and says nothing would break his resolve to fight for what is right, even in the face of life imprisonment.
He also promised to fight with the last drop of blood in him to protect the interests of the people of Keta and expressed sorrow for the President Kufuor for expecting two much from his trips abroad, which are aimed at attracting foreign investors, asking why the investors did not come since the NDC days.
Abodakpi, who was a one time Minister for Trade and Industry in the NDC era made these stunning statement before nearly 100 assembly members from his constituency when he was called upon to give a parliamentary report during the second ordinary meeting of the Keta District Assembly recently. – Ghanaian Times
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It is in the NPP’s that Dr. Brobby is not sabotaged
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The paper in its opinion mentions VRA CEO, Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, Dr. Ibn Chambas, ECOWAS Secretary General, and Professor George Hagan, chairman of the National Commission of Culture among others as not members of the ruling party but were appointed to these high offices giving true meaning to President Kufuor’s politics of inclusion in which he articulates that party affiliation should not be the reason not to use any Ghanaian with talent or expertise.
The paper thinks that Ghana is richer by this politics of inclusion and therefore would want to caution the government not to be too hasty in pushing Dr. Brobby out of VRA just because workers are agitating against him.
Whatever decisions the government would be taking, should depend on an objective and dispassionate appraisal of his performance so far and what the investigations committee set up by the Minister of Energy recommends. – Accra Daily Mail
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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - According to the paper, even before the game would really start for him, CPP flagbearer aspirant Ato Sackey says immediate steps must be taken to ensure that the state funds political parties.
To him, the issue does not call for any debate, the government must come out to state whether it accepts the EC report on “State Funding or not”.
He questioned our resolve to grow multi-party democracy when
opposition parties are so cash strapped that they cannot even pretend to be
operating so as to put the government on it toes. – Network Herald
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Brobby’s 195 cars – he refused to talk about it
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2003 - The paper reports that, Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, CEO of VRA, has flatly refused to answer questions on why and how as many as 195 cars have been bought for the Authority.
The purchase of the cars is one of the major issues, which have been raised by workers of the authority in their agitation for the removal of the CEO.
Strangely, Dr. Brobby won’t tell us whether the purchase of the vehicles was open to tender. It says after four weeks of chasing him to no avail, it has now decided to publish the full cost of the vehicles and the cost of each.
The paper hopes that this publication will stimulate an informed discussion of the state of VRA today. – Insight
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Gov't now has all the documents on the presidential jet
Briefing the media in
Nana Akomea said the previous government did not release documents covering the transactions, making it difficult for the current government “to see its way clear on the matter”.
He said the government had to conduct investigations into
matters related to the acquisition of the jet, including the loan agreement
between HSBC, the purchase agreements between
He said it was after those painstaking investigations and auditing that it was established that the Presidential jet was bought by the then government from Trans Air Trade of Switzerland and immediately sold to HSBC.
According to the minister, the NDC government then proceeded
to lease the same aircraft from the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC), and this
was done through Gallen Limited with an agreement that
He said an escrow account was therefore opened in the
He said the government indicated to the owners that it has no interest in maintaining the plane and called for the termination of the lease. Nana Akomea explained that this was not possible since the agreement signed by the NDC government required that, “the Ghanaian government, the leaser, had agreed to the responsibility of selling the plane in case the lease arrangement was to be discontinued”.
He said
In answer to why the President has refused to use the plane, the minister said it is both a moral and an economic decision. He said President Kufuor and the NPP have strongly objected to the acquisition of a presidential jet costing $20m in 1999, “at a time when urgent social infrastructures were in dire need of government support”.
Nana Akomea added that contrary to public opinion, using the plane is more expensive than the using commercial flight and that the plane, which has an 11-seat capacity, cannot accommodate the entourage of a typical presidential travel.
“Indeed,” he further stated, “there does not seem to be any
record of ex-President Rawlings using the jet”, and that the former Speaker,
Justice Annan, to travel to a funeral in
He said “for now the government will concentrate on selling
the plane, settle balancing from the proceeds and making a decent recovery for
the tax payer”. - Graphic
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Rawlings ordered murder of judges – witness
Accra
He said Flt-Lt Rawlings popped champagne, after he was informed that the four persons had been murdered.
Cpl Adabuga, the first of exiled Ghanaians associated with
the 31st December coup to come down to testify before the commission, is now
the Public Relations Officer of the Red Cross Society in
He, therefore, expressed his regret for ''all that I did in
bringing
Cpl Adabuga said he was in the office with Capt (rtd) Kojo Tsikata, Sgt Akata Pore and Flt-Lt Rawlings, when Amartey Kwei came to inform them that they had finished the assignment on the judges but ''I did not get the message clear then and even after the announcement''.
