John Mahama 2012 Unveiled

Posted :Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has not yet opened nominations for who gets elected to lead the party for the 2012 general elections, but DAILY GUIDE can report that various schemers in the party are employing different tactics to position themselves to boost their chances to oust President Atta Mills from the race.

Reports monitored on Adom FM yesterday gave indications that one of such strategic moves was unveiled in Anyinam in the Atiwa constituency of the Eastern region on Sunday during a rally to end campaigning for today’s by-election.

Some supporters and members of the NDC, as well as brass band groups, were spotted wearing T-shirts that sought to promote the cause of Vice President John Dramani Mahama for the 2012 general elections.

Our checks have established that the green Lacoste T-shirts which bore a big picture of John Mahama, with an inscription ‘Great Success Winning NDC’, were distributed by the Eastern Regional Minister, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.

Though he confirmed giving out the T-shirts to the party supporters, Ofosu Ampofo said they were not meant to promote John Mahama’s presidential ambition as the party’s flag-bearer but to enable them to campaign for the NDC to win the Atiwa by-elections, adding that the T-shirts were leftovers of those printed and used in the 2008 elections, when John was not the candidate but rather a running-mate to Prof Atta Mills.

Ofoso-Ampofo denied the T-shirt bearing any inscription which sought to further the ambition of the Vice President, saying “it’s an old stock, I printed plenty of them.”

Efforts to reach Spokesman for the Vice President, John Abdulai Jinapor proved unsuccessful since his phone was “switched off or out of coverage area.”

But with this subtle campaign, Kwesi Pratt Jnr is raising alarm that the move was undermining President Atta Mills who has indicated his interest to contest the 2012 polls.
The jostle for the presidency is on the blind side of the President, according to Kwesi Pratt.

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has picked strong signals from the corridors of power, the Osu Castle, suggesting that in spite of an earlier declaration of intent to seek re-election in order to prevent any individual or group of persons in the NDC who might be nursing presidential ambitions from juggling for the position, Prof. Mills may after all not run.

It is not clear whether any such decision is likely to be informed by campaigns by people like Sekou Nkrumah, Ras Mubarak and a host of others who argue that Mills should not lead the NDC to the 2012 election for fear of losing since, according to them, he has not proven to be a strong leader who could pull Ghanaians along.

But the Ahwoi brothers, led by Ato Ahwoi, who is seen as the head of the Mills ‘kitchen cabinet,’ considering his closeness and influence on the President, are leaving nothing to chance as they are said to be working vigorously to get their younger brother, Kwesi Ahwoi, to be elected as the NDC’s presidential candidate in case Prof. Mills does not run for the position, or at least to be the running mate to John Mahama.

But the flyers are not down yet on the founder’s wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

Close associates of the former First lady say she is still actively in the race, though she is trying to play it safe in order not to draw unnecessary attention to herself since Mills has some mileage to go.

Just last week, aide to former President Jerry Rawlings, Kofi Adams, said former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings was more than qualified to lead the NDC to election 2012.

A similar campaign was mounted for Konadu at the June 4 celebration in Tamale, where a youth group from the Ashanti region displayed a banner with the inscription, ‘Movement for Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings 2012 President.’

Although some political analysts believe the banner was a confirmation of her quest to lead the party, Nana Konadu has since kept quiet over the issue, making room for more speculations.

Kofi Adams, however, says Nana Konadu has very good qualities to be a leader, adding that “if she is our flag-bearer, there is no reason why we cannot win the elections in 2012.

Even though the 62-year-old woman has not stated categorically whether she will contest or not, there is a supposition that she wants to.

Meanwhile, the former first lady has intensified her efforts by undertaking grassroots’ projects through her 31st December Women’s Movement and closer relationship with the youth of the party to boost her chances.

Some have also hinted that there are talks between the Konadu and John Mahama camps for John to consider Konadu as his running mate in case Mills does not seek re-election.

Hot Race For Atiwa Seat

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Saturday, 28 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Reports from the Atiwa constituency in the Eastern region where the two major political parties in the country, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), are battling for a vacant seat, indicate that the NDC is allegedly employing dubious means to win the seat.

The seat, considered a safe one for the NPP, became vacant following the death of the Member of Parliament, Kwasi Annor Ankamah last month.

Though other parties such as the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the New Vision Party are also vying for the seat, the NDC and NPP have started trading accusations as the campaign intensifies.

National Organizer of the NPP, Alhaji Moctar Bamba told DAILY GUIDE yesterday that agents of the NDC had begun intimidating members of the NPP in the area in order to rig the election.

“They are going round telling people that if they come out they will beat them at our strongholds. Now as I speak there are Azorka boys, the other people are all here, the BNI, the National Security are all here, working for the NDC,” he claimed.

He also alleged that the NDC is bringing fake voter identity cards from places like Akwatia to come and vote in Tuesday’s election.

According to him, they had intercepted about 45 of those fictitious voter identity cards which were going to be used by the NDC.

Bamba claimed that the NDC was doling out cash and other items including second-hand clothes (obroniwawu) to the constituents to influence the voting pattern.

These, he said, fed into a grand scheme employed by government and the NDC to prevent NPP members from voting.

However, the National Organizer of the NPP is optimistic that all these schemes would not yield anything since “we are putting everything in place so that ‘Insha Allah’ we can win the elections hands down.

“But all the same, we are resolute and we feel ‘Insha Allah’, in the name of Allah, we’re going to win hands down.”

Though the Atiwa seat is generally considered a safe one for the NPP, Alhaji Bamba said they would leave no stone unturned to retain the seat and also increase the votes.

Alhaji Bamba said he and other party bigwigs were with the party’s presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo campaigning vigorously and was therefore optimistic that the good people of Atiwa would give the NDC a good run for their money.

But National Organiser of the NDC Yaw Boateng-Gyan has denied the allegations being made by the NPP, saying “so far we haven’t seen any…negative incident.

“They should just come out and tell us one single person who has given out money to any of these people. We haven’t done anything like that,” he said.

He was surprised at the NPP’s claims since at the time of speaking to DAILY GUIDE, they had just come out of an Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting where all the parties had resolved to let the by-election be as peaceful as possible.

Mr. Boateng-Gyan says “if the people of Atiwa are development-oriented, then of course I don’t see why they will not vote for the NDC because there are lots of issues that they are raising in terms of them being neglected by the NPP when they know very well that it has been one of their strong holds.”

He said the constituents were complaining bitterly about how development projects had eluded them, considering the fact that Nana Addo’s mother hailed from the area.

The party, according to sources, was seen at Vanderpuye Village near Ayinam where they were distributing money and other materials.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has asked the various political parties contesting Tuesday’s Atiwa by-elections to exercise restraint in their actions and utterances.
It called on them to respect the 2008 political parties’ code of conduct which was prepared and signed by them.

A statement issued by the Executive Director of the IEA, Jean Mensa, also called on the voters and all Atiwa constituents to be law-abiding and ensure a peaceful by-election. She hoped this by-election would mark another success in Ghana’s democratic dispensation and electoral process.

The IEA said it trusted the independence of the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) and the capability and sense of professionalism of Ghana’s security agencies in ensuring an incident-free by-election, hoping that Ghana would eventually emerge the winner.

NDC Is Split

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Saturday, 28 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Kofi Adams, Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who doubles as spokesman for the party’s founder, Jerry John Rawlings, has confirmed fears and speculations of political observers of the polarization of the ruling party.

