Wanted Americans fight for

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - Two Americans indicted by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a $1.4m fraudulent international gold trading scheme last year were recently in Ghana to pitch for an estimated $110m housing project at the Ministry of Works and Housing.

The project, Ghana Low-Income Housing Project, is a reported brainchild of London-based Yugoslav millionaire Sima Maljkovic, a director of Union Engineering Belgrade, who was contacted through the Yugoslav (now Montenegro) Embassy in Accra to assist in the building of low income houses in Ghana, following similar project in other part of Africa.

The project, which Gye Nyame Concord gathered, has a $10m working capital or 'walk around money' for feasibility studies, drawings and cost estimate to set up local and international companies interested in the project, was expected to start this year.

Intelligence gathered indicates that the two Americans, Ardis Gaither, 60, and Mark Tuley, 34, who were indicted on March 22, 2002 with four others, including Ghanaian con-priest, Rev. Godfried Sarpong, 43, have been in and out of Ghana several times.

The duo were indicted by the SEC together with Sarpong for raising $1.4m through illegal offer and sale of unregistered promissory notes to several investors in several U. S. states. They also reportedly made false claims in the transaction of their business.

One of the indicted men, according to the SEC also stole most of the investors' money. But while the American government was on the tail of men, Concord Intel gathered that the two had by February last year found their way into Accra. They have since been in and out of the country to Canada and other European countries, diplomatic sources told this reporter.

Ardis Gaither, Concord can reveal was involved in the 'bid' for the proposed $100m project here in Ghana with a number of Ghanaians, including a lady friend of Rev Sarpong, (name withheld presently).

Rev. Sarpong has himself also left an unpaid bill estimated to be in the region of $10,000-plus at the plush La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.

Sources say Ardis and his other colleagues had intended to use part of the $10m work-around money to fund the settlement of their part in the $1.4m SEC scandal.

While Mark Tuley left the country at the beginning of the year for his home state of Texas, Rev. Sarpong, who organised a prayer event for former President Jerry Rawlings administration during the latter days of 2000, is presently believed to be holed up in London, U.K.

Ardis, reportedly out of the country at the moment, is meanwhile part of an impending legal battle at the courts over a $400,000 investments into a mining company that has former business partners, Anna Georgulas, the Reverend Ebenezer Markwei, head pastor of Living Stream Ministry International and Eric Siaw Williams, a businessman and son of the late J. K. Siaw, angling for each other's throat.

Ms Georgulas refused to speak on this issue when reached on phone at her Spintex Road home several weeks ago. Neither could the Concord reach Ardis, or Tuley in Texas. Investigations continue. - Gye Nyame Concord

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - A cross section of shoe shine boys in the Accra metropolis interviewed have declared their intent to vote massively against the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2004 general elections.

According to the boys, who voted for the ruling party at the 2000 elections, the promise then presidential candidate and now President John Kufuor made to them when he was vying for the presidency that he would create jobs within one year for them has turned out to be more of a campaign talk.

A survey conducted among 50 shoe shine boys by the Gye Nyame Concord in various parts of Accra showed a strong indication of these disappointed unemployed youth towards the Kufuor administration and a looming threat of NPP losing a chunk of its votes come the 2004 elections, unless steps are taken to reverse this trend.

It will be recalled that many of these shoe shine boys laid down their tools immediately after the 2000 general elections in anticipation of instant acquisition of jobs, which never materialized.

The ruling party also ensured that it garnered full support from the boys in the last election. Few weeks before the 2000 general elections, Mrs. Gloria Akufo, Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who was then an Accra legal practitioner and executive member of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), was basically the liason between the cobblers and the NPP.

She was instrumental in bussing the cobblers to thier constituencies, after securing funds with a cup in hand from individual lawyers for the shoe shine boys to travel and vote at thier various constinencies against the then ruling NDC.

But this time, Kwame Owusu, who plies his trade at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and admits that he recieved pocket money and travel expenses to return home to vote at the last elections said he would not vote for the NPP again.

"Wofa adaadaa yen" (Uncle has deceived us), he told this reporter in an interview, adding that he would not vote at all since he is disillusioned with the other parties as well.

He said prior to voting in the 2000 elections, the NPP convinced most of them to travel back home to Kumasi and other areas where majority hail from to vote for them with the conviction that they would be properly employed when the NPP won power.

