Police chase Sammi Awuku, 4 others

Published in Daily Guide on January 31, 2013

Sammy Awuku

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The police at Madina have invited Deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku and others including the National Youth Organiser of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan, for questioning.
The rest include the parliamentary candidate for the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) in the Kintampo North constituency in the 2012 elections, James Kwabena Bomfeh, aka Kabila, with their colleagues Ernest Owusu Bempah and Charles Owusu of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Progressive People’s Party (PPP) respectively.
Mr Awuku confirmed the invitation to DAILY GUIDE: “I received a call from the Madina Police division; the district police commander who said he was calling to invite me for an interaction and questioning concerning the ‘Let My Vote Count Alliance’ that was launched over the weekend at Dome-Kwabenya, Taifa-Norway park. ”
“He said he wants to know what it’s all about, he also wants to know our intentions, he also wants to know why we had the rally,” he noted.
Originally, they were supposed to have reported yesterday morning but Mr Awuku indicated to the Madina district commander it was not possible for him to make it to the station since he had other engagements for which reason the meeting was rescheduled for 10:00 a.m. this morning. But at press time DAILY GUIDE learnt that Monday has been fixed for the meeting.
The NPP man narrated “he also enquired about the organizers and the conveners” but said “I told him I was a speaker at the event. Nonetheless, I know that the ‘Let My Vote Count Alliance’ was not a secret cult so I will also reach out to the organizers and we will have a date with him tomorrow” (being today).
Mr. Awuku said he has since informed the aforementioned individuals who are equally wanted by the police for questioning.
The group, according to Mr. Awuku, has since informed their lawyers and would meet the police on Monday.
However, an obviously bemused Sammi Awuku told DAILY GUIDE “I think that there is so much tension in the system; any attempt by the security agencies and the government of the day to cow people into submission, to victimize people going about their legitimate duties and so on will also serve as a trigger to  the tension in the system.”
In view of this, he said “I’m only cautioning the government and also the security agencies to be very level-headed in these matters.”
Sabotage
A statement issued by the ‘Let My Vote Count Alliance’ (LMVCA) yesterday asked the police and government to stay off their backs.
The statement which was signed by leading members of the group including David Asante, James Kwabena Bomfeh, Charles Owusu, Abu Ramadan, Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe and Maame Afua Akoto said they were aware of a deliberate plan by the National Security and the National Communications Authority (NCA) to sabotage one of their major partners and one of the most popular radio stations in the country, Oman FM.
This, they said, was in view of the fact that the frequency of Oman FM has been interrupted since the launch of the Alliance last Sunday.
Government Antics
“Information that we have picked up from sources close to the system suggests that the National Security and National Communications Authority are behind this apparent, deliberate act of sabotage,” the group alleged.
They claimed to have picked up signals that suggested the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the National Security apparatus were uncomfortable with their activities and operations and were therefore determined to use any means necessary to destroy it.
Leadership of the LMVCA however reminded the two government institutions that “Ghana is not a police state and that the right to assemble, the right to free speech are entrenched provisions in Ghana’s Constitution and we would not allow any person or organisation to take this right away,” whilst indicating their commitment to a peaceful, non-violent expression of concerns.
That notwithstanding, they noted “no amount of state-sponsored intimidation and harassment can stop us” and consequently reminded President John Dramani Mahama, whom they referred to as ‘disputed President’ that “he would not succeed in bullying his way to hold on to power” insisting “not even the KGB tactics and police brutalities of the Ukrainian authorities could stop the masses from protesting and the Supreme Court from ruling that their presidential election was rigged.”
This, the statement said, was because “if such state-sponsored act of terrorism could work against the tide of democracy in former communist state, Ukraine, then it certainly wouldn’t work in Ghana here.”
The group has since asked President Mahama to, as it were, “pull back from turning Ghana into a police state in this period before the Supreme Court ruling” and urged him to bring a stop to these deliberate acts of interference with the operations of Oman FM.

Martin Amidu arrested?