According to Adams, the utterances of some individuals and groups in the party had led to the situation where they had been branded as belonging to either the Rawlings or Mills camp.

What bothers him most is the fact that those perceived as belonging to the Rawlings camp are often described as the ‘enemies within’, saying “I don’t think people who associate with the founder of the party are enemies of this government.”

Speaking on Accra-based X.FM yesterday, Kofi Adams did not understand why certain individuals and groups in the NDC misconstrued Mr. Rawlings as working against the party and the government which he so much toiled to bring to power.

He said “call any of our regional executive members, and if they will want to be truthful, that when they were running campaigns in terms of the presence of national leadership in their regions, if they were marking the amount of time spent campaigning, whether any national officer can match what the former president did.”

Some key and influential members of the NDC are not happy about Mr. Rawlings’s criticism of President Mills and the style of his administration but have not been courageous enough to say it in the open.

They believe his utterances would eventually affect the party, especially in the 2012 general elections, but his spokesman said those who haboured such weird perceptions about the former president must disabuse their minds and rather take his criticisms in good faith and make amends for the betterment of the NDC since he has no ill-intentions about the party.

Mr. Adams was responding to a question as to whether there was indeed seeping cracks and factionalism in the NDC as had been suggested in various circles.

He expressed gratitude to “the young men out there who still see and identify with the founder of the party and do not see themselves as enemies of the NDC.”

He stated that no political organization or institution including the NDC could do without factionalism. He therefore called on members of the party, especially those in influential positions, to embrace dissenting views to strengthen the party.

“These factions can be used positively; they must not be used to destroy the organization,” he said, noting that such perceptions contributed to the downfall of the party.

Frustrations Of Ghanaian Businessmen

Posted: Daily Guide | www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 27 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kama Group of Companies, Dr Michael Agyekum Addo has summed up the frustrations of Ghanaian businessmen.

Dr Addo noted that though several reasons have been assigned to the ‘poor’ performance of Ghanaian businesses and their products on the local and international markets, there is more to it than the usual reasons, which includes issues about funds, transport, natural resources.

He disclosed this at a round-table discussion organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) that was aimed at exploring ways ‘towards a national agenda to ensure consistency in government policy for the private sector.”

The purpose of the forum was to provide a platform to discuss how to kick-start a policy framework geared towards private sector development in Ghana.

Whilst he appreciates the efforts of successive governments to support local businesses with initiatives such as the Export Development Fund (EDIF), the accomplished businessman said they have not done enough to protect them against the unhealthy trade practices and competition from their foreign counterparts, adding that most of their products have been subsidized by their respective governments.

It has been argued that successive governments have not done a good job in creating and running productive enterprises to create employment and incomes for the citizenry- a role that the private sector has assumed.

Though the private sector is considered as the engine of growth of the Ghanaian economy, Dr Addo indicated that most of the facilities that government extend to local manufacturers, who import machines and raw materials into the country for production, are nothing but mere niceties which only look good to the eyes but in reality are extremely difficult to access.

For the offers that come from the Free Zones Board (FZB), he said the little said about it the better since the processes a company has to go through in order to access it serves as a deterrent, stressing that it takes between five to seven months for companies to get their refund after going through strenuous processes.

“What kind of policy is this?” he asked rhetorically. “It has to be modified such that the refund would be fast enough to make the zero rating meaningful.”

He stressed that until government creates the necessary environment for effective implementation of sound policies the claim that the private sector is the engine of growth would be nothing but a mere lip service and mirage.

The practical nature of his submissions attracted intermittent applause from the high-profile personalities including industry players and members of the academia who graced the occasion.

In the pharmaceutical industry where he is a key player, he narrated the tortuous ordeal that they go through to obtain reimbursement from the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), stressing that the funds delay for up to six months.

He believes these and other poor policies of government stifle local businesses and stressed the need for government to revise them, since according to him, they were killing local businesses.

He said even though several attempts have been made by successive governments to strengthen and develop the private sector, most of them have been on ad hoc basis and achieved very little results.

The CEO of the Kama Group of Companies, who sounded emotional about the situation, also talked about the stringent conditions that are attached to loan facilities extended to local businesses by foreign institutions such as the Global Fund.

“It is like a fence with dogs at the gate, you cannot enter.”

On the issue of the Global Fund, he said before one could put in a tender for its products, the company must be World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-qualified.

They are so high that in the whole of Africa, there are only three facilities that are WHO pre-qualified with Ghana not an exception, he said.

Meanwhile, the local Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) are all certified institutions which operate under the terms and conditions of the WHO.

According to him, medicines and products that are produced in Ghana have been tested and proven to have the same curative functions as those imported.

“Why is it that medicine that is being supported by the Global Fund cannot be tested locally?”

Interestingly, he said when these international organizations run short of products, they turn to the local companies for refuge- an indication that their products by all standards qualify for the world market.

He called on government to make policies that would inure to the benefit of local companies and set up an industrial fund like the GETFUND to assist indigenous companies.

He stressed the need for government to assign commercial attachés to the country’s foreign missions to promote the private sector in Ghana and urged Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of patronizing made in Ghana goods to help grow the economy and set standards for companies.

A Senior Fellow of the IEA, Dr Kwadwo Tutu believes that Ghana as a country cannot attain the middle income status by the year 2020 unless adequate steps are taken to reform the private sector to enable it play an role effective.

Govt PR Team Is Useless

Posted: Daily Guide | www.dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The outspoken youth activist of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mohammed Abdulai Mubarak aka Ras Mubarak who is cooling off in Oslo, Norway has turned the heat on the communications team of the Mills administration, describing it as useless.

He believes that the communications team has done little or virtually nothing to safeguard the image and reputation of the Mills administration since it assumed office, noting that “the communications team has been next to useless.”

In interview with DAILY GUIDE over weekend, Ras Mubarak, who has criticized the Mills administration for committing fundamental flaws said, “I am appalled because President Mills has refused to put down his political ‘baggage-ministers’ who have brought nothing but pillory to the party and government.”

Admitting that things have not been smooth for the Mills administration, he noted that the NDC government and party are suffering from sustained pressure from the opposition, resulting in a series of ‘very bad press.’

He also admitted that the past week has been a bad one and tested the government and party’s strategies for limiting damage, which began with the discharge of two officials of the Kufour administration, Kwadwo Mpiani and Charles Wereko-Brobbey by a High Court and the tirade of a church leader who condemned the incumbent government.

“And just as I thought the government had the chance to capture the news agenda and turn the heat on the opposition following Reverend Asante Antwi’s comments, the NDC’s National Chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei spoke in what the opposition again describes as ‘spoken out of turn,” he said.

He noted that he has been speaking about this supposedly ‘unacceptable deficiency’ since July 2009 and the inability of the Attorney-General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu to get her courtroom shenanigans right and deliver justice to the nation in cases of suspected economic crimes committed by members of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

“I am disheartened because the ruling government has had the NPP by the scruff of its neck and instead of squeezing its corrupt leaders so decisively that their feet would not touch the ground, the government is succumbing to unrealistic political niceties, forgetting that we are in a political contest and that millions of our compatriots who were let down by the NPP are praying that we restore their trust in politics,” he noted.

He was of the firm belief that when state resources are squandered by officials, they must not be left off the hook.

As result of the poor performance of the government communications team and government’s inability to exploit its earlier opportunities, the NPP is beginning to take the moral high ground, he said.