Samuel Ansong, who claims to be a senior secondary school graduate, was very blunt: "As for these people, they will be jailed for 15 years and 16 years and not 4 or 2 ½ years" referring to how former government official under the NDC regime have been jailed for various offences.

He cautioned all serving government officials to be mindful of the fact that posterity will judge them the same way they judge others today, adding that " the stick used to hit Takyi will be the same stick to be used for Baah".

Steven Gyamfi, who could not vote in the last elections because he was not 18 years yet, said he does not think he would vote for any party next year.

According to him "all politicians are the same. They make all sort of promises when they need your vote which in fact are all lies".

Others, like Mark Asante of Dansoman, however held different opinions. They felt it was too early to start blaming the NPP government. For them President Kufuor must be given ample time to fulfil his promises after almost 20 years of P (NDC) "misrule".

A former student of Kumasi High School, Nana Yaw Akrofi, was also very optimistic. "If Ghanaians had patience for NDC for almost 20 years, then what is three years?" he asked He was hopeful that the NPP would transform the economy for many people, including shoeshine boys, to acquire jobs. - Concord

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Paapa Owusu Ankomah, has admitted that he has received dockets from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on its investigations into the $2m OBOTAN deal and the over ¢2bn TMA scandal.

His admission runs counter to the recent suggestive denial by the SFO in its widely-publicized press statement that sought to cast doubts on the existence of reports on the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) and OBOTAN three weeks ago.

The SFO said in that statement that it has not issued any report whatsoever and that newspapers publishing such reports should prove the authenticity of those documents. The SFO also indicted the weight of its own investigations by suggesting that the media should not have enough faith in its reports because the findings are its own perception of facts under investigation.

But speaking to Peace FM's morning show host, Kwame Sefa Kayi, on Tuesday, 15 July, the Attorney-General acknowledged that his office has received both the OBOTAN and TMA reports.

He did not say the same of the equally controversial report on Regional Integration and NEPAD Minister, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku and Ghana Free Zones Board case.

"… Sometimes I read in the papers that dockets have been brought to the office. Unfortunately I make enquiries and the dockets have not come. But I can confirm, because the public has the right to know, that the OBOTAN report is in the office. That of the Tema Municipal Assembly was received by my office last Thursday 10 July 2003".

Both OBOTAN and TMA reports, Gye Nyame Concord newspaper can reveal, were taken to the AG's office after recent media reports led by this paper despite credible evidence that investigations on the two cases were concluded last year, with final reports ready months ago.

The OBOTAN case was quickly dusted-up and shoved to the AG's office by the SFO this year, after forays of media reports in your authoritative Gye Nyame Concord and the Crusading Guide newspapers, as well as serious discussions on a number of broadcast TV and radio stations led by Metro TV.

That of the TMA also went to the AG's office after this paper kick-started a chain of publications on the report last month, almost a year after the SFO had strongly denied the existence of a report after a Ghana News Agency report on the case was shut down with an apology from the management of the state-owned news agency.

Owusu-Ankomah would not, however, comment on whether he was satisfied with the work of the SFO, saying he is limited on what views he can publicly express on the SFO.

He was not however satisfied with media commentaries on the work of investigative organs such as the SFO. According to him, though the investigative institutions are not sacred and the public has the right to know, the media must separate allegations from facts. He also urged that conclusions must not be made by the media on the basis of the allegations.

He said media commentaries sometimes hem-in the investigative agencies and prevent an objective assessment of their findings. According to him, he has directed the SFO to avail his office of any report of its findings on any case.

The SFO has powers to investigate matters involving suspected offences provided for by law which appears to the Director on reasonable grounds to involve serious financial loss or economic loss to the State or to any State organisation or other institution in which the State has an interest. - Concord

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was literally on fire last Friday when three top officers of the organization fore into themselves with allegations and counter allegations of corruption. Flt Lt Kutsienyo (rtd), the Assistant Director in charge of Administration publicly accused the acting SFO Director, Theophilus Cudjoe of inefficiency and corruption.

Tetteh Mensah, Assistant Director in charge of Investigations also stormed into the controversy and accused Flt Lt Kutsienyo of fraudulently acquiring a NIVA belonging to the SFO.

