By Helena Selby
The Akosombo dam has been of service to the people of Ghana, and some of its neighbouring countries for some decades now, but just as anything which wears out in its productivity as times go by, or if it is subject too much pressure, so has the Akosombo dam reduced its productiveness to the people of Ghana and neighbouring countries.
It is the hope of the nation that history does not repeat itself, where the water level of the Akosombo dam fell, due to inadequate rainfall, compelling the electricity company to ration power for the whole nation, and the other neighbouring countries.
The Bui hydropower dam project is one of the hydropower dams meant to complement the supply of electricity to the people of Ghana. The project is expected to be completed and commissioned in mid 2013. Until then, however, other milestones anticipated include the commencement of river impoundment in the first half of 2011. The completion of installation of the first generation unit, to enable production of the first unit of electricity, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2012.
BUI HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT
According to the National Energy Policy, the energy sector vision is to develop an "Energy Economy" to secure reliable supply of high quality energy services for all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The goal is to increase installed power generation capacity quickly, from about 2,000 megawatts (MW) today, to 5,000MW by 2015, and increase electricity access, from the current level of 66%, to universal access by 2020.
Hydroelectricity is the primary source of Ghana's electrical energy. The Akosombo and Kpong plants have installed capacities of 1,020MW and 160MW respectively. Currently, the two VRA hydro plants produce 4,800gigawatts hour per year (GWh/yr).
The government has sought to add 400MW to the existing 1,620MW of installed capacity, by constructing the Bui Hydroelectric Plant. Three years ago, the former administration cut the sod for work to commence on the Bui Hydroelectric Project. The project is expected to cost US$622 million. It is funded with a Concessional Loan facility of US$263.5 million, and a Buyer's Credit facility of US$298.5 million from the Government of the People's Republic of China, and the China EXIM Bank respectively, with a Government of Ghana contribution of US$60 million.
Benefits to the people of Ghana
In addition to the obvious benefit of power generation, there is also that of irrigation. There is a potential irrigable land of 30,000ha, which would serve as the bedrock for the massive mechanised farming of food and cash crops, fisheries and animal husbandry. This will also aid in the provision of water supply for domestic use.
The long term benefits of the project will include job creation, improvement of educational, health and social facilities within the area, and the development of transportation networks to create access to markets for farm produce, etc.
The country's power generation capacity will be increased, thus enhancing power supply in the country in general, and in particular, the reliability and security of power supply to the Northern Sector of the country. Also, there would be a reinforcement of the transmission network in the three Northern Regions of the country.
Resettlement Program
According the Assistant External Relations Officer of the Bui Dam project, Gabriel Apatu, the development of the Bui dam will create a reservoir that will involve the inundation, at full supply level, of about 444km2 of land, including parts of the Bui National Park.
The area of permanent inundation includes six villages which need to be resettled. Although another community, Dokokyina, will not be inundated, it will need to be relocated, because the community will be surrounded on three sides by the reservoir (south, east and west), and large parts of their land, which is used for cultivation, grazing, hunting and collection of forest products, will also be submerged.
It is also intended to relocate the Bui Camp, the current residence of Game and Wildlife Officers assigned to protect the Bui National Park. The Project therefore involves the resettlement of eight communities, with a total of 1,216 people.
Resettlement Package
Unlike the Akosombo dam project, which rendered my people homeless, the authorities in charge are on the verge to make sure history does not repeat itself in the Bui Dam project.
The Assistant External Relations Officer has indicated that the main elements of the Resettlement & Community Support program, otherwise known as the Resettlement Package, include new resettlement townships with the following communal facilities: Community Centre, Nursery, Place of worship, Boreholes, Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pits (KVIPs). Houses - that is room for kitchen, bath, living room, and Compensation for loss of economic trees at Land Valuation Board rates.
It will also include grants, thus, GH ¢100 to relocation, GH ¢50 to till new farm, income support: GH ¢100/month/household for one year, and livelihood enhancement, thus, assisting the people with other economic activities to augment their incomes.
Implementation of the Resettlement Program has been divided into three parts; Part A, Part B and Part C.
The Resettlement Part "A" involved the resettling of those four communities situated where the dam construction activities were to take place. Obviously, because of the direct impact on the dam construction, the four communities (Brewohodi, Dam site, Agbegikuro and Lucene) were the first to be resettled. The settlement is made up of forty-two households, and a total number of two hundred and seventeen people.
He said the resettlement Part "B" is to resettle three other communities; Bui Village, Bator Akanyakrom and Dokokyina at the Bui Township. Consultations about the resettlement site, house designs and location of social amenities have all been worked through, and agreed upon. Construction of the township is almost complete. The Camp will have 170 housing units, a Community Centre, hand pump boreholes, places of worship, schools, etc.
The Bui Project Authority (BPA) invited a team of archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, to undertake 'salvage archaeology', in order to preserve the heritage of the three communities, for posterity.
Resettlement Part "C" involves resettling personnel of the Game and Wildlife Division living at the old and dilapidated Bui Camp. A total of 36 households will be relocated.
Later, in December 2010, the BPA will launch a Livelihood Enhancement Program to assist the people, both resettled and host-communities, to acquire other skills to improve their economic activities and living standards.
In an interview with Gabriel Apatu, he indicated that the Bui Hydroelectric Project, when completed, will produce about 1,000GW per hour of energy annually. The hydro plant will have a Maximum Operating Level of 183.91 meters above sea level (masl), with an Exceptional Maximum Operating Level of 185.40masl. Its Minimum Operating Level will be 160.00masl. Available statistics peg the average annual inflow of water at 205m3/s.
The Bui plant is a Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam, which has spillways, power intakes and penstocks located within the concrete dam.
There is also a powerhouse at the toe of the dam on the left bank, two saddle dams on the right bank and a switchyard.
A permanent bridge will also be built downstream of the dam. Power produced from the plant will be evacuated from the Bui Switchyard, through 161kV transmission facilities, which will be operated as part of the national Interconnected Transmission System.
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
Liberia: Government Announces Oil Agreement with Chevron to Explore Liberian Waters
The Government of Liberia announced Friday, August 27, that it has entered into an agreement with the Chevron Corporation to explore three deepwater concessions in Liberian waters. Under the agreement, the company will conduct a three-year exploratory program that is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 201
The agreement has been approved by the Executive Mansion and submitted to the Legislature for consideration and ratification.
These investments, along with the rehabilitation of the Freeport of Monrovia and the first direct flights from the U.S. to Monrovia in 20 years starting September 5 through Delta Air lines, will provide real economic opportunities for the people of Liberia.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said: "We are delighted to welcome Chevron as a partner for Liberia to explore our oil and gas assets. Along with its investment, Chevron will bring the latest technologies, best practices in transparency and efficiencies, and an excellent record of community and social responsibility."
The Liberian President continued: "Energy is one of my top priorities, and with Chevron's technical skills, we will be able to build our own capacity in the sector, making a meaningful contribution to economic growth and job creation. This is a crucial partnership for Liberia."
Chevron's entry into Liberia consolidates a growing trend of major international investment projects in the country's strategic sectors. It is a further vote of confidence in the nation's future, adding to the list of Liberia's other business partners, including ArcelorMittal, Firestone, BHP Billiton, Sime Darby, Anadarko Petroleum, China Union, and, most recently, a $1.6 billion agreement with Golden Veroleum
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Ashaiman Residents Mad At MP
RESIDENTS OF Ashaiman, especially those living at Asensu and Obakatse have expressed dissatisfaction with the Member of Parliament (MP), Alfred Kwame Agbesi, accusing him of not meeting them to discuss the development of the area.
Some residents noted that the MP usually claims to be having marathon meetings with top government officials.
The MP, according to them, used these excuses to avoid them (electorate) even before the area was hit by torrential rains on June 20, 2010 which claimed some lives.
The residents claimed that the First Lady Mrs. Naadu Mills former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong have visited the area and made donations, explaining that the MP had not commiserated with flood victims.
The residents further alleged that soon after the rains when some dignitaries toured the affected areas to ascertain the extent of damage and to sympathize with the affected persons, the MP was nowhere to be found, with others alleging that he was in South Africa watching the World Cup matches when the incident occurred.
When DAILY GUIDE contacted Lawyer Agbesi on phone he said it was unfortunate how some of the residents could peddle such falsehoods, explaining that he had visited the area to sympathize with the flood victims.
He admitted that he was not in the country on the said day, adding, “But I can tell you I was not in South Africa as some people are saying. I was in Brussels, Belgium on an official assignment and so that is never true.
The MP said he received information that his constituency had been strucked by torrential rains which caused damage to several homes and killed some residents.
He told DAILY GUIDE that he instructed his outfit to quickly assist the affected residents.
The MP indicated that when he arrived in the country, he personally toured the affected areas at Lebanon, Ashaiman Newtown, Agric, Asensu and Obakatse Electoral Areas to sympathize with them and also made donations to the affected persons in Ashaiman Middle East, where he lives.
“And so for me, it can never be true that I did not sympathize with the people who voted for me to represent them. I will not turn my back against them because I owe them my services,” he noted.
He called for peace and unity in the Constituency, stressing that “in that way, we can grow our Constituency.”
The MP wished the Muslims in his Constituency and across the country a happy Ramadan.
From Inusa Musah, Ashaiman
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Immediate Openings
There is immediate need for Writers, Journalists, Marketing Personnel, Clerical Staff for web and newspaper publication.
Interested individuals must have thorough knowledge of web applications, newspaper publishing, and must possess good typing skills. Applicants must have fair understanding of HTML, Javascript, Php , Blue Voda or Dreamweaver and Adobe Design Master. Successful applicants must display command of the English Language and orderly style of material presentation in their writings and must provide proof of Ghanaian Citizenship and Age. Applications captioned "ÄPPLICATION" must reach the Administrator by September 10, 2010 via email to :
admin@ghanatelescope.com
OR
http://ghanatelescope.com/contact.html
ABSOLUTELY NO PHONE CALLS
Human Resources Administration
Ghana Telescope.com
Accra Ghana
admin@ghanatelescope.com
Interested individuals must have thorough knowledge of web applications, newspaper publishing, and must possess good typing skills. Applicants must have fair understanding of HTML, Javascript, Php , Blue Voda or Dreamweaver and Adobe Design Master. Successful applicants must display command of the English Language and orderly style of material presentation in their writings and must provide proof of Ghanaian Citizenship and Age. Applications captioned "ÄPPLICATION" must reach the Administrator by September 10, 2010 via email to :
admin@ghanatelescope.com
OR
http://ghanatelescope.com/contact.html
ABSOLUTELY NO PHONE CALLS
Human Resources Administration
Ghana Telescope.com
Accra Ghana
admin@ghanatelescope.com
Overcrowding ripping Sunyani Prisons apart
Seven hundred and eighty-three inmates made up of 611 convicts and 172 on remand occupy a space originally provided for 400 jailed people at the Sunyani Prisons. As a result of the congestion and unhygienic conditions, inmates suffer from diseases including Tuberculosis, Malaria and Skin diseases
Assistant Chief Officer Moses Kwabena Asiedu, acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Prisons Service disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Friday.