“As a card-bearing member of the NDC, I am duty bound to give President Mills every help and encouragement, but I get frustrated because the President has refused my calls since last year. He needs razor-sharp spokespersons who can articulate the government’s successes and develop an early warning system – a media firewall around the government that would detect and repel potential hostile coverage,” Ras Mubarak said.

He believes that protection against unsavoury publicity does not come cheap, adding that there are professionals out there, including sympathizers whose expertise could be tapped, noting, “Good things are happening and the nation must be informed on how much savings we have made thanks to the prudent management of the economy; how much of the deficit we have reduced and what we have done in order to avoid leaving a huge deficit for tomorrow’s generation.”

For this reason, the NDC firebrand noted that “the sooner we are able to engage political communicators who know how to capture the news agenda, the sooner Ghanaians would support us in not just holding corrupt NPP officials by their scruff, but support us to make sure their feet do not touch the ground.”

“The sooner we are able to make changes at the communications outfit, the sooner the people would see the future.”

Security Chief Interdicted

Posted: Daily Guide |dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The chief security officer of the University of Ghana’s College of Health Sciences, Superintendent Issaka Sumaila Basintale, has been interdicted together with an administrative assistant, Iddrisu Bisantale, his nephew, for allegedly breaking into an office of an administrative officer.

Assistant Registrar of the college in charge of Public Relations, Perry Phillip Ofosu, confirmed the story to DAILY GUIDE and said the issue was under investigations and that he could say nothing more or less.

The interdicted chief security officer, who is a retired officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, was alleged to have engaged the services of the administrative assistant with the college, Iddrisu Bisantale, to remove and replace a medical report on his confidential file for him since he (Iddrisu) had direct access to the office of the Deputy Registrar of the college in charge of Human Resources, Peter Osei-Fosu.

Though Iddrisu managed to successfully remove and replace the old medical report of the chief security officer with a new one, in the absence Mr. Osei-Fosu who had traveled to his hometown, the issue somehow got to management.

Indications are that the chief security officer did not obtain his medical report from the Medical School Clinic as was expected but rather from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital respectively.

It is thus not too clear why he defied laid-down procedures to go for a medical examination and report from other institutions instead of the clinic of the Medical School.

Management has since set up a six-member committee which is chaired by Deputy Registrar of the Noguchi Memorial Institute, Mrs. Ama Akwaa to investigate the issue and submit a report with recommendations by August 30, 2010, to enable management to take a decision on the matter.

Under normal circumstance, sources say any staff of the college who intends to make any changes on his or her confidential file must do so with the direct consent and approval of the authorities concerned, with an application letter to that effect.

Meanwhile, the security officers at the college have asked for the dismissal of their chief since in their opinion, what he did amounted to compromising his position.

They have therefore sent a petition to the heads of the various institutions under the University of Ghana to cause his removal.

NDC Grabs Chief Justice Neck

Posted: Daily Guide |dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Chief Justice Georgina Theodora WoodIt is gradually becoming clear that the unnecessary attacks on the country’s judiciary by key and influential members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) are part of a grand design by the government to soften the grounds for the removal of Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood from office.

This became evident when a group of NDC regional chairmen, led by Greater Accra regional chairman Ade Coker, issued a statement in Accra yesterday confirming the fears of several Ghanaians that they have a hidden agenda against the CJ by calling for Kwesi Pratt’s CJA-type public forum to lambast her in order to prepare the grounds for her exit.

The Ashanti regional chairman of the party Yaw Obimpeh had dropped the hint of the plot to remove the Chief Justice, appealing strongly to President John Evans Atta Mills to fire the CJ with immediate effect, else the party’s foot soldiers would stage a series of demonstrations against her.

Mr. Obimpeh alleged that the CJ, under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, ensured that a number of NDC key officials were sent to the courts and eventually convicted whether guilty or not guilty.

The regional chairmen made several allegations against Justice Wood which sought to not only portray her as biased but also a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Though several lawyers and civil society groups including the Magistrates and High Court Judges had all condemned NDC chairman Dr Kwabena Adjei’s comments, the regional chairmen thought otherwise and therefore declared an unflinching support for the comments made by their National Chairman in which he indicated government’s preparedness to clean or purge the judiciary.

Dr. Adjei had warned that if the government cleansed the judiciary nobody should accuse them of interference.

Among the string of allegations the regional chairmen levelled against the Chief Justice was that by her actions and inactions, she had compromised her political neutrality.

They therefore stressed the need for government to “institute a public forum for people to present their accounts of the obvious administrative shortcomings, moral and pecuniary corruption in the justice system and act accordingly on the results of the forum, to give to ourselves and posterity a system of justice which keeps true to the constitutional requirements of the concept of justice originating and sustained by the people”.

The regional chairmen of the NDC believed that such a forum would be a logical sequel to previous reports on corruption and bias in the judiciary.

Since her assumption of office, they noted that Mrs. Georgina Wood had decided to personally perform a task which they said hitherto was the preserve of the registrars of the various courts by assigning highly sensitive cases to her supposed favourites (judges), saying, “In Ghana, our Chief Justice we are told uses a special group perceived to be her favourites in the system to perform this sensitive task which can enable her to predict the outcome of cases in which she has an interest.”



Betty Mould-Iddrisu - A-GThey made reference to the infamous MV Benjamin cocaine committee which Mrs. Wood presided over, insinuating that she was appointed Chief Justice shortly after what they described as ‘inconclusive enquiry’ which eventually led to the acquittal of the principal suspects in the missing cocaine scandal.

This, they said, was because “her role in the missing cocaine trial and subsequent appointment created a perception that it was her reward for doing a favourable job for President Kufour and the drug barons who exercised so much influence in the NPP administration.”

The NDC chairmen said “her own actions have not helped matters, and we will explain.”

Furthermore, they said between the first and second round of voting in the 2008 presidential elections, the Chief Justice came out publicly to apologize to all taxi and trotro drivers who had suffered imprisonment as a result of the amendment of the road offences laws by the NPP government in 2007.

For them, “the obvious reason for this invasion of the party political space by the Chief Justice was to play a role in the faltering campaign of the then ruling NPP, which as you may recall, even included a former Minister of State, kneeling in the sands of Winneba to plead for the votes of fishermen and women in the wake of the pair trawling disaster of that late unlamented government.

“Again, our Chief Justice was at the centre of the court case mounted by the NPP in the dying days of the regime to prevent the Electoral Commissioner from declaring the outcome of the polls, and stopping the ultimate vote in the Tain Constituency,” they noted, emphasizing that she “actually issued a warrant for the high court to sit on a public holiday, the intent being to prevent the will of the people, the very source of her office and authority, from being enforced in the 2008 elections.”

A week earlier, they said the CJ had given the go-ahead for another case against an NDC parliamentary candidate to proceed on Christmas Day 2008.

“It is our submission that notwithstanding the amendments which enabled a speedy dispatch of election cases, she has no authority to permit a court to sit in violation of the Public Holiday Act, when it is clear that the law can only be suspended by the President.”

Jake Cautions NPP

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 24 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has issued a stern warning to those putting unnecessary pressure on the party and its presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to name a running mate.

The party says it takes a strong position against those who seek to champion one candidate or the other through media lobbying since, according to the National Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, “The decision will not be made on the basis of organised lobbying.”

This was contained in statement issued and signed by the party chairman in Accra yesterday.