He said Flt Lt Rawlings did not utter a word and went to the refrigerator to take champagne to drink. He said it was Amedeka, Dzandu and Tekpor who came to confide in him during the Special Investigations Board (SIB) probe that it was Flt Lt Rawlings who asked them to kill the judges and the retired military officer.
Cpl Adabuga said Flt Lt Rawlings and Capt Tsikata also directed Amedeka and his colleagues to burn the smocks they used in the operation at Bundase to eliminate all traces. He said they confided in him because he was the person they trusted as Flt Lt Rawlings and Capt Tsikata had refused to stand by them.
He said Amedeka narrated to him how Mrs Justice Koranteng, one of the murdered judges, got up in flames to chase the killers and was overpowered by Amedeka’s chanting and incantations. According to Cpl Adabuga, he confronted Flt Lt Rawlings after he had been briefed but he ''told me it was a state secret''.
He said a threw a blow at Flt Lt Rawlings but he managed to dodge it after which he complained to him about how he had been playing northerners against Akans to stage the coup. He said it was from that stage that the two of them became enemies and that he and other soldiers then plotted to kill Rawlings but were allegedly given out by one Boakye.
Cpl Adabuga then described how Flt Lt Rawlings tried to eliminate his perceived enemies leading to the killing of Eric
Asare and Giwa in an accident while there was another attempt to kill him (Adabuga). In all, seven persons died in the accident involving him (Adabuga) on the Burma Camp - La road.
He told the commission how only 10 soldiers including C. C. Addai, George Agyekum, Amedeka, Amidu, Rawlings, Gbafer, Cudjoe and himself, struggled to stage the coup after Flt Lt Rawlings had taken them to the Achimota Forest to brief them about the alleged plans of Dr Limann for a military take over.
Cpl Adabuga said when his team realised they faced a heavy resistance and on seeing three dead bodies, Flt Lt Rawlings wanted to chicken out but ''I arrested him and put him in one of the MOWAGS because I said he could not abandon us''.
He said Flt Lt Rawlings was not actually part of the team
that fought to capture power but was used to make the announcement at the GBC
because he was the only officer, stressing that ''If we had another officer
with us, Rawlings would have been shot immediately he chickened out and asked
us to escape to
He told the commission that the former First Lady, Nana
Konadu Agyeman Rawlings was arrested at the
''My Lord, we all became excited at this piece of information. Adjei Boadi and myself immediately acquired a piece of land at Adeiso to cultivate marijuana but after the land had been ploughed, we had instructions to plant corn,'' he said.
Cpl Adabuga said in the heat of the revolution, a friend of Flt Lt Rawlings, Riyadh gave them information about Syrians and Lebanese gold and diamond dealers resulting in raids on their houses and shops to retrieve all the precious minerals as well as trips to the Obuasi mine by Rawlings for gold.
''I want Rawlings to account for all the gold and diamonds that were taken during the raids and give me my share'', he said.
Cpl Adabuga, who prior to his testimony had asked for immunity from prosecution, said Flt Lt Rawlings instructed Lt
Blood Dzraku to lead soldiers including himself to Tsito to kill people in connection with the conflict there.
He also described attempts by him and some people, including Lt Gen Joshua Hamidu, Major Sulemana, and Baba Kankani as well as civilians to get rid of the PNDC regime but failed. He said the junior ranks, in view of their tender ages and inexperience were misled by Rawlings into thinking that ''we were doing the nation some good by our regrettable acts''.
He said he was only 24 years at the time and that it was easy to pollute the minds of the other ranks. ''I now challenge Flt Lt Rawlings, the principal perpetrator and instigator of most of these crimes, if he has any conscience and any honour left in him at all, to come out openly and without mincing words, acknowledge his crimes and guilt, apologise genuinely to the people of Ghana and asked for their forgiveness so that we can all have true reconciliation and peace,'' he said.
When asked if civilians were part of the coup, he said the only civilian who was close to the events was one Apostle Barnabas, a journalist who was only covering the events and that Messrs Tsatsu Tsikata and Chris Atim came on board after the take over.
Lt Gen Emmanuel Erskine, a member of the commission, expressed the hope that serving soldiers will learn from the account of Cpl Adabuga about how one mistake of misjudgement had plunged the country into social and economic mess.