The PRO appealed to the Prison Council to liaise with the government to expand and improve infrastructure at the prisons. Asst. Chief Officer Asiedu granted the interview in Sunyani after the Service held a send-off party in honour of Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Kwame Ackom Gyeedu, Regional Prisons Commander, who is on transfer to the Kumasi Central Prisons.
The acting regional PRO expressed concern about inadequate staffing and equipment which made it difficult to offer skill training in shoe making, basket weaving, electrical and tailoring to inmates. "The re-integration of convicts into society is a shared responsibility and the general public must support the Prisons to mould convicts to become responsible citizens after serving their sentences", he added.
DDP Gyeedu served in Brong-Ahafo for 10 months and his administration saw the provision of security lights in and out of the prisons walls and the conversion of pan latrines at the Bola and Zongo quarters.
Other landmark achievements were the construction of internal inmates visit centre, provision of prepaid telephone for inmates as well as accommodation for about 53 officers of the service.
GNA
Assistant Chief Officer Moses Kwabena Asiedu, acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Prisons Service disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Friday.
The PRO appealed to the Prison Council to liaise with the government to expand and improve infrastructure at the prisons. Asst. Chief Officer Asiedu granted the interview in Sunyani after the Service held a send-off party in honour of Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Kwame Ackom Gyeedu, Regional Prisons Commander, who is on transfer to the Kumasi Central Prisons.
The acting regional PRO expressed concern about inadequate staffing and equipment which made it difficult to offer skill training in shoe making, basket weaving, electrical and tailoring to inmates. "The re-integration of convicts into society is a shared responsibility and the general public must support the Prisons to mould convicts to become responsible citizens after serving their sentences", he added.
DDP Gyeedu served in Brong-Ahafo for 10 months and his administration saw the provision of security lights in and out of the prisons walls and the conversion of pan latrines at the Bola and Zongo quarters.
Other landmark achievements were the construction of internal inmates visit centre, provision of prepaid telephone for inmates as well as accommodation for about 53 officers of the service.
GNA
National Security Stops Workers Demo
THE NATIONAL Security has held a crisis meeting with the leadership of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) to save the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) from any potential embarrassment, following days of nationwide demonstrations by the agitated workers.
It was not immediately clear why the National Security should come into the fray but DAILY GUIDE has been reliably informed that President John Mills instructed the National Security Coordinator to hold the emergency meeting with CLOGSAG on Wednesday August 25, 2010, after returning from his vacation in the United States, as he feared continuous agitation of the workers’ group could create security concerns for his already-challenged administration.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE yesterday, the acting president of CLOGSAG, Edwards Tennyson Foli, indicated the meeting was fruitful as government has now agreed to listen to their concerns, particularly the right to negotiate on the conditions of service for civil servants for the year 2010.
CLOGSAG had embarked on a four-day nationwide demonstration to press home their demands to negotiate with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and government for better conditions of service, having contended that the 2010 Single Spine Salary Policy (SSSP) was unfair and incapable of alleviating the suffering of its members.
All the demands apparently fell on deaf ears and this resulted in the nationwide demonstration by members to register their displeasure about their inability to negotiate with government and its agency, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, for a better salary structure.
CLOGSAG yesterday called off the demonstrations following the marathon meeting with the National Security, pending further negotiations with all stakeholders in the matter.
According to Tennyson Foli, their call for fresh negotiations has been necessitated by the fact that 98 percent of civil servants have been placed very low on the grading structure of the new policy.
At the meeting with the National Security, he indicated, they agreed that the technical committee which was addressing their concerns on the implementation of the SSSP, should go back to the negotiating table and deal with the matter.
Mr. Foli said there will be a national executive meeting of CLOGSAG today to brief regional executives about the latest development on their concerns.
“I am sure certain concrete decisions will be taken at the meeting on our next line of action,” he hinted DAILY GUIDE.
It would be recalled that GLOGSAG members, during various demonstrations, had carried placards with inscriptions, ‘His Excellency come to the aid of GLOGSAG’, ‘Members of GLOGSAG are professionals so they deserve Professional Allowance’, ‘CLOGSAG has the capacity to negotiate’, and ‘We deserve fair treatment from Fair Wages Commission’.
The workers indicated they did not want Minister of Employment and Social Welfare Enoch Teye Mensah or his Deputy, Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere, to be involved in any future negotiations following days of media war between the workers’ group and the two ministers of state.
E.T. Mensah incurred the wrath of the workers after he reportedly described CLOGSAG members as a pack of “retired” old-fashioned and blockheaded officers.
Calling for the removal of the minister, a highly-infuriated CLOGSAG leadership indicated that “for one to be appointed a minister, one must have moral thinking. E. T. Mensah does not have a moral thinking”.
Also describing the CLOGSAG demonstrations as illegal, Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere threatened that government was going to freeze the workers’ salaries if they did not go back to work.
However, the workers group described comments by Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere as unfortunate and baseless.
Tennyson Foli told DAILY GUIDE that if the minister and his boss had listened to CLOGSAG and addressed their concerns, the demonstrations would not have been necessary.
It was not immediately clear why the National Security should come into the fray but DAILY GUIDE has been reliably informed that President John Mills instructed the National Security Coordinator to hold the emergency meeting with CLOGSAG on Wednesday August 25, 2010, after returning from his vacation in the United States, as he feared continuous agitation of the workers’ group could create security concerns for his already-challenged administration.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE yesterday, the acting president of CLOGSAG, Edwards Tennyson Foli, indicated the meeting was fruitful as government has now agreed to listen to their concerns, particularly the right to negotiate on the conditions of service for civil servants for the year 2010.
CLOGSAG had embarked on a four-day nationwide demonstration to press home their demands to negotiate with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and government for better conditions of service, having contended that the 2010 Single Spine Salary Policy (SSSP) was unfair and incapable of alleviating the suffering of its members.
All the demands apparently fell on deaf ears and this resulted in the nationwide demonstration by members to register their displeasure about their inability to negotiate with government and its agency, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, for a better salary structure.
CLOGSAG yesterday called off the demonstrations following the marathon meeting with the National Security, pending further negotiations with all stakeholders in the matter.
According to Tennyson Foli, their call for fresh negotiations has been necessitated by the fact that 98 percent of civil servants have been placed very low on the grading structure of the new policy.
At the meeting with the National Security, he indicated, they agreed that the technical committee which was addressing their concerns on the implementation of the SSSP, should go back to the negotiating table and deal with the matter.
Mr. Foli said there will be a national executive meeting of CLOGSAG today to brief regional executives about the latest development on their concerns.
“I am sure certain concrete decisions will be taken at the meeting on our next line of action,” he hinted DAILY GUIDE.
It would be recalled that GLOGSAG members, during various demonstrations, had carried placards with inscriptions, ‘His Excellency come to the aid of GLOGSAG’, ‘Members of GLOGSAG are professionals so they deserve Professional Allowance’, ‘CLOGSAG has the capacity to negotiate’, and ‘We deserve fair treatment from Fair Wages Commission’.
The workers indicated they did not want Minister of Employment and Social Welfare Enoch Teye Mensah or his Deputy, Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere, to be involved in any future negotiations following days of media war between the workers’ group and the two ministers of state.
E.T. Mensah incurred the wrath of the workers after he reportedly described CLOGSAG members as a pack of “retired” old-fashioned and blockheaded officers.
Calling for the removal of the minister, a highly-infuriated CLOGSAG leadership indicated that “for one to be appointed a minister, one must have moral thinking. E. T. Mensah does not have a moral thinking”.
Also describing the CLOGSAG demonstrations as illegal, Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere threatened that government was going to freeze the workers’ salaries if they did not go back to work.
However, the workers group described comments by Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere as unfortunate and baseless.
Tennyson Foli told DAILY GUIDE that if the minister and his boss had listened to CLOGSAG and addressed their concerns, the demonstrations would not have been necessary.
Friday, August 27, 2010
USAID supports Ghana Health Service
Sekondi, Aug 25, GNA - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has drawn up a four-year programme during which it would assist the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in three regions.
About 40 million dollars is expected to be spent on the programme in the Western, Central and Greater Accra regions that are being used for the four-year pilot project, Dr Divine K. Atupra, Maternal and Child Health Specialist of the Focus Region Health Project (FRHP), told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in Takoradi.
Dr Atupra was leading his colleagues of the FRHP, an affiliate organization with the USAID, to present the first batch of medical materials made up of medical models, family planning, child birth protocols and training materials to the Western Regional Health Directorate in Sekondi.
The items included birth stimulators, norplant arms, replacement skins, Zoe FPs, educators and books.
Mad Susan Wright, Deputy Chief/Senior Advisor of USAID, Ghana, explained that the project would focus on Family Planning, Childbirth and Safe Motherhood.
Mad Wright said the Central and Greater Accra regions' Health Directorates had received their share of the items.
Dr Mrs Linda Vanoto, the Western Regional Director of Health Services, lauded the USAID for the donation and said they would enhance training of health personnel.
She said the items would be distributed to all health institutions in the district to enable the personnel and nurses make reference to them when in doubt to ensure quality services.
GNA
NDC ex- Vice-Chair disappointed in Sekou Nkrumah
Saeed Sinare, NDC Vice-Chair
An ex-Vice-Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Alhaji Saeed Sinare says he is disappointed in the dismissed National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council.
He said Dr Sekou Nkrumah’s consistent public tantrums against President J.E.A. Mills were hurting and urged the son of the first president of Ghana to desist from persistently undermining the president.