He has therefore advised individuals and group of persons who are championing the cause of certain potential candidates to desist from doing so and rather focus on the real work they have to do on the ground to win both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

He noted the party’s presidential candidate intends to follow tradition and would choose his running mate at the final phase of the party’s campaign, saying “this is what we have traditionally done, and this is what we will do this time.”

Article 12(B) of the NPP’s Constitution states that "the party’s presidential candidate shall, in consultation with the National Council, nominate the vice presidential candidate."

Barely a week ago, a leading member of the NPP and Ghana’s immediate past Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, asked the party to maintain its vice presidential candidate in the 2008 elections, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for the 2012 polls.

He believes the 47-year-old former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana is the most suitable person for the job since he has virtually all the qualities of a good leader and is already marketed to Ghanaians.

Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe gave reasons the NPP should choose Dr Bawumia to partner Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2012 elections.

The former diplomat, who was part of Nana Addo’s campaign team, gave a chronology of the trend often used in choosing a running mate for the NPP.

In that regard, he said, “We need someone who shares in the ideals of the party and also blends easily with the flagbearer”, noting “Bawumia has shown beyond reasonable doubt that he has more than what it takes to be a running mate.”

He also argued that the two have worked together before, are compatible and understand each other’s philosophy.

Dr Nyaho Tamakloe, who is also a founding member of the NPP, stressed the belief that many others in the NPP shared that sentiment, emphasizing that “at this point in time, only a south-north ticket will be best for the party.”

He however admitted that the tradition of going in for a southerner to pair a northerner or vice versa is not sacrosanct and bound to change anytime.

“If in the near future, those from the other blocks within the party are able to provide a fitting personality who can win the day for us notwithstanding where he or she is coming from, why not, I will give that idea my support. But as things stand now, it is the northern block all the way,” he said.

“I might be wrong but I believe strongly, the right choice for Nana Addo again is Bawunmia. He is the right material for this post.

This is a man with no inordinate ambition, hardworking and skillful. Nana Addo knows what he wants but if asked to pick for him, I would go in for Bawunmia,” he underscored.

Afife Rice Dams In Ruins

Posted: Daily Guide |Monday, 23 August 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
TWO DAMS serving the Wheta Afife Rice Irrigation project in the Volta Region, the electoral ‘world bank’ of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), are in ruins and face a shut down anytime soon.

The Wheta Afife Rice Irrigation project is located close to Afife, Awalavi and Wheta in the Mepe Traditional Area of the Volta Region.

The facility constitutes a major intervention for the communities which are located along the valley of the Afife Irrigation Project.

Currently, the people in the area collect water from pools in the valley and the two main dams, the Agale and Kplipka dams; a result of which the area is considered a guinea worm endemic zone.

The Agale (Gale) dam, which was built by the Russians in the 1960s and serves a portion of the project – section 2 to 11, is heavily silted and can only serve farmers for 15 days instead of the original forty-day period.

After the overthrow of the Nkrumah government, the Agale dam was completely shut down due to neglect by successive governments.

The Chinese government therefore came to Ghana’s rescue and took to resuscitate the dam when they began rehabilitation works at the Afife Rice Irrigation project site.

They ended up diverting the Agale dam’s course to join the Kplipka dam but never dredged it to hold enough water.

Currently, the Agale dam has been closed because of lack of water, a situation unfavourable for the survival of economic activities at Afife.

This disturbing signal is a clear indication of the urgent need for proper irrigation planning and management, among other initiatives, which are required to make sure Ghana’s already crippling rice industry is revived.

The Irrigation Development Authority (IDA) appreciates the fact that there is problem at hand and admits it is affecting rice production in the area and eventually the food basket of Ghana.

Chief Executive Officer of the IDA, Daniel Lamptey, attributes the existing situation at the two dam sites to the poor rainfall pattern that has been recorded across the length and breadth of the country.

That notwithstanding, he said they are making provisions to desilt the two dams in order to store more water since according to him, for the past 42years that the dams were built, they had not seen any serious maintenance work.

Whilst looking for alternative sources of water to connect them to the dams, the CEO said they are also considering the option of driving away all the individuals and group of persons who have started farming in and around the catchment area of the dams, since their activities and operations have somehow contributed to the situation.

The IDA says it is currently in talks with the Dutch and Chinese government to see how best to put the dams back in operation to boost rice cultivation to feed the country.

The Afife rice project is one of the 22 high-flying rice projects in the country, with two dams at the project site; each having waterways attached to it with an opening which allows water to pass through the canal.

Each section of the farm has a lateral, sub-lateral and the feeding ditches.

The canal conveys water from the dam into the lateral whilst the lateral feeds the sub-lateral and consequently the sub lateral gives water to the feeding ditch to allow the rice farmers to scoop the water onto their plots.

A visit to the project site on two separate occasions by DAILY GUIDE gave a clear indication of total neglect of the site, with serious consequences for the nation as rice is consumed as staple in almost every Ghanaian home.

A water bailiff at the Afife rice project site, Daniel Djan, summed up their frustrations. He said “our leaders are not helping us at all, they continue to fail us”.

Mr. Djan, who manages the delivery of water to all rice farmers at Afife, narrated their ordeal to the paper.

He said, “currently as water bailiffs, it is our duty to advise the management of the project to shut down the dam with immediate effect but we are also considering the fact that the farmers have invested a lot of money, so we are just supplying them with the little water left to enable them to get their seed for the next season which will be in April next year”.

Daniel Djan was emphatic when he described the current state of the two dams serving the project, saying, “Water in the dam is finished, and the dam must be dredged immediately”.

He further indicated that some engineers on the rice project which is under government control claimed that silting of the two dams was caused by global warming.

He was however hopeful that if there is any inflow of water which is significant, they as water bailiffs will open the dam to assist farmers who are in need and are hungry.

This brings to question the claim by government that the country’s self-sufficiency in rice production stands at about 30 percent, leaving a shortfall of 70 percent (this figures are being disputed as data suggest these same figures were given in 2000).

Staggering statistics, coupled with lack of commitment on the part of government, has led to a situation where these rice farmers will continue to wallow in poverty if pragmatic policies are not put in place.

The water bailiff says he has been working at the project site since August 17, 1982 and that “since that time I came over, the Gale Dam has never been dredged and its needs complete dredging.”

“If the dam is not dredged, it means government is telling the people to go out of the village to go and work elsewhere; a situation which will cause massive unemployment in the town and dislocate the youth of Afife,” he said worryingly.

For this reason, he said “the government must quickly get involved to assist the farmers dredge the project dams.”

Considering the way the project has been handled over the years, he could not but ask rhetorically “why wouldn’t they want to come and dredge the dams for the farmers to prevent the youth from harassing people.”

As a result of the current state of the dam, residents of the area have started farming in it. Others have also built their houses on portions of the dam.

This poses a serious threat to the very survival of the water body since the water is not enough to irrigate the project, leading to loss of economic activities.

The fear is that the current and existing situation of the dam would eventually lead to the failure of the Afife Rice Irrigation Project, since most of the farmers in the area have begun farming in the already destroyed dam in order to have easy access to the little wet land available to grow okro, cassava and other vegetables.

As it is now, the Agale dam, according to a farmer, Mr Ametordzi, is nothing but a waste.

The other main dam that serves the Afife Rice Irrigation project is the Kplipka dam.