On Thursday, Cudjoe and his agents locked up Flt Lt Kutsienyo's office for refusing to be interdicted. Flt Lt Kutsienyo also got the offices of the Acting Director and two others locked.

In an interview, Flt Lt Kutsienyo said, "We have eight graduates working here but this man has brought in a lady with a Diploma and has surprisingly made her the Senior Controller. This woman does not do anything. She just sits in the office, eat kenkey and smoke"

Flt Lt Kutsienyo said he acquired the vehicle in question through auction and has duly paid for it. He said the Acting Director wrote to him asking him to proceed on leave which he rejected since he (acting director) was not the rightful person to do so. He said the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) subsequently invited him on the matter.

Flt Lt Kutsienyo said at one time when he was going through some memorandum to enable him reply the Director's memo, his office was locked up preventing him from doing his work.

Tetteh Mensah, Assistant Director, Investigations, on his part said even though the NIVA vehicle was auctioned at the cost of ¢800,000, Flt Lt Kutsienyo clandestinely offered only ¢400,000 for it "which is criminal".

He said Flt Lt Kutsienyo's office was locked to force him to stay away from the office since he had previously threatened them, especially the acting Director. "We locked his office because his posture did not indicate that he was prepared to do what was expected of him". - Insight

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 4 September 2003 - A leading member of the NDC in the Ashanti Region has announced his defection to the ruling NPP. Alhaji Bawa Tanko who until Wednesday, was the Asokwa East constituency chairman of the NDC, announced his defection at a press conference in Kumasi. This comes just a day after the "Okafo Didi" (debtors eat) demonstration embarked upon by the NDC against the Kufuor administration.

The defected constituency chairman boycotted Tuesday's demonstration by the NDC to prove his point. The NPP Member of Parliament for Asokwa East, Edward Baffoe Bonney, the NPP constituency chairman for Asokwa East and other constituency executives were present at the press conference.

They NPP members said Alhaji Tanko's reasons for the defection had been investigated to ensure that he is not being planted by the NDC to create problems, since he has a track record of causing havoc in the NPP camp during the 2000 elections.

While commending the NPP for sound economic policies, Alhaji Tanko urged members, especially those of the Zongo community to throw their weight behind the NPP in moving the country towards the realization of Golden Age of it's socio-economic development. - Joy FM

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - Telephone interconnections may be disrupted on Thursday if workers of Ghana Telecom carry out their threats to register their dissatisfaction with the delays in resolving disagreements over interconnectivity rates with mobile phone operators.

The workers say they have decided to adopt a strategy to strongly register their displeasure at the slow pace at which the National Communication Authority (NCA) and the Ministry of Communications are handling the problem.

The interconnectivity rate is the fee paid by telecom operators as they transmit calls from one network to the other. The leader of the workers told Joy FM that the current interconnect tariff system is threatening the very survival of the company and their jobs.

Currently Ghana telecom, charges its customers ¢600 per minute for every call to a mobile phone via its fixed line. The company pays ¢320 out of the amount to mobile phone operators for each call. On the other hand the mobile operators charge ¢2,500 for each call to a Ghana

Telecom fixed line and pay ¢280 to the company. Ghana Telecom has already cited this as a major cause of its poor financial showing. Attempts at resolving the issue among the phone operators themselves have not worked out.

Faced with this frustration, Ghana Telecom issued a warning that it would increase its tariffs on mobile phone calls. But the company later backed down following an intervention by the National Communications Authority.

The workers say these developments could collapse the company. They have therefore decided to show their displeasure tomorrow unless the matter is not resolved.

The Chairman of the Accra North Divisional Union of Ghana Telecom, Emmanuel Darkwah told Joy FM that they have decided on this action as attempts to get response from government officials have failed to yield any positive response. "If the NCA is closing its eyes on the proposal which we sent to them, tomorrow, we have to send another paper and if we send the paper, from there, we will come down and start doing our own thing", he said.

According to Darkwah, the workers sent a letter to the NCA on the 6 August, this year, and demanded a reply within two weeks, but till date, they have not received any response.

He also dismissed suggestions that the issue ought to be handled by management and not the workers, saying the current situation is affecting their jobs. Darkwah noted that the workers have a right to talk because they will loose their jobs if the company continues to suffer.