Dr Sekou Nkrumah had been speaking to Joy FM’s Super Morning Show host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on issues ranging from the president’s ineptitude, uncharismatic nature, to the government’s poor performance.
Reiterating his calls for the governing party to look for a more experienced, charismatic, and inspirational leader to lead it into the 2012 elections, he said members of the NDC must remember that the ‘fine gentleman’ accolade ascribed to the president does not put food on people’s tables.
But Alhaji Sinare who appeared pierced by the comments called into the programme and said “I am a little disappointed in my brother Sekou with some of these comments he has made this morning.”
The NDC Vice-Chairman proceeded to advise Dr Nkrumah not “to wash his dirty linen outside. I have had a very good understanding, we’ve had about three or four meetings and it’s very unfortunate that [after that understanding Sekou is saying these things publicly]. I’m really very, very hurt. If it is any issue that he has, he should pass it through the right channel.”
Alhaji Sinare said if Dr Sekou Nkrumah has any candidate he wishes to campaign for in the 2011 congress to select the party’s flag-bearer, “he should wait for the right time to come and work hard for that candidate to emerge.”
“I’ve told Sekou [to] learn from me. I have been a very patient person in this great party of ours,” he counseled.
Dr Nkrumah was however undaunted. “What is wrong with saying that if the NDC has a better leadership, we should put that leadership forward to replace Prof. Mills?, he asked rhetorically. “…I’ve never insulted Prof. Mills. I still respect him as a person but I don’t think he is a good leader,” he stated.
And if Alhaji Sinare thinks Dr Sekou Nkrumah is going to tone down, he should listen, “I will continue to speak my mind, am not manipulated by anybody…I want a better leadership for this country, somebody who can inspire all of us to feel part of the vision, that big dream [of the country].”
Play the attached audio and listen to excerpts of the interview with Alhaji Sinare and Dr Sekou Nkrumah.
Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
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Thursday, August 26, 2010
Inter Milan Trail Kwadwo Asamoah
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS Inter Milan have shown strong interest in Ghana’s World Cup star Kwadwo Asamoah, information reaching DAILY GUIDE SPORTS indicates.
The Udinese of Italy left-footed player is said to be on the radar of Inter Milan because they see him as a huge asset to their aspirations for a title defence this season.
Sources close to the player said Inter Milan officials have made their plans of securing the services of Asamoah known to his managers; but so far no deal has been sealed. Asamoah, who is blessed with quick feet, was instrumental in the Black Stars team that reached the last eight of the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup.
Prior to the Mundial, Asamoah attracted media attention across Europe when he produced champagne performances for Udinese last season.
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NDC’s 18 Months Is Better Than NPP’s First 4years
Mr. Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister for Information
Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, flagbearer for the New Patriotic Party in 2012 is reported to have said that President Mills will last for only a term because of how ‘bad’ he is performing in his administration.
Interacting with the media in Takoradi during his campaign trip, he added that the Atta Mills government has no better policies for Ghanaians and so “they will show them the way out in 2012”.
Reacting to this in an interview with PeaceFM News, Mr. Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister for Information stated that “it is clear Nana has started with his campaign and it is normal for him to make such statements.” However, he does not agree with his assertions because it is just 18 months of the work and even that, the President has done a lot compared to the first 4 years of the NPP’s rule.
He enumerated on the distribution of free School Uniforms and Exercise books, reduction in inflation, stabilization of the currency, as some of the achievements of the Mills’ government.
“You cannot say therefore that the president has done nothing. The President wants to ensure that everybody gets a share of the National Cake,” Okudjeto Ablakwa said.
Reacting to what the Deputy Minister said, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, spokesperson for Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, stated that “the distribution of free school uniforms and exercise books that the Minister is talking about has not been extended to all schools.”
“I travel a lot to remote areas in the country but I have not come across any of the things he is saying in the schools, meaning that they have not gotten anywhere with that project,” he said.
He added that “what Nana said is a reflection of what he has seen and what Ghanaians are saying; so has the right to say it.”
Source: Rebecca Quaye/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Institute of Journalism
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"E.T Mensah does not have a moral thinking."
"For one to be appointed a minister, one must have a moral thinking. E.T Mensah does not have a moral thinking.
"These words were the assessment of leaders of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOG SAG) on the Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Enock Teye Mensah, yesterday, after they embarked on a 3-day demonstration in Accra to press home their demand for enhanced wages.
According to the workers, they do not want E.T Mensah or his deputy, Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere to be involved in their on-going negotiations and urged President Mills to replace Mr. Mensah immediately.
They said they would rather negotiate with the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.
The group alleged that before the 2008 elections, the deputy minister in particular had met them on countless occasions and promised to deal with their grievances when his party came to power. Unfortunately, since the new administration took over, he had reneged on his promises and was now 100 busy to meet them, they stated.
They stressed that they were not playing politics with their' demands as being alleged by the ministers. "Our pockets are empty. We are neither NPP nor NDC but workers who want our grievances addressed," they screamed wildly yesterday to the media.
Responding to the action of the aggrieved workers and their claims, Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere said the strike was illegal and government was going to take action to stop it and also put a freeze on their salaries if they did not go back to work.
"If they do not stop, we will have to take some actions against workers who are on strike and indeed it will be against the leadership. If they exhaust all processes and resort to strike, we will let the law take its course... we will sue them for embarking on illegal strike. If you are a workers' leader and you ignore the laid-down processes and threaten and carry out strike, should we allow you to continue with impunity? The answer is no.
"We will be taking down the register of those who will be coming to work from tomorrow and do not any other reason than to assume that they are on strike we will deal with them appropriately because their actions are inimical to the contract of employment of the state... if you do not go to work, do you have the justifications to collect your salary? So we will deal with them." he told Citi FM yesterday.
It will be recalled that the leadership of CLOG SAG last week accused Mr. Mensah of plotting to 'shit-bomb' their members because he suspected they were being sponsored by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
So angry were the leaders of CLOG SAG that they have accordingly called on their members to embark on daily nationwide demonstrations From Tuesday August 24 to Friday August 27.
"We have been told by the very persons he is plotting with and we are not surprised because that is his stock-in trade. We are ready for him and as we said in the press statement, we have bought disinfectants like Detol and 'akeshaa' to clean up the place. He cannot scare us with his shit bomb tactics," the leadership of CLOG SAG told DAILY GUIDE just after they had addressed a press conference in Accra.
The leaders appeared very agitated as some of them ignored the presence of journalists and rained insults on the gray-haired minister. The insults were simply unprintable and the actual meanings would be best appreciated in the Ga language which was mostly used.
They had red bands around their heads and wrists as some of them shouted and threw angry fists skyward.
"For now, what we would do is to advise the Minister to undertake courses in labour related issues starting from the Ghana Labour College and may further it at the University of Cape Coast if he so wishes, For him to update his skills in modern trends in labour relations. This would enable him to build his capacity to administer his office on labour matters and to appropriately advise the President on good governance," Edward Tennyson Foli, acting president of the association noted.
CLOGSAG members told the media that they were angry because E.T Mensah had described them as a pack of "retired old-fashioned and blockheaded officers" belonging to an association that "was formed with funding from the New Patriotic Party."
Source: Daily Guide/Ghana
Nana Addo Can’t Woo Me Into NPP - Sekou Nkrumah
The former National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council, Dr. Sekou Nkrumah, has asked the general public, especially members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) not to misconstrue the portrait which was carried on the front page of the Daily Guide newspaper today.
According to him, political barriers should not bar people from engaging in a chit-chat or in sharing ideas.
Conveying some sense of humour, Dr. Sekou Nkrumah stated that Nana Addo could not woo him into the NPP; hence “it was the other way round”.
The Daily Guide newspaper on Wednesday featured the son of Ghana's first president in a hearty chat with Nana Addo, the NPP's presidential candidate for elections 2012, on its front page.
Speaking on the Gold NewsPaper Review on Radio Gold, Sekou Nkrumah stated that he was still with the NDC and would whole-heartedly support any candidate the party presents in 2012.
Briefing Alhassan Suhini, host of the programme, Dr. Sekou Nkrumah said that though the performance of the NDC government was not “impressive”, he could not envisage a “change in leadership” within the party to make things right.
Touching on the upcoming 2012 General Elections, Mr. Sekou Nkrumah, who described Nana Akufo Addo as a healthy and a charismatic person who was fully prepared for the elections, however, added that he could not stick his neck out and predict a winner between the NDC and the NPP.
He advised concerned NDC activists to halt their verbal attacks on him when he “suggested that President Atta Mills would go for one term”, pointing out that Ghana had passed the era of political intimidation and as such people were free to express their opinions.
“…expressing your opinion freely is healthy for the country and shows we are brothers and sisters,” he said.
....Read More
Listen To Interview Here
Rawlings Cautions United States On Democracy
Former President Rawlings has called on the United States to be cautious in judging the success of democratic regimes on the continent.
He said on numerous occasions the United States and other countries of the West have supported elected regimes that disregard the true meaning of freedom and justice.
Speaking last Friday during a courtesy call on him by a United States Congressional delegation led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the former President, who is also the founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) said many elected governments have failed their electorate because they were wittingly or unwittingly propped by Western countries who see no wrong with these governments because they were assumed to have been elected by popular vote.
The former President thus called on the United States not to ignore freedom and justice as a measuring rod in determining the success of African democracies. He said in the United States elections are won on economic policy rather than the application of freedom and justice because institutions that protect such freedoms have passed the test of time and work efficiently.
Accompanied by Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and Special Aide, Kofi Adams, former President Rawlings noted that in Ghana and some parts of Africa governments gain the confidence of the electorate by guaranteeing freedom and justice and ensuring that the wrongs of the past are corrected expeditiously.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee commended Ghana for the strides it had made in its democratic development and praised former President Rawlings for the role he played in establishing the current political dispensation.
She encouraged the government and people of Ghana to protect the country¹s democratic ideals and work to develop it further.
On Ghana¹s oil find Congresswoman Jackson Lee counselled stakeholders to ensure that the newly found natural resource is prudently applied to the socio economic development of Ghana so the ordinary people can enjoy the benefits.
Colleague Congressmen Bob Inglis and Henry Brown as well as Donald Teitelbaum, United States Ambassador to Ghana, accompanied Congresswoman Lee. Others on the delegation were Congressional staff Genell Brown and Dave Grimaldi as well as Vernelle Trim, Political Counsellor at the American Embassy in Accra.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee represents the 18th District of Texas and has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995. She serves on the House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security and the Judiciary.