The Kplipka dam, which is supposed to hold water up to 5 meters, currently has been choked to an extent that its gauge only reads 1.5 meters, a situation which calls for the shutting down of the dam.

The reading pillar is 5 meters but currently the water in the dam stands at 1.30 meters.

The water bailiff told us during the visit that the dam will be shut down on Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

“We have to cut off water supply immediately because the inflow is more than low, if there is any inflow which can allow the water in the dam to reach about 1.40 feet, we will then open the dam again. It is important that we stop the supply of water to maintain the Kplipka dam,” he said.

The nine filters of the dam are currently buried in the soil that has virtually taken over the water.

The total storage capacity of the Kplipka dam is 29,000 gallons, with a maximum height of 11, 00.5meters.

Its width spans four meters, with a catchment area of 8.5 kilometers.

Under the current circumstance, the livelihoods of over 1,000 rice farmers in the area remain uncertain.

Government Disowns NDC Boss

Posted:Daily Guide |Friday, 20 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei has ostensibly been left alone in the wilderness to grieve over the flaks he has been receiving from all sections of the country for the unguarded comments he made about the judiciary.

He had indicated government’s preparedness to ‘clean’ or purge the judiciary for supposedly being biased against the current administration, stressing that “people in the judiciary can make a very good case look very bad.”

Furthermore, he said “if the judiciary is biased, if the judiciary has made its mind in one direction, not even Jesus Christ who was appointed as the Attorney General can change things.

We will clean it if they don’t take steps to clean it” and warned “we will clean it and let everybody everywhere blame us for interfering in the judiciary and we will take them on.”

Obviously compelled by growing public pressure to state its position on the matter, government came out with a statement on the issue yesterday, distancing itself, albeit faintly.

Though government did not directly distance itself from the party chairman’s position, it however denied having any such ill motives to purge the judiciary as Kwabena Adjei sought to say.

A statement issued by Information Minister John Akologu Tia yesterday on government’s behalf reassured the Judiciary, the general public and the international community that it “has absolutely no intention of carrying out a political purge of the judiciary.”

Though Kwabena Adjei was emphatic in his statement about the judiciary, government tried to put a spin on it since, according to Mr. Tia, “government believes that is not what Dr. Kwabena Adjei sought to imply by his remarks.”

Government says it has taken note of concerns raised in the wake of remarks made by the NDC chairman regarding the administration of justice in the country.

That notwithstanding, it said it was unfortunate that political opponents of the NDC had seized upon Dr. Kwabena Adjei’s remarks as an opportunity to demonize the government and cause undue panic and fear among the judiciary.
It was however hopeful that the Judiciary had within it, persons of integrity whose conscience, professionalism and dedication to the rule of law would lead them to correct whatever negative impression that the public had about the administration of justice in this country.

AFAG Dares NDC

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 20 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has dared the National Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei, to go ahead with his threat and that of his party to ‘clean’ the judiciary.

Should he make any such attempt, the group says they are more than ready to stop him in his tracks, right at the doorstep of his home.

Their position comes in the wake of the NDC chairman’s accusation of the country’s judiciary as being biased against the ruling government; he subsequently indicated government’s preparedness to ‘clean it’ if need be.

The pressure group believes his comments are not only unsavoury but also reckless and a calculated attempt to intimidate and instil fear in the judiciary.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Spokesman for AFAG, Martin Adjei Mensah Akorsah, reminded the NDC chairman that the independence of Ghana was founded on mass action, adding that they hold the country’s motto, ‘freedom and justice’, in high esteem and will therefore “not allow the course of justice to succumb to the whims and caprices of the cleaners.”

They could not fathom why Dr Kwabena Adjei, and for that matter the NDC, thinks the judiciary has tilted against them, emphasizing that “it was in the hands of these same purported ‘NPP judges’ on the Bench that the NPP-led government suffered a major legal defeat that led to the exoneration of NDC gurus such as Nana Ato Dadzie, Sherry Ayittey, Kwasi Ahwoi and Dr. Dapaah during their trial.”

The group said it was one of these so-called NPP judges who recently ruled against CHRAJ on the Mabey and Johnson trial involving former and current government officials, therefore wondering why “the NDC did not find anything wrong with this because its members were involved and probably they believed the dispensation of justice should only favour them.”

Be that as it may, AFAG says it will be shocked if President Mills, and for that matter government, did not call Dr Adjei to order and distance themselves from a “provocative and useless statement.”

AFAG believes that as a person who attends cabinet meetings and a one time Member of Parliament, Dr Kwabena Adjei should be in a better position to demonstrate his profound respect for the rule of law and provide such inspirational leadership worthy of emulation.

They noted that Dr Adjei, aka ‘Wayoo Wayo’, “has only succeeded in demonstrating to the whole world that he is inept, desperate and for that matter all the allegations of corruption hurled at members of the NPP Government during the 2008 presidential elections were politically motivated and lacked merit.”

AFAG is of the conviction that Dr. Adjei and the NDC are only seeking favour and bent on changing the Chief Justice in order for their government to have the opportunity to appoint a person that they can manipulate and also politicise the judiciary.

“We shall however hold Dr. Kwabena Adjei and his NDC accountable to any attempt on the life of a Judge in whichever form, as he explores his several ways in killing a cat,” the group emphasised.

They have therefore asked her lordship, the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood and her colleague members of the bench to remain steadfast and not be shaken by these threats, saying “we urge her to be strong and keep flying high like an eagle as she remains a model of hope for the Ghanaian woman.”

Flanked by high-ranking members of AFAG including its chairman, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, James Apietu Ankrah and a host of others, Mr Akorsah said if the CJ bowed to “these baseless pressures”, she would only succeed in putting in the public domain how much women in public places cannot withstand “the nuisance of some failing politicians and their displaced aggressions.”

He recalled how three high court judges were murdered during the PNDC era in 1982 as a result of “such similar senseless sentiments made against the judiciary where Dr. Kwabena Adjei as militant as he was, was the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry.”

AFAG expressed hope that the P (NDC) will depart from “its hostile and oppressive circumstances that cowed judges into submission under the totalitarian, autocratic and suppressive rule of the PNDC that gave birth to this NDC.”

AFAG Dares NDC

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 20 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has dared the National Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei, to go ahead with his threat and that of his party to ‘clean’ the judiciary.

Should he make any such attempt, the group says they are more than ready to stop him in his tracks, right at the doorstep of his home.

Their position comes in the wake of the NDC chairman’s accusation of the country’s judiciary as being biased against the ruling government; he subsequently indicated government’s preparedness to ‘clean it’ if need be.

The pressure group believes his comments are not only unsavoury but also reckless and a calculated attempt to intimidate and instil fear in the judiciary.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Spokesman for AFAG, Martin Adjei Mensah Akorsah, reminded the NDC chairman that the independence of Ghana was founded on mass action, adding that they hold the country’s motto, ‘freedom and justice’, in high esteem and will therefore “not allow the course of justice to succumb to the whims and caprices of the cleaners.”

They could not fathom why Dr Kwabena Adjei, and for that matter the NDC, thinks the judiciary has tilted against them, emphasizing that “it was in the hands of these same purported ‘NPP judges’ on the Bench that the NPP-led government suffered a major legal defeat that led to the exoneration of NDC gurus such as Nana Ato Dadzie, Sherry Ayittey, Kwasi Ahwoi and Dr. Dapaah during their trial.”