He said the narration also exposed a lot of weaknesses in the system at that time and expressed the hope that the weaknesses have been corrected. He said Cpl Adabuga from his account, showed a lot of leadership, courage and sacrifice and expressed the hope that ''our officers will learn from these three qualities of yours''.
Most Rev Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, also a member of the commission, said the account of Cpl Adabuga provides a number of leads for the media to research into, especially the ethnic-tribal factor in the Ghanaian body-politic and the abuse of human rights.
When he drew Cpl Adabuga’s attention to the fact that his evidence was very incriminating and asked if the evidence could be subjected to further verification, Cpl Adabuga said he stands by it and ever ready to meet any of those mentioned to challenge him.
When Uborr Labal Balafu II, a member of the commission, asked if he or any other member of the team benefited from the gold, Cpl Adabuga said he did not benefit and that ''I understand George Agyekum is a pastor in his village, so I believe he is not prosperous''.
In response to another question, Cpl Adabuga said he was a product of the Junior Leaders Company, popularly known as Boys Company in Kumasi and that many of them became enemies of the revolution.
When he took his turn, a former Editor of the Ghana News Agency, Ansah Barnor, narrated how he was forced to resign for allegedly leaking news report on the SIB probe to the Voice of America.
He told the commission that although he was reporting for the West Africa Magazine, there was a VOA correspondent at the sittings and that the VOA report gave account of the contradicting statements of Capt Tsikata in his written and oral evidence as well as corroborated evidence by Amartey Kwei and P. V. Obeng, among others.
He said Capt Tsikata did not take kindly to the report and this created problems for him resulting in his forced resignation at the age of 32. Barnor, who said he is now impoverished and often walk from Chorkor to the Castle and to the NPP head office to seek assistance for his reinstatement, said Capt Tsikata did not take kindly to it because there was a unit which rewrote all the GNA reports and sent out to the media houses.
He said although the other media houses had correspondents at the SIB sittings, it was the GNA reports they used. Barnor, who broke down in tears and held up hearing for several minutes, pleaded with the commission to help him out because he is now a desperate person.
Prof Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, a member of the commission, then said Barnor’s account will go a long way to explain some of the pressures the state-media go through and why the state-media have been wrongly accused of always carrying commissioning of KVIPs and markets.
On his part, Samuel Kwadwo Boateng, told the commission how some soldiers raided his drinking bar at Adabraka in 1982 and took all the drinks and himself away to Burma Camp. He said he was tortured and released a day after and told not to come back again.
He said he later met Cpl Anack Seidu, who led the operation, at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation where he worked as a supervisor, where he (Seidu) apologised for the incident.
When he took his turn, ex-Cpl John Kwasi Attipoe narrated how he was picked up from the 6BN in Tamale and interrogated about an alleged coup plot by Major Sulemana and Cpl John Adongo.
He said he and other detainees were severely tortured before being taken to various prisons. He said for the seven years that he spent in detention, he was shuttled between Usher Fort, Nsawam, Winneba, Anomabo, Tarkwa and Sekondi prisons before he was released.
He said he knew nothing about the allegation levelled
against him but the soldiers would not believe him. Cpl Attipoe expressed his
appreciation to Kwame Pianim and Amnesty International among others, who stood
by him during those days in prison. - Graphic
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NDC Has Renewed Strength – Mills
Ajumako (Central Region)
He said there is genuine unity and mutual understanding within the leadership and called on the rank and file of the party to bury all their past differences, forge ahead in unity and move the party forward.
Prof. Mills gave the assurance when he toured some of the rural communities in the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency as part of his tour of the Central Region to introduce himself to the chiefs and people as the flagbearer of the NDC for the
2004 Presidential elections, interact with them and solicit for their votes.
The communities visited were Ajumako Mando, Abeadze, Esikado, Kwanyako, Bisease Enyam Denkyira, Kokwaado,
Etsii Sunkwa, Enyan-Maim, Apaa and Abaasa. Prof Mills was accompanied by the regional and constituency executive of the party including the Regional Chairman and Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, Dr Ato Quarshie; the Secretary, Peter Light Koomson; Organiser, Ani-Blankson and George Kuntu Blankson a former District Chief Executive for Mfantsiman.
The rest are Mrs Mary Padmore Dadzie, the 2000 parliamentary candidate for the constituency, Solomon Aidoo a former DCE for the area and Jacob K. Quansah the constituency chairman. Addressing the party members and supporters as well as the chiefs and people at the gatherings the flagbearer said he declined to give promises during the 2000 electioneering campaign but those who chose to do so have failed woefully to honour the sweet promises.