Visit Former President Rawlings¹ blog site - http://jjrawlings.wordpress.com/
4 die in Tema beach explosion
Four people are reported dead following an explosion at the Tema New Town Beach, Wednesday.
The explosion occurred after a mob allegedly siphoned fuel from a vessel that had docked at the beach.
Police are still looking for the remains of the dead bodies as well as several other injured persons.
The crime officer at the Tema Newtown, Ousman Alhassan confirmed the incident to Adom FM's Maame Esi Thompson but said the bodies of the victims could not be traced.
The injured persons could also not be traced for further investigations.
Maame Esi Thompson told Joy News residents are not cooperating with the police fearing they could be arrested.
It is still not clear what triggered the explosion.
Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Rajevac names squad for Swazi qualifier
Milovan Rajevac has announced a 22-man squad for the opening 2012 African Nations Cup qualifying match against Swaziland next month.
Two uncapped players are included in the squad with the Black Stars coach welcoming a host of his World Cup stars back into the squad.
Jordan Ayew, the 18-year-old junior brother of Ghana international Andre has earned a debut call up. Asante Kotoko's Isaac Amoako is on the list as the goalkeeper gets his maiden invitation into the Black Stars.
Ghana plays the Swazis on September 5 in the opening Group I game in Lombamba as the Black Stars, losing finalist in the last tournament aim for a place in the finals of the competition to be co-hosted by Gabon/ Equatorial Guinea. The group also includes Congo and Sudan.
Ghana squad:
Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Unattached), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals, Ghana) Isaac Amoako (Asante Kotoko, Ghana)
Defenders: John Paintsil (Fulham, England) Samuel Inkoom (Basel, Switzerland) Hans Adu-Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), David Addy (Academica Coimbra, Portugal) John Boye (Rennes, France), Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea, Ghana) Jonathan Mensah (Granada, Spain) Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim, Germany)
Midfielders: Anthony Annan (Rosenborg, Norway), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese, Italy) Andre Ayew (Marseille, France) Kevin-Prince Boateng (AC Milan, Italy) Jordan Ayew (Marseille, France) Bernard Kumordzi (Panionios FC, Greece)
Attackers: Asamoah Gyan (Rennes, France), Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland) Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim, Germany) Yaw Antwi (FK Vojvodina, Serbia)
...Read More
Govt explores rescue plan for Ghana Post
The Government is exploring avenues to rescue the Ghana Post (GP) from the current financial and administrative challenges confronting its operations, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Dr Gideon Quarcoo, has assured.
As part of the rescue plan, the Ministry of Finance has been advised to bail out the ailing postal service provider by releasing funds to pay the salaries and retirement benefits of the workers.
In an interview in Accra, yesterday, after opening the second regional workshop on the new approach to postal services and administration for five English-speaking West African countries, Dr Quarcoo told the Daily Graphic that the government would not hesitate to look for a strategic investor to partner the GP if it became necessary.
He said the focus of the government was to ensure that the GP became a vibrant and profitable organisation to provide the vital postal services to enhance communication in the country.
According to Dr Quarcoo, the GP had the potential of becoming a viable entity if given the needed support and so the government would make sure that the organisation got the necessary push to harness its vast potential.
Currently, the payment of the salaries of 2,600 workers of GP is in limbo following a judgement by the Accra High Court to freeze the accounts of the company to settle its indebtedness.
Following the judgement, which was given on Monday, July 26, 2010, in favour of Sky Consult against the Ghana Post to pay GH¢2,400,OOO, the workers had appealed to the President to intervene by obtaining the stay of execution of the judgement, otherwise they would suffer hardship, including how to provide food for their families.
Dr Quarcoo gave the assurance that the government would continue to support the Ghana Post to survive and save the workers from any moments of hardship.
He called on the management of Ghana Post to exhibit some sense of duty, initiative and resourcefulness in the management of the company.
In his speech to open the workshop being attended by participants from Ghana, Nigeria, The Gambia and Liberia, the Deputy Minister said the major commitment of the government in the postal sector was to ensure that all citizens of the country enjoyed access to the best possible universal postal service at the lowest possible price.
He, therefore, urged the company to work towards the creation of an environment that was responsive to the promotion of increased competition in the industry for improve upon the quality of service, as well as to protect the clientele in the industry.
He said it was obvious that today's environment demanded innovative ideas from businesses that wanted to survive, saying that the challenge was, therefore, for the company to take advantage of the wealth-creating capacities of those new systems to re-invent the postal business to become a winning enterprise.
He also called on the Ghana Post to deliberate on the establishment of a national address infrastructure, which would entail the numbering of streets and homes to facilitate easy mail delivery.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Ghana Post, Mr Abdulai Abdul-Rafiu, said the service was vigorously pursuing policies that would enable it to take advantage of information technology, including the computerisation of its operations and network across the country, to make it more efficient.
He said major post offices in the country were to be connected to facilitate the tracking and tracing of all items, adding that due to the lack of Internet connectivity between the Accra North Post Office and the Central Post Office, registered letters and parcels currently could not be traced.
He said that management would, with a new vision for the service through modem technologies and management, do all it could to do away with all bottlenecks that had in the past hindered the smooth operations of the company.
The Director General of Universal Postal Union (UPU), Mr Edouard Dayan, said the new approach had the objective of using the postal network's vast infrastructure to promote the social economic development of the participating countries.
A representative from the Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU), Mrs Olive Kanege, called on the participating countries to ensure that the needed steps were taken to improve on the postal industries in their various countries.
A member of the board of the Ghana Post, Mr Kofi Nyantakyi, who chaired the programme, said consumers had become more assertive and, therefore, the time had come for the postal industry to brace itself to provide quality service.
As part of the rescue plan, the Ministry of Finance has been advised to bail out the ailing postal service provider by releasing funds to pay the salaries and retirement benefits of the workers.
In an interview in Accra, yesterday, after opening the second regional workshop on the new approach to postal services and administration for five English-speaking West African countries, Dr Quarcoo told the Daily Graphic that the government would not hesitate to look for a strategic investor to partner the GP if it became necessary.
He said the focus of the government was to ensure that the GP became a vibrant and profitable organisation to provide the vital postal services to enhance communication in the country.
According to Dr Quarcoo, the GP had the potential of becoming a viable entity if given the needed support and so the government would make sure that the organisation got the necessary push to harness its vast potential.
Currently, the payment of the salaries of 2,600 workers of GP is in limbo following a judgement by the Accra High Court to freeze the accounts of the company to settle its indebtedness.
Following the judgement, which was given on Monday, July 26, 2010, in favour of Sky Consult against the Ghana Post to pay GH¢2,400,OOO, the workers had appealed to the President to intervene by obtaining the stay of execution of the judgement, otherwise they would suffer hardship, including how to provide food for their families.
Dr Quarcoo gave the assurance that the government would continue to support the Ghana Post to survive and save the workers from any moments of hardship.
He called on the management of Ghana Post to exhibit some sense of duty, initiative and resourcefulness in the management of the company.
In his speech to open the workshop being attended by participants from Ghana, Nigeria, The Gambia and Liberia, the Deputy Minister said the major commitment of the government in the postal sector was to ensure that all citizens of the country enjoyed access to the best possible universal postal service at the lowest possible price.
He, therefore, urged the company to work towards the creation of an environment that was responsive to the promotion of increased competition in the industry for improve upon the quality of service, as well as to protect the clientele in the industry.
He said it was obvious that today's environment demanded innovative ideas from businesses that wanted to survive, saying that the challenge was, therefore, for the company to take advantage of the wealth-creating capacities of those new systems to re-invent the postal business to become a winning enterprise.
He also called on the Ghana Post to deliberate on the establishment of a national address infrastructure, which would entail the numbering of streets and homes to facilitate easy mail delivery.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Ghana Post, Mr Abdulai Abdul-Rafiu, said the service was vigorously pursuing policies that would enable it to take advantage of information technology, including the computerisation of its operations and network across the country, to make it more efficient.
He said major post offices in the country were to be connected to facilitate the tracking and tracing of all items, adding that due to the lack of Internet connectivity between the Accra North Post Office and the Central Post Office, registered letters and parcels currently could not be traced.
He said that management would, with a new vision for the service through modem technologies and management, do all it could to do away with all bottlenecks that had in the past hindered the smooth operations of the company.
The Director General of Universal Postal Union (UPU), Mr Edouard Dayan, said the new approach had the objective of using the postal network's vast infrastructure to promote the social economic development of the participating countries.
A representative from the Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU), Mrs Olive Kanege, called on the participating countries to ensure that the needed steps were taken to improve on the postal industries in their various countries.
A member of the board of the Ghana Post, Mr Kofi Nyantakyi, who chaired the programme, said consumers had become more assertive and, therefore, the time had come for the postal industry to brace itself to provide quality service.
Ghana to gain $1bn from first phase of gas production
About one billion dollars will be derived from the first phase of the development of the country's gas resources into a viable petro-chemical industry, Vice-President John Mahama has said.
He said the project, which would be done in partnership with the private sector, would create employment opportunities and help the country to be seIf-sufficient in electricity generation.
Vice-President Mahama said in view of the policy to develop the country's gas resources, government had entrenched into all petroleum exploration agreements a no-flaring policy to prohibit any flaring of gas, which he said, was also positive for the world environment.
The Vice-President said this when opening the second Graphic Business Roundtable Forum, themed, "Ghana's emerging oil economy: Prospects and challenges" in Accra yesterday.
In December this year, Ghana will join the league of petroleum producing nations, following the announcement in 2007 of the discovery of oil reserves in commercial quantities. Since then more discoveries have been and conservative appraisal of the wells and available statistics based on credible scientific findings indicate that the country holds potentially, about 1.6 billion s of crude oil.
Vice-President Mahama pointed out that the employment that would be generated from the development that of the gas resources would require the right mix of such as electricians, plumbers, catering and helicopter services.
He said the local content and local participation bill that the government had drafted would ensure that companies that operate in the county's oil and gas industry employ up to 90 per cent of their staff from within Ghana by 2020.