"From December last year to May this year, while we (Ghana Telecom) were paying ¢58bn, ¢690m to them (mobile phone operators), they were paying us ¢2.1bn. So you see that this is not a business transaction that can augur well for the other party", the Union chairman told JOY FM.

The atmosphere at the headquarters of Ghana Telecom on Wednesday afternoon was a clear indication of the resolve of the workers to really send their message across in very serious and clear terms. - Joy FM

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - Energy Minister, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom has supported claims that the Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby "did not follow laid down procurement procedures in taking the decision to rent the SRP" (Strategic Reserve Plant).

In a letter dated, 17 June 2003 and addressed to the President, Dr Nduom also upheld findings of the Ministerial probe that the Board of Directors of the VRA did not play the role required of it in the rental (of the SRP) process and did not participate effectively in the decision making process.

The letter quotes the Ministerial committee as believing that "the VRA is incurring unnecessary significant rental cost even as the SRP's implementation continues to be delayed. "The committee finds that the VRA has as at 31 May 2003, incurred rental cost of about $10m and could be obligated to making payments of $1,375,000 a month".

According to Dr Nduom, the committee recommended further investigation of the SRP to assign specific responsibility for financial losses to the VRA. Part of his letter read, "The committee does not believe that the transition from mainly hydro-electric power to mainly thermal generation at the VRA has been managed properly". - Insight

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The acting Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority has issued a warning to the workers not to sign any petition to the President, concerning the embattled Chief Executive, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby. President Kufuor has held a series of meetings with the workers and management aimed at resolving the issue.

During a meeting last Thursday with the embattled chief executive and the workers' leaders, the national security coordinator, Francis Poku was asked to investigate outstanding issues which form the core of the workers' allegations against their Chief Executive.

JOY FM is reliably informed that the two-week investigation is nearing completion and will be presented to the President soon. However, the petition, which is yet to be presented to the President is causing a stir at the VRA Head Office in Accra.

The Chief Executive, Jabesh Amissah Arthur issued a directive on Monday noting that certain individuals were soliciting signatures to support a call on the President for an early resolution of the dispute.

It described the move as inappropriate saying it will not help in the early resolution of the matter. The workers who allegedly wrote the petition have been ordered to cease their action. And all workers have been asked to ignore any request for them append their signature to the petition.

Meanwhile, the workers leaders have been meeting over the last couple of days to find ways of containing the agitation among workers over the prolonged effort to resolve the Wereko Brobby issue. - Joy FM

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 4 September 2003 - Dr. Tony Aidoo, former Deputy Minister for Defence, has warned the government that another June 4th uprising will soon hit the country. He has therefore warned: "NPP should better watch on".

According to him the government is perpetrating "things that necessitated the June 4th uprising". But after judging the mood of NDC faithful, which clearly suggested their abhorrence for military insurgency, Dr. Aidoo tried Albeit unconvincingly to explain that "this time around the people are fed up with guns and the only weapon to kick out NPP away is the thumbs of the electorate".

He was addressing an NDC rally at Jackson Park in Kumasi on Tuesday. He also accused the government of having "imported taxi drivers and night watchmen to rule this country." - Independent

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The controversial waste management contract between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the City and Country Waste Limited (CCWL) has been long cancelled, but its ramifications are reverberating all the way to the doorsteps of the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

There are strong indications that the contract, which saddled the AMA with mountains of unpaid debt, was allegedly pushed down the road of causing financial loss by the long arms of former President Rawlings, his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and the former vice President and NDC flagbearer, John Evans Atta Mills with the alleged connivance of the Masai 'warrior' Eddie Annan.

Documents available to the "Statesman" point to an executive manipulation in the execution of the multi-million cedi contracts secured through the Canadian government loan and guaranteed by the Government of Ghana.

The $14,630,998 Canadian loan was used to procure waste disposal equipment and vehicles, through a Canadian company, Groupe Chagnon International Ltd, represented in Ghana by the chief executive of Masai, Eddie Annan.

According to the Serious Fraud Office, former President Rawlings instructed Nat Nunoo Amarteifio, the then AMA Chief Executive to commit the Assembly into the contract ostensibly to rid the city of garbage. Nunoo-Amarteifio strongly protested that the deal was a bad one because the AMA's budget could not support it. Nana Konadu is reported to have angrily accused him of sabotaging the government with his refusal to sign the contract.