The group said it was one of these so-called NPP judges who recently ruled against CHRAJ on the Mabey and Johnson trial involving former and current government officials, therefore wondering why “the NDC did not find anything wrong with this because its members were involved and probably they believed the dispensation of justice should only favour them.”

Be that as it may, AFAG says it will be shocked if President Mills, and for that matter government, did not call Dr Adjei to order and distance themselves from a “provocative and useless statement.”

AFAG believes that as a person who attends cabinet meetings and a one time Member of Parliament, Dr Kwabena Adjei should be in a better position to demonstrate his profound respect for the rule of law and provide such inspirational leadership worthy of emulation.

They noted that Dr Adjei, aka ‘Wayoo Wayo’, “has only succeeded in demonstrating to the whole world that he is inept, desperate and for that matter all the allegations of corruption hurled at members of the NPP Government during the 2008 presidential elections were politically motivated and lacked merit.”

AFAG is of the conviction that Dr. Adjei and the NDC are only seeking favour and bent on changing the Chief Justice in order for their government to have the opportunity to appoint a person that they can manipulate and also politicise the judiciary.

“We shall however hold Dr. Kwabena Adjei and his NDC accountable to any attempt on the life of a Judge in whichever form, as he explores his several ways in killing a cat,” the group emphasised.

They have therefore asked her lordship, the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood and her colleague members of the bench to remain steadfast and not be shaken by these threats, saying “we urge her to be strong and keep flying high like an eagle as she remains a model of hope for the Ghanaian woman.”

Flanked by high-ranking members of AFAG including its chairman, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, James Apietu Ankrah and a host of others, Mr Akorsah said if the CJ bowed to “these baseless pressures”, she would only succeed in putting in the public domain how much women in public places cannot withstand “the nuisance of some failing politicians and their displaced aggressions.”

He recalled how three high court judges were murdered during the PNDC era in 1982 as a result of “such similar senseless sentiments made against the judiciary where Dr. Kwabena Adjei as militant as he was, was the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry.”

AFAG expressed hope that the P (NDC) will depart from “its hostile and oppressive circumstances that cowed judges into submission under the totalitarian, autocratic and suppressive rule of the PNDC that gave birth to this NDC.”

CPP Never Dies

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 19 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
LIKE THE proverbial phoenix, the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) says it will bounce back to power anytime soon and has therefore urged Ghanaians to brace themselves for what promises to be a better future when the party assumes the reigns of power.

A leading member of party at its UK branch, Iris Nathalie says like the founder of the party and Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the CPP never dies.

She said this to rebut claims that the CPP had outlived its relevance in Ghana’s politics since it had failed to win power since the overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966.
This was at a short ceremony held in honour of her late mother, Victoria Nyarko, one of the country’s first ten female members of parliament.

A citation presented by the Nkrumah Centenary Celebrations Committee to the family through the CPP National Chairman, Lardi Nylander acknowledged her unwavering sacrifice to the country stressing “the role you played in bringing women into the forefront of political activity has contributed immensely to the vibrant political landscape currently experienced in the country.”

The late MP was said to have been the first female to have graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon with an honors degree.

Led by her grandmother, Emilia Boafo, Ms. Nathalie emotionally recalled and invoked memories of Nkrumah, her late mother and those of other CPP stalwarts who helped in building Ghana’s, economy into what it is today. Iris charged Ghanaians and members of the party who left the CPP to join other political parties to reconsider their decision and return home.

This, she noted was because the CPP is girding its loins to reclaim what belongs to it saying “this is the resurgence of the CPP.”

On his part, Mr. Nylander charged the rank and file of the CPP to unite and start selling the good ideals of the party and Nkrumah to Ghanaians since it is his firm belief that it is only party that can take the country to the much talked about “promise land.”

He also paid glowing tribute to Madam Nyarko describing her as forthright person and urged her family members to take a cue from their late mother since according to them, her memory still lives on.

National CPP Women’s Organizer, Hajia Hamdatu Haruna also advised Ghanaians to shun the two leading political parties in the country, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and vote for the CPP because they had very little to offer the country. “If you want peace, vote for the CPP,” she said.

The CPP has also asked families of the late Christiana Wilmot and Regina Asomani who both served as MPs in Nkrumah’s government to contact them for their awards.

Korle Bu laboratory results Unreliable

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 17 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
IN HIS bid to mount a face-saving campaign about ongoing developments at the nation’s premier hospital, the Board Chairman of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Professor Andrews Seth Ayettey, has ended up indicting the hospital’s central laboratory of allegedly producing unreliable test results.

In a rejoinder to a DAILY GUIDE publication dated August 11, 2010 under the headline “Mills’ man wife causes confusion at Korle Bu”, Prof. Ayettey indicated that “the laboratories had had problems such as frequent breakdowns in equipment, shortage of reagents, unreliable test results, absence of weekend and night duties, complaints of poor services by patients etc.”

According to him, before the Board which he chairs was inaugurated, the management of the hospital had in November 2008 set up a committee chaired by Prof. J.K Acquaye of the Department of Hematology to review the structure and function of the laboratories to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

The committee submitted a report and “based on this report, the CEO, Professor Nii Otu Nartey, recommended to the Board the appointment of Prof. Mercy Newman as head of the laboratory Sub-BMC to oversee the laboratories and to implement the recommendations of the Acquaye committee,” professor Ayettey said, adding “the Board unanimously accepted this recommendation.”

This was what eventually led to the removal and replacement of the head of the Laboratory Sub-Budget Management Centre (BMC), S. Y Oppong with Prof. Newman, wife of John Martey Newman, Chief of Staff of the Mills administration.

However, the laboratory manager, Augustine Sagoe and the former head of the laboratory Sub-BMC, S.Y Oppong, have categorically denied the Board Chairman’s claim that the laboratory had been churning out “unreliable test results”, describing his claim as erroneous.

In separate interviews with DAILY GUIDE, they noted that as a human institution, their test results cannot always be hundred percent correct.

That notwithstanding, they noted that the margin of error could therefore not be anything of greater proportion as the Acquaye committee claimed and therefore noted that if anything at all, it would be the barest minimum since according to him, the lab is among the best or the best in the West African sub region.

As a retired professor on contract at the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana, and having served as head of department of Microbiology for a number of years, the Board Chairman said Professor Newman was best suited for the job, stressing that in making such appointments, the hospital prefers faculty of a professorial rank in order not to hinder the academic progress of younger staff.

He therefore noted that “the value of people like Professor Newman to the hospital cannot be measured” since according to him, “such individuals bring to the hospital their wealth of experience as academics, researchers and managers, at little cost to the hospital.”

That notwithstanding, Prof. Ayettey noted that the position to which Prof. Newman was appointed is not a full time and salaried one.

Mills Buys 2 $38m Obroni Wawu Ships

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 17 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government does not appear to be perturbed about the bad deals that are slowly consuming its administration.

The faux-pas that has characterized everything the government touches has manifested in the acquisition of two ex-German Navy Fast Patrol Boats which had been left to rot in a German Navy junk yard since 2005.

The ships were to be sent to the scrap yard but Ghana was desperate for them, doling out $38million to buy them for its operations in deep water patrol. The ships had no warranty according to official documents sighted.

Documents in the possession of DAILY GUIDE indicate that a memorandum on the deal, which was jointly signed by Defence Minister Lt. Gen. J.H Smith and Finance and Economic Planning Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has received approval of Parliament for the disbursement of a whopping $37,867,500 for the purchase of the S143 retired ships, the Ex-Albatross and the Ex-Bussard, both former German Navy Fast Attack Craft Ships.