"Where the level of skill does not allow this to happen, the companies will be required to submit a detailed work plan on how they intend to make this local human resource available in Ghana," the Vice-President said, adding, the move was to ensure that the benefits of oil and gas wealth generation remained within the country.
Touching on the issue of transparency and accountability, he said the government would address those concerns through two interventions. First, was the drafting of the Oil Revenue Management Bill to determine what constituted petroleum revenue.
He said the draft proposes the establishment of the Ghana Petroleum Reserves Accounts, made up of the Ghana Petroleum Account and the Ghana Petroleum Fund.
The petroleum account is being proposed as a single destination collection account for all petroleum revenue due to and, collected on behalf of the government, to make it easier to monitor the inflows and outflows of petroleum revenue.
The petroleum fund, on the other hand, is intended as a savings fund for the purposes of smoothening government spending and in the long run, to preserve part of the value of the oil capital while living on the interest.
"It is expected that all petroleum receipts shall be treated as separate accounts to be held at and accounted for, by the Bank of Ghana," Vice-President Mahama stressed.
The government, he said, had also committed to extending the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to the oil and gas sector to further ensure transparency and good governance in the use of oil and gas revenues.
Mr. Mahama noted that the EITI, currently being applied in the mining industry, encouraged the publication of revenues received by stakeholders, such as the government, the communities and mining companies.
He said Ghana would not thread in the footsteps of the 'Dutch disease' syndrome by reducing spending in other sectors such as agriculture just because of the inflow of petro-dollars into the economy, saying, the country was learning from the good practices of Trinidad and Tobago, and Norway.
Vice-President Mahama said the government prioritises the importance of safety and environmental protection. "The lessons of the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill is a signal to us that we must put in a mechanism to closely monitor safety and environmental issues."
He said strategic plans, training, equipment and logistics for the Police Service, Air Force, and Navy were being put in place to prepare the security agencies for the challenge of protecting the country's fledgling oil industry.
Vice- President Mahama said the theme of the forum was appropriate, timely and topical in view of Ghana's oil and gas discovery.
Ibrahim Awal, Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, said the company deemed it fit to set the oil and gas agenda for national discourse and added that the outcome of discussions would be presented to the government to help shape oil and gas policy in the country.
He said the project, which would be done in partnership with the private sector, would create employment opportunities and help the country to be seIf-sufficient in electricity generation.
Vice-President Mahama said in view of the policy to develop the country's gas resources, government had entrenched into all petroleum exploration agreements a no-flaring policy to prohibit any flaring of gas, which he said, was also positive for the world environment.
The Vice-President said this when opening the second Graphic Business Roundtable Forum, themed, "Ghana's emerging oil economy: Prospects and challenges" in Accra yesterday.
In December this year, Ghana will join the league of petroleum producing nations, following the announcement in 2007 of the discovery of oil reserves in commercial quantities. Since then more discoveries have been and conservative appraisal of the wells and available statistics based on credible scientific findings indicate that the country holds potentially, about 1.6 billion s of crude oil.
Vice-President Mahama pointed out that the employment that would be generated from the development that of the gas resources would require the right mix of such as electricians, plumbers, catering and helicopter services.
He said the local content and local participation bill that the government had drafted would ensure that companies that operate in the county's oil and gas industry employ up to 90 per cent of their staff from within Ghana by 2020.
"Where the level of skill does not allow this to happen, the companies will be required to submit a detailed work plan on how they intend to make this local human resource available in Ghana," the Vice-President said, adding, the move was to ensure that the benefits of oil and gas wealth generation remained within the country.
Touching on the issue of transparency and accountability, he said the government would address those concerns through two interventions. First, was the drafting of the Oil Revenue Management Bill to determine what constituted petroleum revenue.
He said the draft proposes the establishment of the Ghana Petroleum Reserves Accounts, made up of the Ghana Petroleum Account and the Ghana Petroleum Fund.
The petroleum account is being proposed as a single destination collection account for all petroleum revenue due to and, collected on behalf of the government, to make it easier to monitor the inflows and outflows of petroleum revenue.
The petroleum fund, on the other hand, is intended as a savings fund for the purposes of smoothening government spending and in the long run, to preserve part of the value of the oil capital while living on the interest.
"It is expected that all petroleum receipts shall be treated as separate accounts to be held at and accounted for, by the Bank of Ghana," Vice-President Mahama stressed.
The government, he said, had also committed to extending the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to the oil and gas sector to further ensure transparency and good governance in the use of oil and gas revenues.
Mr. Mahama noted that the EITI, currently being applied in the mining industry, encouraged the publication of revenues received by stakeholders, such as the government, the communities and mining companies.
He said Ghana would not thread in the footsteps of the 'Dutch disease' syndrome by reducing spending in other sectors such as agriculture just because of the inflow of petro-dollars into the economy, saying, the country was learning from the good practices of Trinidad and Tobago, and Norway.
Vice-President Mahama said the government prioritises the importance of safety and environmental protection. "The lessons of the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill is a signal to us that we must put in a mechanism to closely monitor safety and environmental issues."
He said strategic plans, training, equipment and logistics for the Police Service, Air Force, and Navy were being put in place to prepare the security agencies for the challenge of protecting the country's fledgling oil industry.
Vice- President Mahama said the theme of the forum was appropriate, timely and topical in view of Ghana's oil and gas discovery.
Ibrahim Awal, Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, said the company deemed it fit to set the oil and gas agenda for national discourse and added that the outcome of discussions would be presented to the government to help shape oil and gas policy in the country.
Nana To Nominate Running Mate In Final Phase Of Campaign
The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Jake Obestebi Otanka Lamptey, has indicated that the decision to nominate the party’s running mate will not be made on the basis of organised lobbying.
He said that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the presidential candidate of the party, would nominate his running mate in consultation with the National Council of the party as part of the launch of the final phase of his campaign.
In a statement he said that “this is what we have traditionally done, and this is what we will do this time.”
Article 12(B) of the NPP constitution states that: "The Party’s Presidential Candidate shall, in consultation with the National Council, nominate the Vice-Presidential Candidate."
In particular, Mr Obestebi Lamptey pointed out that “it takes a strong position against those who seek to champion one candidate or the other through media lobbying.”
Accordingly, he advised all those who wished to champion a candidate to desist from doing so.
Instead, he called on all such people to focus on the real work the party had to do on the ground to win both the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2012.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Security Man Commits Suicide
A 48-year-old security man with a car company in Accra, last Thursday hanged himself in his kitchen where he was presumed to be preparing food.
Residents of Kaneshie Palace Street, near the Ga Mantse Palace where he lived, were dumbfounded at the man’s action.
The deceased, Charles Awele Quaye, was said to have committed the act around 4:30 pm on August 19, 2010, when the wife and some family members thought he was inside the kitchen preparing their evening meal as he often did.
According to Madam Christabel Sackey, his wife with whom he has three children, when she entered the kitchen to find out what the husband was preparing for the family, she was shocked to see him hanging on the ceiling.
“I thought he was preparing food inside the kitchen and so I entered only to find my darling husband hanging on a linen rope in the kitchen,” she stated.
The Kaneshie Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Dogbevia K. Wonder, who lead a team of police personnel to the scene, narrated to DAILY GUIDE that Christabel Sackey reported the matter to the police around 5pm, on August 19, 2010.
“The police then proceeded to the scene and saw the 48-year-old man hanged on a linen rope in their kitchen.”
He said the body has since been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for autopsy.
Meanwhile, the police, according to the Divisional Crime Officer, do not suspect any foul play until an autopsy report proves otherwise.
By Linda Tenyah
....Read More
I Don’t Feel Safe
Ebo Barton-Odro-Deputy Attorney General
“I have felt insulted, scandalized, and indeed bastardized all in the name of the AG’s office to play politics with the bench in general and with me in particular. I am no politician. I am a judge and have taken an oath to dispense justice to all manner of persons irrespective of whatever.
“I will only plead in the name of the Almighty God that they stop these useless propaganda against the bench and get their act together as professional lawyers instead of appearing to be political stooges.
“I have gone through very low moments because of these unsubstantiated accusations but I console myself in the fact that the legal fraternity, who are better placed to assess me, do not regard me as bad and irresponsible alcoholic judge as Barton-Oduro and his party wanted the Ghanaian public to believe.”
These were the words of Justice Anthony Oppong, the High Court judge who was trying 15 people suspected of killing Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, before he stepped down from the case.
He stated yesterday that he did not feel safe enough to continue sitting on the trial.
“I must quickly put it on record that in view of what is happening in this country, particularly the threats of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) chairman, I do not feel safe at all in handling this case.
I will not take anything for granted because this country has a history. In the circumstances, I will invoke Section 104 of the Court’s Act, 1993, Act 459 and crave the indulgence of Her Ladyship the Chief Justice, in all humility and with the greatest respect, to transfer this case from this court.”
Justice Oppong gave the shocking ruling at the Fast Track High Court Four in Accra when the 15 suspects standing trial appeared before him.
On August 16, 2010, when full trial started, Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney prosecuting, dropped a bombshell by claiming that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, intended to object to the judge handling the case on the grounds of bias.
The judge then asked the Attorney General’s Department to formalize the application by pointing out the bias they (AG) were claiming and adjourned the case to yesterday August 23, 2010 for the motion to be moved.
However, before the motion could be heard, the Deputy Attorney General, Ebo Barton-Oduro, was said to have granted a radio interview and accused Justice Oppong of being a drunkard and making prejudicial comments about the case at a drinking bar and that a woman had told him of the incident.
Declining to sit on the case, Justice Oppong said “for the ten years that I have been privileged to sit on the Ghanaian bench, the past few days, since August 19, 2010, have proved to be the lowest moments for me.”
He stated, “I have been confronted with the weirdest and unmeritorious application by no other personality than the Attorney-General.”
The judge said Mr. Barton-Oduro had accused him of being “a drunkard” and being “irresponsible enough to have gone to a drinking bar and under the influence of alcohol, made prejudicial comments about this case.”
“I vehemently deny this. I have never been to a drinking bar and made any comments whatsoever on this Ya Na’s murder case. I challenge Mr. Barton-Oduro to substantiate or render unqualified apology to me for running me that down.”
He said the impression being created that the Ya Na murder trial is an NDC case “is devoid of substance”, explaining “in any event, the AG’s office is not an appendage of the NDC.
The AG, Deputy AG, all the lawyers in the office are not workers or staff of the NDC. They are on the payroll of the Republic of Ghana and not the NDC.”