"The final pressure was allegedly delivered by the former Vice President who called Amarteifio to the Castle and told him that the President wanted the contract signed and that if he Amarteifio would not sign the agreement, then he should quit the AMA before the President comes back from a visit he was taking abroad", the report said.

"If he decided to sign the contract however", Prof Mills is alleged to have instructed "then a picture of the signing should be taken and sent to the President before the President got back to Ghana". It was at this stage, Nunoo Amarteifio told investigators, that he gave in and signed the contract. - Statesman

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The management of the Volta River Authority (VRA) has denied earlier reports that the acting Chief Executive, Jabesh Amissah Arthur, issued a warning to the workers not to sign any petition to the President for the return of Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby to office.

Sources at the VRA told JOY FM that some workers were soliciting signatures of their colleagues to endorse a petition to President Kufuor to reinstate Dr Wereko-Brobby who stepped aside as Chief Executive to allow for investigations into allegations against him.

But the VRA's Public Affairs director, Mrs Ellen Essilfie told JOY FM that the petition by the workers was asking for a speedy resolution of the dispute and not the return of Dr Wereko-Brobby to office.

She also said the circular issued by the acting Chief Executive explained to the workers that their petition calling for an early resolution was inappropriate in view of an intervention last week by President Kufuor. "The import of this is, in view of His Excellency the President's intervention last week, the solicitation action is inappropriate and it does not help in the early resolution of the matter".

"There is no where in the circular which says that the signatures being solicited is to request the President to recall Dr Wereko-Brobby to office. This is definitely not what the circular says", Mrs Essilfie told JOY FM.

According to Mrs Essilfie, the acting Chief Executive has no intention to influence whatever decision the President will take on the matter. She also said the VRA management believes the President should be allowed time to resolve the issue and that neither the acting Chief Executive nor management has any qualms if Dr Wereko-Brobby is returned to office. - GHP

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - In most African elections, Big Men use coercion and bribes to stay in office. But since 2000, three major African nations have held real democratic presidential referendums. Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade ousted Abdou Diouf in March 2000.

President John Kufuor defeated Jerry Rawlings' party in Ghana nine months later. And in December 2002, Kenya's Mwai Kibaki triumphed over Daniel Arap Moi's handpicked successor. All three of these opposition leaders are elderly statesmen. Wade was 74 when he was elected, Kufuor was 63, and Kibaki 71.

One partial explanation for why old, familiar faces still win African elections comes in the pairing of two words rarely associated with Africa: Internet and democracy.

Ghana, Senegal, and Kenya all have large, wired, and relatively wealthy expatriate populations overseas. The expatriates want longtime tyrants out, and the Net offers increased electoral influence in the form of online fundraising. But living abroad, the only opposition candidates expats know are the old guard.

Ghana provides the best example. In its 2000 election, an online expat group called the Ghana Cyber Group raised $50,000 for Kufuor according to the group's founder, Yaw Owusu (pictured). Cyber Group members also aggressively used the Net for grassroots campaigning: they organized calls to family and friends back home, in some instances even threatening to stop remitting money to local chiefs who didn't go hut to hut rounding up votes for Kufuor.

Lacking centralized online campaigns, Kenyan and Senegalese expats have raised less money online than the Ghanaians in recent years. But Wade and Kibaki did use the Web more effectively than their opponents. Senegal was the first African nation to publish substantial election information online, and online discussions with expats were among Wade's campaign tools (see, for instance, www.sentoo.sn). Kenyans relied on several electoral sites, including Donor Information Centre on Elections in Kenya, kenyaelections2002.org, and the Institute for Education in Democracy, www.iedafrica.org. Nicholas Thompson is a fellow at the New America Foundation. - Foreign Policy

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, is to make available $30m towards the country's private sector development. The World Bank for approval is currently considering the document for the fund, which will be assessed within the next three years.

Modou Njie, the Regional Manager of Africa Project Development Facility (APDF), disclosed this in Accra yesterday when the Minister for Private Sector Development, Kwamena Bartels, met the executives of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Accra.

The meeting was to enable the SMEs to establish a structure between them and the Ministry for active representation of the aspiration of the medium-sized business enterprises in the country.

Njie also announced that Ghana was among eight countries in Africa to benefit from a $128 million IFC loan towards the development of the SMEs.