Published in Daily Guide on January 31, 2013

Martin A.B.K Amidu

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE suggests former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the Mills regime, Martin Alamisi Benz Kaiser Amidu, was picked up by security agents before the 2012 general elections.
A source at the National Security said he was picked up from his home by agents of the National Security a week or so before the election to an unknown destination to prevent him from dropping bombshells.
He was subsequently alleged to have been kept incommunicado for a couple of days until after the elections.
Martin Amidu himself was tight-lipped on the issue when DAILY GUIDE reached him on phone on Tuesday to verify the story, but he declined to make any comment.
“I don’t want to make any comment about that,” he said.
Indications were that no charges were brought against him.
Mr Amidu had been leading a crusade to stamp out corruption in the current NDC administration, especially payments of questionable judgment debts to people close to the government including Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who walked away with GHC51.2million without any contract.
He was determined to retrieve the Woyome payout before he was sacked from government.
It would be recalled that Mr. Amidu made allegations to the effect that the late President John Evans Atta Mills had set up a Committee of Enquiry to investigate the acquisition of aircraft for the Armed Forces negotiated by the then Vice President and now President John Dramani Mahama.
Members of the supposed committee were said to include Interior Minister William Aboah, George Amoah and Brig. Gen. Allotey (Rtd), and they were to investigate the processes of the acquisition of the five aircraft, including the infamous Embraer 190 aircraft and hangar for the Ghana Armed Forces from Brazil.
Although President Mahama never responded to the allegation, it was believed that was one of the reasons Mr Amidu was detained.
Apart from that, the source told DAILY GUIDE the no-nonsense former Attorney-General, who was relieved of his post for obviously opening his mouth too-wide in an attempt to expose corruption in the Mills/Mahama administration, was thought to be having some delicate information which if released, would affect the chances of Mahama, who was the Presidential candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the party in that election.
The government, as it were, thought it wise to put the man who prides himself as ‘citizen vigilante’ into the cooler to prevent him from making explosive statements about the party before the elections.
Interestingly, the supposed committee tasked to investigate the acquisition of aircraft for the Armed Forces was said to have neither sat nor written a report before the demise of the late president.
In one of his several epistles, Mr. Amidu stated that “pressure groups never allowed the Committee to take off.
But the very fact that the late President Mills contemplated this Committee meant that he was uncomfortable with and suspicious of the alleged inflated prices of the aircraft.”

I’ll Win Case: Woyome Bluffs

Published in Daily Guide on January 18, 2013

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Businessman and self-acclaimed financial engineer, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, is brimming with overwhelming confidence that he will win the case in which he is facing charges of allegedly defrauding the State to the tune of GHC51.2million in the name of judgment debt.
In a press release/new year message captioned, ‘A note of appreciation’ widely publicized in most pro-NDC tabloids yesterday, Woyome strongly stated, “I believe that in the soonest possible time, I shall be vindicated.
“In as much as we cannot determine the pace at which the ongoing proceedings in court [relating to the Judgment Debt paid to my good self] shall proceed, the last couple of sittings have begun to reveal the truth about this whole affair,” he confidently said.
What is however not certain is what has given Mr. Woyome this new sense of optimism, believing he can win the case.
This is in view of the fact that he has personally admitted not having a binding contract with government, but yet went ahead to demand a default judgment for a supposed breach of a non existing contract, walking away with GHC51.2million.
However, analysts believe that the appointment as First Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Ebo Barton Odro, former deputy Attorney General, who virtually said the prosecution of Woyome was a wild goose chase because the State had no case in the judgment debt payment saga, might have bolstered his confidence level.
That, in addition to the non availability of witnesses to support Woyome’s prosecution, has given the National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier the hope of escaping the long arm of the law.
Woyome openly admitted, “Indeed, the past year, 2012, has been a most difficult year for me, for my businesses, and for the thousands of Ghanaians who are dependent upon my industry for their livelihood.”
Seeks God’s Face
But the onetime financier of the ruling NDC, who threatened to expose government officials who had remote or direct connection to the case, said, “I know that, in the final analysis, that which my enemies and detractors meant for evil shall work out for our good and we shall have cause to celebrate a wonderful victory, by the power of God.”
He therefore urged all his supporters and well-wishers to remain steadfast, stressing his belief in the rule of law and the fairness of the almighty God.
Optimistic about the opportunities the year 2013 is set to present him and humankind, Mr Woyome expressed his heartfelt appreciation to all who continue to support him throughout what he described as “the ordeal visited upon me by certain individuals, using some arms of the State’s security apparatus”, insisting that “what started in the last quarter of 2011 has been stretched beyond the boundaries of reason”.
For the mercies of God, he said, “I, my household and all the afore-mentioned dependants [both direct and indirect] have not been consumed.”
He noted, “I, therefore, render thanks, first, to the Almighty God whose I am and whom I serve, for his care and consummate benevolence to me” whilst expressing profound gratitude to all the religious leaders who continue praying with him and assuring him of God’s vindication in due season.
“I appreciate the love shown by several traditional rulers from all over the country. Several Ghanaians from all walks of life, from all tribes, from every creed and from diverse political persuasions have consistently shown their concern for the obvious cruelty being meted out to me: to all of you, I say a big ‘thank you”, he stated while signing off.
Woyome has been upbeat about winning the controversial case since the NDC was declared winners in the 2012 general elections.
He has even publicly stated his opinion on who should serve in the government of President Mahama and who should be shown the exit.
He was recently given a red carpet treatment when President Mahama delivered the State of the Nation address.