Justice Oppong, who seemed disturbed by the turn-out of events, advised that lawyers at the AG’s office must first and foremost see themselves as professionals and not party functionaries, saying “they are there to make their expertise and knowledge in the law available in the supreme interest of the Republic of Ghana.”
He said since the Ya Na suffered an unnatural death and some people have been accused of killing him, there was no need to play politics with the case, adding “the AG’s duty is to bring cogent and convincing evidence that is capable of convincing the jury to return a verdict of guilty.”
He noted “this is a jury trial and it is not the judge who will pronounce these accused persons guilty. It is the jury that will do this so why should anyone accuse me of bias.
“Perhaps Barton-Oduro, Esquire, is forgetting that being the Deputy Attorney-General, he is the second leader of the bar and in this regard, a higher standard of legal practice is expected of him.
Why would a person of that caliber go on radio and use me as a pawn to score cheap political points, painting me as the worst judge in this country?”
He said the Deputy AG must be ashamed of himself and must also be told that this is not how he should object to judges sitting on a case for whatever reason.
“If he did that to bring disaffection or hatred to me and for that matter the judiciary, he did nothing worthy of praise because one does not cut his nose to spite his face.”
When the AG raised the objection of bias against Justice Oppong and he asked the AG’s office to file the motion stating their grounds, the AG rather filed an application for judicial review which had no returning date and did not even notify lawyers handling the15 accused persons.
Justice Oppong, before giving the ruling, stated that as long as the registrar had not fixed a date for the AG’s judicial review application or placed it before the court, he was not going to hear it and asked the prosecutor “do you expect that the very judge against whom the application has been filed will be the judge that will hear the application?”
Ebo Barton-Oduro, confused by the latest development, told Joy FM that he had a tape recording in which Justice Oppong said he would “throw out the case”.
The judge was alleged to have told a lady at a drinking bar that the case would be thrown out.
“If he thinks that he did not say it and he wants that matter to be gone into, I am ready. I am telling you, I have the evidence. When I interviewed the lady, I recorded it. It is on tape; I don’t do things just for the fun of it,” he said.
Asked if the interview was a third party interview, the deputy AG retorted: “What are you telling me?: The lady who was sitting on {sic} the table with him when he made the pronouncements. Let’s not go into that,” he warned.
He has threatened to make the tape public if Justice Oppong continued to cast aspersions at him.
But Justice Oppong has thrown a challenge to Barton-Oduro to go public with the so-called tape.
By William Yaw Owusu
......Read More
Mills: I have faith in the judiciary
President J.E.A. Mills has contradicted the views of the ruling party's Chairman Dr Kwabena Adjei who said the judiciary needed to be purged.
He said the judiciary was an independent institution and his government had no intention of tampering with it.
The president was speaking on his arrival at the Kotoka International Airport Monday morning, to news men and high powered delegation including the vice president, John Dramani Mahama.
President Mills' party Chairman last week said the judiciary needed to be cleansed of its perceived corruption and political bias.
His comments followed a consistent loss of high profile cases at the courts by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
An Aide to the president, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije told journalists the president fully backed his chairman but the president says he has no intention of purging the institution of any perceived political bias.
He debunked claims he went to the United States to seek medical treatment.
He has been out for close to a week in what government spokespersons say is part of a short leave.
Some critics say he is out to seek medical treatment.
But the president told journalists that he has absolute faith in the doctors in Ghana and did not seek medical treatment in the US.
"It is a pity that whenever I am out of public view, it is about my health. Let's concentrate on what is worthy."
Joy FM's correspondent Seth Kwame Boateng who was present at airport said the president took time to respond to some pertinent issues that came up in his absence.
He also commented on the Kosmos-Exxonmobil controversy which took centre stage in his absence.
President Mills is heading to the Castle but it is not clear if he will resume work today.
....Read More
A-G wants Great Lamptey Mills school shutdown
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice has recommended the closure of the Great Lamptey Mills Institute in Accra.
The proprietor and head of the school has been arrested and charged with rape and forced marriage of one of his students.
The A-G, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu wants the Ghana Education Service to apply sanctions provided by the Education Service Act.
The recommendations are contained in a seven-page document to the sector minister and the GES for action.
Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills, the 42-year old educationist and proprietor is also found guilty of professional misconduct.
Lamptey Mills is currently in police custody pending his trial for alleged rape and forced marriage.
The A-G ordered his re-arrest over his affair with a 16-year-old former student of the school.
His alleged acts, according to the A-G, have dented the image of the Education Service and only severe sanctions by the GES could help repair the damage.
Excerpts of the report is as follows;
According to the Attorney General, Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills acted in breach of section 2(1) and 2(2) of the Children's Act by having sexual relations with the 16-year old student, and getting her out of school after impregnating her.
He is also found to have committed an offence by rushing the victim into marriage against her will. This is against section 14(1) C of the Act which pegs the minimum age of marriage at 18 years.
The AG says there is sufficient evidence on the docket to press charges of rape and forced marriage against the proprietor of Great Lamptey Mills Institute.
He has, accordingly, been with the said offences. Bail is not to be granted on the charge of rape for which Mr. Lamptey Mills faces between 7 and 25 years in jail if convicted.
The AG makes reference to the Ghana Education Service Act which forbids teachers from indulging in immoral relations with their pupils or students.
It becomes even serious when Mr. Lamptey Mills – owner and head of the school is the man at the center of the alleged breaches.
AG recommends the school be shut down because the education service Act prescribes the sanction.
The sanction is applied when education ministry cannot guarantee the welfare and safety of pupils or students attending that school.
In the case of Lamptey Mills school, the AG is convinced students are exposed to danger because there is another media report of defilement by a music teacher of the school in March this year.
The proprietor and head of the school has been arrested and charged with rape and forced marriage of one of his students.
The A-G, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu wants the Ghana Education Service to apply sanctions provided by the Education Service Act.
The recommendations are contained in a seven-page document to the sector minister and the GES for action.
Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills, the 42-year old educationist and proprietor is also found guilty of professional misconduct.
Lamptey Mills is currently in police custody pending his trial for alleged rape and forced marriage.
The A-G ordered his re-arrest over his affair with a 16-year-old former student of the school.
His alleged acts, according to the A-G, have dented the image of the Education Service and only severe sanctions by the GES could help repair the damage.
Excerpts of the report is as follows;
According to the Attorney General, Enoch Nii Lamptey Mills acted in breach of section 2(1) and 2(2) of the Children's Act by having sexual relations with the 16-year old student, and getting her out of school after impregnating her.
He is also found to have committed an offence by rushing the victim into marriage against her will. This is against section 14(1) C of the Act which pegs the minimum age of marriage at 18 years.
The AG says there is sufficient evidence on the docket to press charges of rape and forced marriage against the proprietor of Great Lamptey Mills Institute.
He has, accordingly, been with the said offences. Bail is not to be granted on the charge of rape for which Mr. Lamptey Mills faces between 7 and 25 years in jail if convicted.
The AG makes reference to the Ghana Education Service Act which forbids teachers from indulging in immoral relations with their pupils or students.
It becomes even serious when Mr. Lamptey Mills – owner and head of the school is the man at the center of the alleged breaches.
AG recommends the school be shut down because the education service Act prescribes the sanction.
The sanction is applied when education ministry cannot guarantee the welfare and safety of pupils or students attending that school.
In the case of Lamptey Mills school, the AG is convinced students are exposed to danger because there is another media report of defilement by a music teacher of the school in March this year.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Democracy - Participation without Intimidation - ‘My Life Is In Danger’
Gifty Ohene Konadu
THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) Women’s Organizer for the Asante Akim South Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Madam Comfort Asamoah, insists her life is in great danger and has thus appealed for help from several groups including the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus.
Madam Asamoah alleged that some thugs had been harassing her and laid the blame at the doorstep of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Gifty Ohene Konadu, who is also an NPP member.
She alleged that the MP has engaged the services of one Arimeyaw, also a staunch member of the NPP, to eliminate her because “Hon. Ohene Konadu is afraid that I am secretly campaigning for someone to topple her as MP in the next polls.”
To buttress her claim, Madam Asamoah gave some instances where Hon. Konadu allegedly engaged some people to attack her physically.
According to her, it all started on September 13, 2009, around 10:00pm, when the MP stormed her home with four police officers and a certain guy to arrest her for no apparent reason.
The NPP Women’s Organizer said she was tied to a tree with a rope at the police station and attempts by the NPP constituency chairman to get her released proved futile until the DCE of the area, who is an NDC fan, intervened.
The then Ashanti Regional leadership of the NPP, led by its organizer, Abdella, later sat “me and Hon. Konadu down over the arrest, where she admitted her guilt and apologized never to repeat that act again.”
Two weeks later, the MP hired some thugs to physically attack her at an NPP function at Asante Akim Praso, but she was luckily saved by people around before her attackers could harm her.
Again, Madam Asamoah alleged that on July 22, 2010, when the NPP was preparing for its national congress, one Arimeyaw, a known errand boy of Hon. Konadu, slapped her without provocation.
After beating her, Arimeyaw openly warned her that if she continued sabotaging the MP, he would make sure that she would be eliminated before the 2012 elections are held.
According to her, she suspected that the MP had told Arimeyaw to manhandle her on that occasion because “people close to the MP have told me to be very careful since the MP has warned to eliminate me before the next elections are held.”
In the face of these threats, Madam Asamoah passionately appealed to bodies like the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit and the Ghana Bar Association, just to mention a few, to intervene.
Meanwhile, Arimeyaw has flatly debunked the wild allegations leveled against him and Hon. Konadu and even went on to describe Madam Asamoah as a blatant liar who wants to taint the MP’s hard-won image.
Reacting to the allegations on Angel FM, he said Madam Asamoah’s main preoccupation was to peddle unfounded liars just to create discord and disaffection among the rank and file of the NPP in the constituency.
He said the MP “who is like a mother to me has never engaged my services or the services of any other person to eliminate Madam Asamoah,” asking, I am killing her to get what?”
Arimeyaw said Madam Asamoah was ethnocentric and always looked down upon NPP fans from different tribes, especially those from the northern part of the country.
“She treats us like animals and since Hon. Konadu embraces every manner of person irrespective of your background, she hates her so much and wants to adopt diabolical plans to put her in the bad light of the public,” he added, challenging Madam Asamoah to produce any evidence she had.