The loan, according to him, would be used for business service development, information and business environment as well as agricultural development. - Daily Graphic

The Special Assistant to the former President, Victor Smith says his boss' newly acquired dinghy (speedboat) is not meant for his pleasure. Rather, it is to assist the people of Tefle along the Volta River to control Bilharzias. Former President Rawlings has a house in Tefle.

In an interview with the "Ghanaian Voice" in Accra, Smith explained that the dinghy was an inflatable second hand saying "the boat is for his own pet project on the Volta Lake around Tefle in the Volta Region".

According to the Special Assistant, the problem in the area is caused by blockage of water flow into the sea by weeds on the river. So the former President decided to acquire the boat and attach a special rake he had bought, to clear the weeds from the lake, to allow the water to flow into the sea.

This, Smith said, would prevent stagnation of water that breeds the worms that causes Bilharzias. Smith said the dinghy cost the ex-President $15,000 with a duty tax of ¢100m. - Ghanaian Voice

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The Government has endorsed Ekwow Spio-Garbrah as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO). The government's endorsement provides a basis for the appointment to be confirmed by the CTO General Council.

According to the Minister of Information, Nana Ankomea he would head a three-man government delegation to attend the meeting of the Council in Kampala on Saturday 6 September 2003 at which Garbrah would be introduced.

He said the government's endorsement of Garbrah is in furtherance of the government's belief that political vindictiveness shot play a role in the support for Ghanaians for placement in high office, once such people are qualified. "There is also our confidence that as a former Minister of Communication, Garbrah will acquit himself creditably," he added. - Ghana Review International

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The Minister of Interior, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has emphasized government's desire for a free and tolerant society in which citizens could go about their lawful affairs without fear of unnecessary intimidation or harassment from forces of the state.

His remarks was in reaction to recent media reports of the arrest of one Yaw Kusi, a motor mechanic based in Kumasi for allegedly making uncomplimentary remarks about President John Kufuor.

Owusu-Agyeman said the matter got to his attention on 27 August 2003 and immediately ordered an investigation, which confirmed the media reports on the arrest of Kusi.

The police was said to have been ordered by the Interior Minister to discontinue their action against Kusi, as the state had no interest in prosecuting him. Kusi has according been discharged by the court, as at last Friday 29 August 2003.

In a related development, the Information Minister, Nana Ankomea said that it has come to government's attention a report of the harassment of bread sellers by the DCE of North Tongu District. The bread sellers were alleged to have behaved rudely towards President Kufuor when he was on his way to Keta.

He said the government is a liberal one and has made provision for all and sundry to exhibit their basic human rights but won't take it kindly should people take the law into their own hands or trade insults on people without any provocation. However, the government would not condole the behaviour of the DCE or insulting behaviour by some section of the public as reported in the media, notwithstanding the fact that the NPP government would not endorse any document that would tend to intimidate the people of Ghana.

The Minister urged the police that in the pursuit of their duties, they must be mindful of the need to be tolerant of all views especially where national security is not threatened. He said the security agencies would be sensitized on issues of this nature. - Ghana Review International

Accra (Greater Accra) 4 September 2003 - The Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo-Maafo has stated that arrears due on the GETfund for the period September 2000 to June 2003 is ¢208.8bn and not the stated arrears position as over ¢400bn by the National Union of Ghana Student (NUGS) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

"On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, I called for a meeting of all stakeholders - especially of the NUGS and government to arrive at a reconciled figure made available to me by the GETfund Administrator and VAT Secretariat, at the end of the meeting on Thursday 21 August, all parties accepted the figures of ¢208.8bn as the arrears due on the GETfund, an arrears position far less than the position put forth by the NUGS and NDC.

"The NDC did not take up the call to join to find a reconciled position, but rather sought to deride my figures, notwithstanding the source of my figure." "I did not invite the NDC to our subsequent meetings on the issues at stake, because the primary source of curing any difference is NUGS," he lamented.

Osafo Maafo said the NUGS and the NDC only used the projected figures in the budget statements of the Finance Ministry to arrive at the wrongly stated arrears position as over ¢400bn. "The NDC was joined by all kinds of commentators who strangely, did not also make any reference to the source from which I had arrived at the arrears position," he added. - Ghana Review International