Prof Mills therefore asked the chiefs and people not to listen any longer to the lies and vain promises of the New Patriotic
Party (NPP), which has only succeeded in bringing untold hardship to the people especially the rural folks, just after two and a half years in office and wondered what will happen to the life of the ordinary Ghanaian if the party continues to remain in power.
He said the defeat of the NDC at the 2000 general polls was to enable the party to take stock of its performance while it was in power and more important, offer Ghanaians the opportunity to compare the NDC to the NPP and determine for themselves whether the country is now moving forward or backward.
Prof Mills who is also a former Vice-President, said the NDC government under their able leadership proved beyond all doubt that it was capable of developing the country and appealed for the maximum support of the people to return the party to power in 2004 to enable it to continue its unfinished job of transforming socio-economic life in the country. - Graphic
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VRA workers hail CEO's decision to step aside
"We are happy that he is stepping aside for the committee set up by the Minister for Energy to review and examine the issues we raised," a source at the Authority told the Ghana News Agency. "All we seek is for the truth to be laid bare for the public," the source emphasized.
When the GNA visited the Head Office of the Authority some
of the workers in red armbands were dancing at the premises but emphasised that
they were not on strike. There were similar scenes at the VRA's offices outside
The workers had threatened to down their tools by Wednesday to back their demand for the interdiction of Dr Wereko-
Brobby. In a letter to the Minister of Energy, Dr Wereko-Brobby said his decision to give way was to offer the Committee the free hand to work.
The letter read in part: "I have decided to remove myself from the day-to-day administration of the VRA during the tenure of the Committee's hearings "I have taken this decision to ensure that the Committee has an absolutely free hand to undertake its work and to remove any doubts as to the placement of any impediments in the way of the Committee or any other witness, who may be called to appear before it.
"Naturally, I would expect that the Committee would offer a fair opportunity to allow me to put my perspective on the issues that have been placed before it. VRA staff have also been directed to make themselves available to assist the Committee as and when it deems it appropriate to see them."
Dr Wereko-Brobby said he has absolute confidence in the integrity and competence of the Committee and expressed confidence that it would "sort out the wheat from the chaff and all the issues under consideration".
The letter said in his absence, the Deputy Chief Executive (Engineering an Operations), Jabesh Amisssah-Arthur, would be the Acting Chief Executive. The Minister of Energy, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom on Monday announced the setting up of the Committee to investigate various allegations made against Dr Wereko-Brobby and the Board.
The Committee is to review matters arising out of workers' agitation, examine the Executive's Pay and Working Hours, the Strategic Reserve Plant (SRP), Operation of the Authority's Provident Fund, Procurement Procedures and the Image of VRA. The Committee is to submit its report to the Ministry by 2 June.
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Tarkoradi (Western Region)
According to the sellers, mice, which are as big as rats enter their stalls and shops to destroy their wares after every market session, leading to heavy losses.
In order to prove their case, some of the sellers directed Chronicle to where some of the mice hide and lo and behold they looked like rats. When the women were asked about the causes of the rise in the number of rodents in the market, they said that the filthy nature of the market was a contributory factor.
They lamented the inadequate number of washrooms or urinary basins, saying the situation compelled most sellers to urinate into chamber pots and throw them into gutters in the market, thereby attracting all kinds of animals.
Congestion and inadequate ventilation was also stated as some of the causes of the rise in the number of rodents. "The Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) should be blamed for the inadequate ventilation in the market because it turned part of the main gates and every small space in the market into stores," one market woman added.
They also blamed some of their colleagues for contributing to the problem by cooking, eating and leaving surplus food in the market, thereby attracting various types of rodents.
Asked why they do not want to move to the Apramdo market, they replied: "We do not make profit when selling there, we always lose." They advised SAEMA to live up to the task of eliminating the rodents from the market before any disaster truck.
However, Philip Kweku Nkrumah, district chief executive
(DCE) of SAEMA, in an interview with Chronicle, said the market is cleaned two
times each day by ABC Waste Management Company. He also noted that
Agency.
On the congestion at the market, he said the SAEMA had put
in place the entire necessary infrastructure at the new Apramdo market to
attract sellers from the
The DCE said he was doing all in his power to convince some
of the sellers to move to the new market in order to decongest the old market.
He also said more washrooms and urinals would be constructed in the market in
order to avoid the incidence of sellers pouring urine into the gutters of the
market. - Chronicle
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