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Konongo, Ashanti
....Read More
Ivory Coast hires Zahoui to coach national team
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP)—Francois Zahoui has succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson as Ivory Coast coach.
Ivory Coast Football Federation general secretary Hego Ouattara announced that Zahoui agreed a two-year contract on Saturday.
After Eriksson guided the Ivory Coast at the World Cup, Zahoui took charge of the team on a temporary basis for a 1-0 victory over Italy in a friendly earlier this month.
The 49-year-old Zahoui is a former midfielder, who played in France for Toulon and Nancy
Ivory Coast Football Federation general secretary Hego Ouattara announced that Zahoui agreed a two-year contract on Saturday.
After Eriksson guided the Ivory Coast at the World Cup, Zahoui took charge of the team on a temporary basis for a 1-0 victory over Italy in a friendly earlier this month.
The 49-year-old Zahoui is a former midfielder, who played in France for Toulon and Nancy
Michael Essien Quits Black Stars
Ghana’s midfielder Michael Essien has temporarily put his international career on hold saying he will not play for the Black Stars for some time.
This comes after coach Milovan Rajevac said he would welcome the fit-again Chelsea enforcer for next month’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland.
But Essien feels after so many recent injury setbacks, he wants to concentrate on getting back to his best with Chelsea.
The midfielder believes that his absence will not be severe on his country as players like Anthony Annan, Kevin Prince Boateng and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu have excelled in his (Essien’s) absence.
“I think I will be taking a break. Not retiring, just not playing for (the) time (being). I have to take the right decision for myself. I don’t know whether they (Ghana) will be disappointed because they have done fine without me,” said Essien.
Essien missed the World Cup in South Africa in June because of a knee injury, but despite his absence the Black Stars reached the last eight of the tournament.
He suffered the injury while training at the African Cup of Nations in Angola in January and only recently returned to action for Chelsea.
The English side has also recently brought in players who are capable of competing with Essien for his starting place in the squad.
His absence in the Black Stars squad means other young players with hopes of playing the national team could be given the chance to exhibit their skills and potential.
Stephen Appiah retires from Black Stars
Ghana midfielder legend Stephen Appiah has announced his retirement from international football, Ghanasoccernet can exclusively reveal.
The 29-year-old had been pondering his future since Ghana’s quarter final exit at the 2010 World Cup exit in July.
Appiah, who made his debut for the Black Stars in 1996, led his country to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 2006 and the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
“I have thought long and hard over this decision with my family, the Ghana FA and my friends,” Appiah told Ghanasoccernet.com exclusively.
“I think that this is the right moment for me to make way for the younger ones to take over the mantle because I believe they are capable.
“Deputy captain John Mensah has shown that he is overly competent to lead the team and give guidance while the other senior players are also available to give the necessary support.
“Ghana football has given me a lot and for that I am grateful to the people of my country for giving me the noble opportunity to represent them.
“The people of Africa have in diverse ways supported Ghana during my period of playing for my country and to them also I am grateful.
“It is now time for me to concentrate on my club career but I am available in any capacity to help my country if my country needs my experience and knowledge.
“The future of Ghana football is bright and I know that even without me the Black Stars will continue to flourish.
Appiah will go down as one of Ghana’s all-time greats, having helped the country to qualify for the World Cup for the first time.
And he played a major role during his playing time of the Black Stars as he made 68 appearances and scored 17 goals.
As the captain of the Black Stars, Appiah is seen as the major reason why Ghana qualified for the World Cup for the first as he united the squad previously plagued by infighting.
Ghana had been blessed my many talented players in the past including three-time African Player of the Year Abedi Pele and former Germany Bundesliga top scorer Anthony Yeboah but they could not lead to country to the World Cup.
His inspirational qualities have always been hailed by the Ghana FA and several coaches who have led the Black Stars in recent times.
Judges Spit Fire
Daily Guide
In a rare and brusque mode, judges in the country have kicked against the vitriolic utterances against them by the national chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Kwabena Adjei, and stated their loyalty and confidence in the Chief Justice.
“We also pledge our unflinching support to the Hon. Chief Justice of Ghana and the Judicial Council in their effort to build a Judiciary of excellent repute,” they pledged.
Speaking through their umbrella association, the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG), they expressed resentment to any attempts to divide their ranks.
The statement, signed by Justices Joseph B. Akamba and Elizabeth Ankumah, President and Secretary respectively, served notice that “we refuse to be party to any attempt to divide our ranks in this noble institution that gives hope for our dear country.”
The executive, they explained, would come and go but the noble institution of the judiciary would remain as the bastion of hope for the future of this country.
They appear to have taken a particular exception to the “there are several ways of killing a cat” remark by Dr. Kwabena Adjei, which they found incongruous with the “better Ghana” agenda mantra of the ruling party.
“If history is a lesson to anybody, such utterances as ‘cleaning the Judiciary’ or ‘there are several ways to kill a cat’ should not come from the party that begat the government of the day which aspires to make this nation a better Ghana.”
As for the remark by the chairman about Christ’s inability to salvage the perceived bias by judges, AMJG considered it both insensitive and unfortunate “and ought not to have come from the honourable chairman.”
Continuing to fire from all cylinders, the judges spat at the chairman who they said could have availed himself of the appropriate channels instead of, as they put it, playing to the gallery.
“Judges are as much Ghanaian as anybody else; so if there are any problems regarding any member of the Bench or the Service, these could be addressed through the appropriate channels and not to play to the gallery,” they said.
Ghana, they stated, has a lot to learn from neighbouring countries about the need for circumspection and discretion in utterances which can spark commotion.
The judiciary, they stated, would not stop looking up to the good people of this country for the confidence reposed in them to do justice without fear or favour.
They found it unfortunate for the NDC chairman to level a charge of bias against the bench, when according to them, “there are several dimensions to the success of a case. Judges, by their oaths, have a duty to uphold and sustain the democracy in our country, more so when the stability and prosperity of our nation lie in the confidence the citizens, investors and all other stakeholders place in our justice system.”
The courts, they maintained, did not see cases in party colours, adding “for any criminal prosecution to succeed, the state must successfully discharge its burden of proof in order to secure a conviction.”
A lot of reforms have been initiated to improve service delivery by the bench, they pointed out, asking members of the public to provide concrete information of any malfeasance but quickly added that “the utterance at the press conference that the NDC as a party would cleanse the judiciary was most unfortunate in the light of all the strenuous efforts being put into this house-cleaning effort being championed by the Judicial Council, the Hon. Chief Justice and the various committees put in place to ensure accountability at various levels.”
The notice that the NDC would cleanse the judiciary for them smacks of a stab at the independence of the Judiciary and its ability to work above itself to ensure the continued confidence of the Ghanaian people.
“We pray and hope that we would not have cause to revisit such sentiments again. We want to assure the nation that we do not have NDC, NPP, PNC, CPP, GCPP or any other political parties on the bench,” they assured.
Turning to the ruling about which the NDC chairman instigated the party’s foot-soldiers to vent their spleen over the judges, they explained it was based on Justice Marful-Sau’s understanding of the law “and it is refreshing that the Attorney-General’s Department has stated that it is preparing to challenge that interpretation. Such a step, if embarked upon, is in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution.”
The judiciary, they stated, did not initiate the trial of accused persons but the Attorney General does, adding “a lawyer is as good as his brief and if the brief is not good, it shows in its outcome. However, a well-prepared brief that is also well-presented plus the proper deployment of quality of witnesses would show that investigations had been properly conducted.”
Judges have undergone seminars on the new law in CI 47 (High Court civil procedure rules) by which they explained that the Chief Justice could assign matters for quick disposal during public holidays and other days previously known as “non-days”, they explained.
By invoking a constitutional instrument as the Chief Justice did, she was doing something approved by Parliament and so was not acting untowardly as the party chairman sought to impress, the judges observed.
As regards the empanelling of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal to hear cases that are brought before them, they noted that it is the prerogative of the Chief Justice.
Dr. Kwabena Adjei stirred controversy when, unsatisfied with the verdict of a judge in the matter of Kwadwo Mpiani and Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby in alleged malfeasance in their management of the Ghana @50 celebrations, asked for the purging of the judiciary.
In the absence of such a purge, the NDC would embark upon the cleansing exercise and dare anybody who challenges them, he said.
By A.R. Gomda
In a rare and brusque mode, judges in the country have kicked against the vitriolic utterances against them by the national chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Kwabena Adjei, and stated their loyalty and confidence in the Chief Justice.
“We also pledge our unflinching support to the Hon. Chief Justice of Ghana and the Judicial Council in their effort to build a Judiciary of excellent repute,” they pledged.
Speaking through their umbrella association, the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG), they expressed resentment to any attempts to divide their ranks.
The statement, signed by Justices Joseph B. Akamba and Elizabeth Ankumah, President and Secretary respectively, served notice that “we refuse to be party to any attempt to divide our ranks in this noble institution that gives hope for our dear country.”
The executive, they explained, would come and go but the noble institution of the judiciary would remain as the bastion of hope for the future of this country.
They appear to have taken a particular exception to the “there are several ways of killing a cat” remark by Dr. Kwabena Adjei, which they found incongruous with the “better Ghana” agenda mantra of the ruling party.
“If history is a lesson to anybody, such utterances as ‘cleaning the Judiciary’ or ‘there are several ways to kill a cat’ should not come from the party that begat the government of the day which aspires to make this nation a better Ghana.”
As for the remark by the chairman about Christ’s inability to salvage the perceived bias by judges, AMJG considered it both insensitive and unfortunate “and ought not to have come from the honourable chairman.”
Continuing to fire from all cylinders, the judges spat at the chairman who they said could have availed himself of the appropriate channels instead of, as they put it, playing to the gallery.
“Judges are as much Ghanaian as anybody else; so if there are any problems regarding any member of the Bench or the Service, these could be addressed through the appropriate channels and not to play to the gallery,” they said.
Ghana, they stated, has a lot to learn from neighbouring countries about the need for circumspection and discretion in utterances which can spark commotion.
The judiciary, they stated, would not stop looking up to the good people of this country for the confidence reposed in them to do justice without fear or favour.