Blows Over IGP

Published in Daily Guide on January 16, 2013

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

A meeting of the Management Board of the Police Administration at the headquarters took a nasty turn last Wednesday when Commissioner of Police (COP) Rose Atinga Bio, in charge of Administration, was alleged to have engaged in verbal exchanges with the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Mohammed Alhassan, following a misunderstanding.
At the centre of the undercurrent to the present tension in the service is the jostling for the position of the next Inspector General of Police (IGP).
Sources said it was a normal meeting of the top echelon of the service where the agenda included the issue of promotions and transfers which the IGP, Paul Tawiah Quaye, had ordered, his last major assignment prior to retirement.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that DIG Alhassan sought to exert his authority as Chairman of the management meeting (formerly known as Headquarters Management Board) by pulling a brake on the promotions and transfers.
But Rose Bio Atinga was said to have refused to submit to the authority of the DIG, pointing out that the will of the IGP be done, since according to her, he (Alhassan) was the head of the police, but she was in charge of Administration in the service.
Matters were said to have got to a head when Rose Bio allegedly demanded possession of the file containing the list of the affected officers.
A message about the development was said to have been transmitted to the seat of government, the Osu Castle, where a directive was issued asking that any such transfers and promotions be suspended until the appointment of a substantive Interior Minister.
Next IGP
Behind this acrimony among the top brass of the police is the race for the IGP post.
There is intense lobbying in the Police with even Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) declaring their interest for consideration.
Some COPs are highly qualified for the top job but they are seen as politically incorrect, leaving the turf for Rose Bio, Alhassan and John Kudalor.
Some of these ACPs are said to be saying that there was no sense in appointing Commissioners who have barely a year to leave the Service to the position of IGP when most of them (ACPs) have more years to serve.
Deputy Chief Constable Mohammed Alhassan admitted there was a meeting but he denied the misunderstanding between him and Rose Bio Atinga when DAILY GUIDE contacted him yesterday.
“It is not the way they are putting it; of course we share ideas, it’s an open forum, there can’t be any misunderstanding,” he told DAILY GUIDE.
“We want the best ideas out that’s all. We may agree and not agree on issues but that does not mean there can’t be any misunderstanding.”
Meanwhile, COP John Kudalor appears to be the favourite for the post of IGP.
For those who have noticed the inclination of government towards the man who has been in charge of the police, especially during the elections, they have wondered why DIG Mohammed Alhassan is being marginalized.
Mr Alhassan, the most experienced and senior officer after the retiring IGP, having held critical police positions at the United Nations (UN), has a year more to leave the Service, a fact which does not preclude him from being appointed chief constable.
There is however a precedent in the police service as in the case of former IGP Ernest Owusu Poku’s appointment in the year 2001 when the NPP assumed political power.
Though the man had less than a year to go on retirement, then President John Kufuor appointed him acting IGP, a position he held until his time was up.
Nana Owusu Nsiah took over the mantle thereafter till he retired in the year 2005 followed by Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong and Elizabeth Robertson Mills.
With the name of Mr Kudalor now flying high in government circles as likely IGP, the hopes of Rose Bio Atinga, in becoming the next IGP after the incumbent, appears to be dashed.
She therefore seems to have given up any hope of winning the favour of the authorities.
Convention
The Ghana Police Service has become a hotbed of politically-propelled promotions and postings to special units with the present developments not being an exception.
With the recent directive that all transfers be stopped forthwith until a new and substantive Interior Minister is appointed, the suggestion is that the President is intent on following such movements and even elevations with all his heart.
Even the admission of eligible persons into the Police College has been suspended, a development which could mean that for some, they have to lobby more to be given the nod.
During the last intake, some persons had their names dropped even after passing the entrance exams, a situation which prompted grumbling and frustration amongst police officers.
It is therefore a widely held belief that whoever wears the cap of IGP would either live with the many anomalies in the Service or attempt to reverse the order and incur the wrath of his political masters.
Even recruitment into the Service has been stained with instances of malfeasance.
Not too long ago, some police officers were arrested at the Police Hospital undertaking recruitment under the cover of darkness.
Virtually nothing has since been heard of what happened to the case with details being kept under wraps.