Germans have already decommissioned the ships.

Cabinet has already approved the decision in a confidential letter signed by the Secretary to Cabinet, Ben Eghan, dated June 10, 2010 sent to the Minister of Defence and copied to the Minister of Finance.

The letter noted that during its meeting on Thursday, June 3, 2010, cabinet supported the decision and asked for action to be expedited on it.

According to experts, the $37,867,000, which is being spent on the two junk-yard ships, can be used to purchase a brand new fast patrol boat with similar features.

The S143 class of German Fast Patrol Boats was commissioned by the German Navy in 1976 and decommissioned in 2005 after being used for 29 years.

Originally, the German Navy commissioned 10 S143 classes of fast patrol ships but due to operational problems, all 10 were grounded in 2005 and that is what Ghana has gleefully signed for.

In that same year, six of the decommissioned ships were sold to the Tunisian Navy at a cut-throat price of $30million and two to private individuals at undisclosed prices.

The remaining two had been earmarked for scrapping in 2007, after no interest was shown for their purchase.

Miraculously, the two survived the scrapping and three years after, the Government of Ghana (GoG), through the Ministry of Defence, is purchasing the scrap-bound ships at an unbelievable basic price of $22,990,500, plus an additional refurbishment cost of $14,877,000 for the two ships when all the six best ones were sold for a paltry $30,000,000 to the Tunisian Navy in 2005.

The two ships have a length of 7.8 metres, a displacement of 398 tonnes, speed of 40 knots (74km/h), a capacity of 40 people and an armament capacity of 2 x OTO Melara 76mm guns.

Due to wear and tear over the last 34 years, most of these excellent features are either not working or were stripped down by the German Navy when they were decommissioned.

The ships were demilitarized by dismantling of weapon systems as well as fire control systems, whilst respective racks or foundations remain empty.

Some platform equipment of the ships was also dismounted before decommissioning.

More importantly, the propellers are not working and will have to be fitted all over again.

The Government of Ghana is purchasing the junk ships on an ‘as-is-condition’ and the ships shall be delivered to and accepted by government without any guarantees whatsoever from the seller and refurbisher.

The life span of a fast patrol boat, as given by marine experts, is 45 years and with the 34 years already spent, the best the Ghana Navy will get out of the Ex-albatross and Ex-Bussard ships will be nine years, all things being equal.

It is therefore not clear whether the acquisition of the two ships will be able to meet the intended purpose for which they are being purchased- to enhance the capacity of the Ghana Navy to ensure adequate maritime security and also effectively protect the country’s emerging oil industry.

Spies Set On Journalists

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 08 October 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The recording of a private conversation between ace journalist Ebo Quansah and another colleague by unknown persons, and how it subsequently ended up being played in the studios of Accra-based private radio station Asempa FM, has raised security and ethical concerns on invasion of privacy.

On Monday, October 4, 2010, Mr. Quansah, who is a former editor of the ‘Evening News’ newspaper, a former journalist of Ghanaian Times and former President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), went to the International Press Centre, the home of all Ghanaian journalists, around mid-day to have lunch while conversing with a friend.

They sat at the ‘Skuup’ restaurant which is located at the Press Centre and engaged in a chit-chat over lunch, oblivious of the fact that every word of theirs was being secretly recorded by someone closely seated by.

After lunch, Mr. Quansah, a weekly columnist with DAILY GUIDE, who has since reported the incident to the National Media Commission (NMC), said he left the Press Centre to follow up on other errands in town only for him to receive a call from the Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, K.T Hammond, seeking to know whether he was on Asempa radio station.

The veteran journalist said he was completely lost as to what the MP meant since he did not recall granting any interview to the station or being a panelist on the widely-listened-to station.

He therefore denied granting any interview on the radio station or any other station that day.

According to him, the MP asked him to tune in and listen to a programme which was being aired on that network and that a recording of his voice was being played loud and clear to the hearing of all listeners.

Unfortunately for him, the former SWAG President said he could not listen to the programme since he did not have a radio at that moment.

Apparently, he said the private conversation he had with his friend earlier in the day at the Press Centre had been recorded and played on Asempa FM, hence the numerous calls he received.

“From the afternoon till the next morning, I had more than 20 calls from seriously worried family members in my hometown Ekumfi Ekrawfo and all over the country,” he said, emphasizing that “friends and well-wishers also called in to find out what was happening.”

The playing of the said voice recording was said to have provoked a lot of comments from the panelists on the programme, some of whom were also said to have taken serious issues with Ebo Quansah and his friend with whom he had the conversation.

It is believed that some spies operating for National Security had been deployed and planted at some leading churches across the length and breadth of the country, media houses and political circles to not only record, but also monitor the activities and operations of these personalities who are perceived to be anti-government.

Veteran journalist Ebo Quansah thus considers these and other developments as very serious issues which need national attention and has petitioned the NMC and the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) to investigate the matter and apply the necessary sanctions against the radio station and the yet-to-be identified reporter who recorded their private conversation and subsequently aired it for obviously mischievous purposes, before things get out of hand and control.

This, he said, was because the recording was neither done with his or his friend’s consent.

He asked a question which begs for answers, “If one cannot feel safe enough in a private conservation at the International Press Centre, then where is this nation heading to? Surely, this nation is not drifting to the era when it was dangerous to have a chat anywhere.”

According to him, this is because “Some of us have battled over the years to help entrench free speech and freedom of association in the conduct of affairs in this land of our birth”, adding, “We would not abandon our role in safeguarding our hard-earned freedom.”

In these times when Ghanaian politics is gradually being eroded with insults and hate speeches, Ghanaians may have to be careful about their utterances since one, especially journalists and politicians alike, maybe targets of some of these smear campaigns and diabolical recordings.

Copies of the petition have also been forwarded to the GJA, Multimedia Group of companies, owners of Asempa, and the General Manager of Asempa for action.