They found it unfortunate for the NDC chairman to level a charge of bias against the bench, when according to them, “there are several dimensions to the success of a case. Judges, by their oaths, have a duty to uphold and sustain the democracy in our country, more so when the stability and prosperity of our nation lie in the confidence the citizens, investors and all other stakeholders place in our justice system.”
The courts, they maintained, did not see cases in party colours, adding “for any criminal prosecution to succeed, the state must successfully discharge its burden of proof in order to secure a conviction.”
A lot of reforms have been initiated to improve service delivery by the bench, they pointed out, asking members of the public to provide concrete information of any malfeasance but quickly added that “the utterance at the press conference that the NDC as a party would cleanse the judiciary was most unfortunate in the light of all the strenuous efforts being put into this house-cleaning effort being championed by the Judicial Council, the Hon. Chief Justice and the various committees put in place to ensure accountability at various levels.”
The notice that the NDC would cleanse the judiciary for them smacks of a stab at the independence of the Judiciary and its ability to work above itself to ensure the continued confidence of the Ghanaian people.
“We pray and hope that we would not have cause to revisit such sentiments again. We want to assure the nation that we do not have NDC, NPP, PNC, CPP, GCPP or any other political parties on the bench,” they assured.
Turning to the ruling about which the NDC chairman instigated the party’s foot-soldiers to vent their spleen over the judges, they explained it was based on Justice Marful-Sau’s understanding of the law “and it is refreshing that the Attorney-General’s Department has stated that it is preparing to challenge that interpretation. Such a step, if embarked upon, is in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution.”
The judiciary, they stated, did not initiate the trial of accused persons but the Attorney General does, adding “a lawyer is as good as his brief and if the brief is not good, it shows in its outcome. However, a well-prepared brief that is also well-presented plus the proper deployment of quality of witnesses would show that investigations had been properly conducted.”
Judges have undergone seminars on the new law in CI 47 (High Court civil procedure rules) by which they explained that the Chief Justice could assign matters for quick disposal during public holidays and other days previously known as “non-days”, they explained.
By invoking a constitutional instrument as the Chief Justice did, she was doing something approved by Parliament and so was not acting untowardly as the party chairman sought to impress, the judges observed.
As regards the empanelling of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal to hear cases that are brought before them, they noted that it is the prerogative of the Chief Justice.
Dr. Kwabena Adjei stirred controversy when, unsatisfied with the verdict of a judge in the matter of Kwadwo Mpiani and Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby in alleged malfeasance in their management of the Ghana @50 celebrations, asked for the purging of the judiciary.
In the absence of such a purge, the NDC would embark upon the cleansing exercise and dare anybody who challenges them, he said.
By A.R. Gomda
Africans want to see real benefits before they pay taxes
People want to see what their government is doing for them before giving it any money in taxationMotorists in Sierra Leone's capital are not happy having to pay taxes when roads are full of pot holes, and piped water is nothing more than a pipe dream.
It is a Catch 22 situation. Without money, the government cannot improve the infrastructure and yet, without that infrastructure, people do not want to pay taxes.
Governments need to collect money from its citizens to pay for health, education, transport networks, public salaries and security, which, even at a basic level, allow the economy to function properly.
But many people are reluctant to pay taxes because they believe that tax money is not being spent in the right places. Governments say that tax evasion leaves them without money to provide the services people want.
Wake-up call
Tax inspectors in Africa often have to cope with insufficient resources and are faced with the daunting prospect of extracting money from a population that, generally speaking, is extremely reluctant to pay up.
Progress has been made in some countries but it remains problematic for many administrations.
According to Nkosana Moyo of the African Development Bank, taxation is a sophisticated social arrangement between citizens and companies, and the government.
"It is a contractual relationship - I pay my taxes, but there has to be value given back," he says.
African governments must wake up to this fact," he adds. "The more you get value for your tax dollars, the more people will be prepared to say they are building their country."
Success stories
Even in countries that have discovered new oil riches, it can be difficult to get the taxes rolling in from individuals and businesses.
Professor Paul Collier, director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, maintains that every state needs a working tax system.
"Historically, the sequence of building capable states has started with the provision of security, and that comes from a tax base," he says.
He points out that much of the economy in Africa is informal and it is harder to tax people.
Because of endemic corruption, he also believes that governments need to build integrity into the tax collection system.
He says that the governor of Lagos State, Nigeria, has done a very good job of building the tax base and has spent money well.
"By breaking the infrastructure bottlenecks that were jamming Lagos up, citizens are beginning to see that they are getting something for their taxes and they are much more willing to pay them," he says
In neighbouring Sierra Leone, strict enforcement is making more people pay.
A local tax has been introduced, and a goods and services tax replaces seven taxes which had previously existed but were rarely paid.
"We have to simplify our tax system and make sure they are affordable at the end of the day," says Sierra Leone finance minister Dr Samura Kamara.
Collecting taxes in Sierra Leone has been made easier with better trained staff, computers and more resources.
But many people, scraping a tiny profit, avoid getting registered formally to escape paying taxes.
Big companies, meanwhile, tend to be over-taxed.
"But if you broaden that base, you could then afford to reduce the tax imposed on individual companies," says Professor Collier.
"If you broaden it and make taxes lower, you will actually capture more," he asserts.
Corruption concerns
Corruption is a burden on ordinary people, acting as an indiscriminate tax.
Some people pay and some do not, while the gatherers use the money they collect for nobody's benefit except their own.
Although Africa does not have a monopoly, it is the most corrupt continent according to Transparency International, the organisation which monitors corruption worldwide.
On a recent visit to Ghana, US President Barack Obama highlighted the problem: "No business wants to invest in a country where the government skims 20% off the top."
Donald Kaberuka, the current president of the African Development Bank, believes the situation is improving.
"Corruption is an issue on top of our minds," he says.
He maintains that accountability is now anchored and strongly defended by the African people themselves.
"We seem to have pockets of difficulties but I believe we are making progress," he insists.
Some people argue that corruption can help an economy - that the greasing of palms can make an enterprise easier to trade.
Mr Kaberuka does not agree: "I cannot imagine a situation where corruption helps the poor or the rich, because it is a taxation - it is a cost."
The president of Ivory Coast's chamber of commerce Jean-Louis Bignon feels the same: "Corruption is high, so it is difficult to do business in the Ivory Coast."
"A business like cashew nuts could not function just because of road blocks and corruption.
"The price of the goods is less than what you have to pay on the way to the port [in bribes], therefore people working in this business just stopped operating."
If corruption can be tackled effectively, and governments can raise capital with taxation, the continent might attract more foreign investment.
That would in turn increase trade and business and, ultimately, improve the livelihoods of ordinary people.
....Read More
It is a Catch 22 situation. Without money, the government cannot improve the infrastructure and yet, without that infrastructure, people do not want to pay taxes.
Governments need to collect money from its citizens to pay for health, education, transport networks, public salaries and security, which, even at a basic level, allow the economy to function properly.
But many people are reluctant to pay taxes because they believe that tax money is not being spent in the right places. Governments say that tax evasion leaves them without money to provide the services people want.
Wake-up call
Tax inspectors in Africa often have to cope with insufficient resources and are faced with the daunting prospect of extracting money from a population that, generally speaking, is extremely reluctant to pay up.
Progress has been made in some countries but it remains problematic for many administrations.
According to Nkosana Moyo of the African Development Bank, taxation is a sophisticated social arrangement between citizens and companies, and the government.
"It is a contractual relationship - I pay my taxes, but there has to be value given back," he says.
African governments must wake up to this fact," he adds. "The more you get value for your tax dollars, the more people will be prepared to say they are building their country."
Success stories
Even in countries that have discovered new oil riches, it can be difficult to get the taxes rolling in from individuals and businesses.
Professor Paul Collier, director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, maintains that every state needs a working tax system.
"Historically, the sequence of building capable states has started with the provision of security, and that comes from a tax base," he says.
He points out that much of the economy in Africa is informal and it is harder to tax people.
Because of endemic corruption, he also believes that governments need to build integrity into the tax collection system.
He says that the governor of Lagos State, Nigeria, has done a very good job of building the tax base and has spent money well.
"By breaking the infrastructure bottlenecks that were jamming Lagos up, citizens are beginning to see that they are getting something for their taxes and they are much more willing to pay them," he says
In neighbouring Sierra Leone, strict enforcement is making more people pay.
A local tax has been introduced, and a goods and services tax replaces seven taxes which had previously existed but were rarely paid.
"We have to simplify our tax system and make sure they are affordable at the end of the day," says Sierra Leone finance minister Dr Samura Kamara.
Collecting taxes in Sierra Leone has been made easier with better trained staff, computers and more resources.
But many people, scraping a tiny profit, avoid getting registered formally to escape paying taxes.
Big companies, meanwhile, tend to be over-taxed.
"But if you broaden that base, you could then afford to reduce the tax imposed on individual companies," says Professor Collier.
"If you broaden it and make taxes lower, you will actually capture more," he asserts.
Corruption concerns
Corruption is a burden on ordinary people, acting as an indiscriminate tax.
Some people pay and some do not, while the gatherers use the money they collect for nobody's benefit except their own.
Although Africa does not have a monopoly, it is the most corrupt continent according to Transparency International, the organisation which monitors corruption worldwide.
On a recent visit to Ghana, US President Barack Obama highlighted the problem: "No business wants to invest in a country where the government skims 20% off the top."
Donald Kaberuka, the current president of the African Development Bank, believes the situation is improving.
"Corruption is an issue on top of our minds," he says.
He maintains that accountability is now anchored and strongly defended by the African people themselves.
"We seem to have pockets of difficulties but I believe we are making progress," he insists.
Some people argue that corruption can help an economy - that the greasing of palms can make an enterprise easier to trade.
Mr Kaberuka does not agree: "I cannot imagine a situation where corruption helps the poor or the rich, because it is a taxation - it is a cost."
The president of Ivory Coast's chamber of commerce Jean-Louis Bignon feels the same: "Corruption is high, so it is difficult to do business in the Ivory Coast."
"A business like cashew nuts could not function just because of road blocks and corruption.
"The price of the goods is less than what you have to pay on the way to the port [in bribes], therefore people working in this business just stopped operating."
If corruption can be tackled effectively, and governments can raise capital with taxation, the continent might attract more foreign investment.
That would in turn increase trade and business and, ultimately, improve the livelihoods of ordinary people.
....Read More
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