Porno Hits Veep

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The official website of Vice President John Mahama, http://www.viceprez.gov.gh/index.php which has the portal of the government of Ghana and its coat of arms, has been inundated with disturbing scenes of pornography which some have described as ‘hot and spicy’.DAILY GUIDE made this discovery when the paper attempted to access some information on the veep’s website on the topic ‘Youth and Agric: the Way Forward for Ghana’s Economy’. DAILY GUIDE learnt that the site is very popular because of the steaming sex scenes posted on it. Noticeably, there is no discussion on agriculture but rather visitors to the site seem to be interested in the hot pornography. The website, which is regularly updated with the vice president’s official activities, shows a rather shocking revelation of nude pictures of men and women, both white and black, engaged in ‘hot’ sex on a page that is supposed to promote farming. Consequently, these scenes project the vice president and the Republic of Ghana as promoting a different kind of ‘farming’ to the country’s youth on the website. The obviously ‘nasty’ scenes which were supposed to have been posted by one Kapmimb Asperee, with the following email address terrakot@gaymike18.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , have been logged in the discussion forum of the Vice President’s website. It is so easy to access the site and post a comment as visitors are invited to ‘Join the discussion’ on http://www.viceprez.gov.gh/forum_list.php which eventually leads to the 15th comment where a sender has created the following link http://lionsearch.ru/swinger/1, http://lionsearch.ru/swinger/2 and http:// lionsearch.ru/ swinger/3, all in jpg format showing these ‘despicable’ sex scenes.The nicely designed site has on the portal ‘Home, Vision, Media, Events and Contact’, with the veep in pictures with Chinese officials, South Korean officials, Kofi Annan, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo and some important chiefs that he recently interacted with.When browsers click ‘Contact’, it leads you to “Join the discussion” which shows today’s topic as ‘Youth in Agric, the Way Forward for Ghana’s Economy. Then you are asked to ‘Join Now’ with no inhibitions whatsoever, which leads you to ‘view discussions’ which, when clicked, opens you to the scenes on uninhibited pornography for free, lots and lots of them. The first entry seemed to be from a serious forum discussion member.Among other things that have been written there are “gangbang wife swingers black swingers porn mature free porn video swinger free porn swingers free movie pussy swinger gang bang swinger pics anal sex fetish swingers interracial sex free mature swinger vids mature swingers blowjob free bi swinger porn nudist swingers and naturalist nude beach swingers young swinger wife amateur swinger sluts free real stories swingers fuck site swinger xxx amature home.”Another of these comments and pornographic materials was posted by one Lizant Axialar on Saturday, September 18, 2010 with the following email address comomonee@mail.ru This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , with comments like “russian baby girls names russian woman of darts – leading to a Russian dating club at http://alfredler.info/dating/irish-online-dating-agencies/russian-woman-of-darts.html” whilst another from sub0@capitalshield.net This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , with the website address http://babeblogx.co.cc/teens.jpg also saying “Get your access to a huge archive of nasty teen porn.”
It further stated, “Barely legal teen amateurs and hot 18-20 y.o. models expose their young fresh bodies to camera and get dirty in thousands of breathtaking hardcore scenes.Premium quality high-resolution pics and videos bringing you the hottest teens to ever appear on the Internet await you inside! teen filled with jizz video teen sex school vids movies sex videos for teens gay black twink sex movies bukkake gangbang teens videoscute teen camp video teens tube videos black teen booty video video xnxx teen teen japanese sex videos teens in stockings videos”.These revelations indicate that a lot of seeds were being sown, but unfortunately not the kind of seeds that will grow on Ghana’s fertile farmlands, indicating the truth about the care and professionalism of the administrative minders of the site and the vice-president. The postings were obviously made by spammers who may have even done it through automated posting, but with the veep’s site administrator keeping mute, he or she may apparently be having fun. Even the most primitive of webmasters know that there are two golden rules when you allow comments on your website.A webmaster told DAILY GUIDE, when contacted that the golden rule of administering websites are never to allow comments to be posted unless approved by the webmaster, and to institute a “Captcha” facility to prevent automated postings (A CAPTCHA or Captcha is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer.) He said there was no excuse for this kind of sloppiness on the website of the vice president of the Republic, as it is accessed throughout the world. He therefore called for the immediate dismissal of the webmaster and anyone involved in managing the site who should have known better. Initially, the paper thought it was an unfortunate oversight.This has been on the webpage for a while and has remained there since DAILY GUIDE accessed it on Sunday, September 19, 2010 and neither Vice President Mahama nor the managers of his website have thought it wise to remove them.It is therefore not clear whether or not the office of the vice president or the managers of the site have seen the page or do follow the discussions on the forums that have been created for such intended purposes.

Kufuor Plane Arrives

Posted: Daily Guide | www.dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The much talked-about Presidential jet which was ordered by the Kufuor administration amidst wild criticism from the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has finally arrived in the country.

The ‘Falcon 900EX Easy Aircraft’ purchased by the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is scheduled to be commissioned at what is expected to be a colourful ceremony at the Jubilee Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra at 3pm today.

A statement issued by the Public Relations Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces and signed by Flt. Lt. Francisca Aholo, on behalf of the Director, said “the Ghana Air Force has taken delivery of the newly-acquired Falcon 900EX Easy Aircraft, spares and tools on behalf of the Government of Ghana.”

The Falcon 900 Presidential Jet would thus replace the Fokker 27 aircraft ‘flying coffin’ that the Ghana Air Force has used for the past 37 years as presidential jet.

Ghanaians would recall how the Kufuor administration was heavily criticized by the NDC for putting in the order for the purchase of the aircraft.

When the NDC eventually assumed power in 2009, there were widespread speculations in government circles about the intentions of the Mills administration to cancel the deal. It later ordered more jets.

A proposal was taken to Parliament by Defence Minister Lt. Gen. J.H Smith, in which the NDC government requested the approval of the House to purchase another jet for the exclusive use of the President.

This generated a heated debate between a former Minister of State at the Interior Ministry in the Kufuor administration, Nana Obiri Boahen and a former deputy Minister of Defence in the Rawlings administration, Dr. Tony Aidoo.

Nana Obiri Boahene was utterly shocked at the “quick u-turn” by the Mills administration to purchase an aircraft for the state after “harshly criticising” former President Kufuor when he attempted to acquire one for the same purpose.

Dr. Tony Aidoo, who is Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Presidency, however denied the claim since according to him, the NDC in opposition did not describe the purchase as needless, but only complained about what he termed ‘proper procedures’ for the acquisition which were not followed.

He noted that the NDC also felt that placing orders for two planes was uncalled for, especially when neither of them could serve the Armed Forces and both were solely to be used by the Presidency.

He said the NDC in opposition then took into account too much expenditure at the time, including the construction of the Jubilee House and the celebration of Ghana@50 which made it unwise to spend that huge amount on the two jets.

However, Nana Obiri Boahene disagreed with Dr. Tony Aidoo’s justification for the purchase of the jets.

Nana Obiri Boahene, a Sunyani-based lawyer, said it was a “misplaced priority” for the NDC government to purchase an airliner in the face of high unemployment and general economic hardship nationwide.

Sekou Strikes Again!

Posted: Daily Guide |Monday, 16 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The dismissed Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC), Dr Sekou Nkrumah, has explained why he thinks President Atta Mills does not deserve a second term to lead Ghana, as the nationwide discomfort in every facet of life is just unbearable.

Sekou has therefore rubbished the president’s intention to seek re-election in the 2012 polls, saying President Mills, who prides himself of building a ‘better Ghana,’ does not deserve the honour and favour of Ghanaians again since he is a bad case for the country.

Sekou is particularly not happy with the way the president is handling the affairs of the nation, especially with the recently-outdoored national youth policy.

Dr. Nkrumah therefore regrets spending his precious time to campaign for the president since he (Mills) is being polluted by the people around him.

Speaking to Citi FM about the youth policy, Sekou, who was sacked from his position after criticizing President Mills and his leadership style, wondered why the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration outdoored the National Youth Policy without an action plan for its implementation.

“I think people are getting worried. I mean this is only one aspect of youth development, but the way we are going about it is most unfortunate,” he said.

He could not fathom why it took government that long to launch the policy, considering the fact that it came without a programme of action attached to it, saying “the national youth policy cannot be launched without the action plan, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Sekou recalled that the Kufuor-led NPP administration could not launch the policy which had then been approved by cabinet since it was not backed by an action plan.

Whilst he admitted that some minor changes were made to the document, regarding some priority areas like the action plan, Sekou said “I don’t know why that action plan does not come with the launch; it doesn’t make any sense”, asking “so how are they going to implement it? If there is an action plan as they say, where is it? Why are they hiding it?"

Considering the fact that it took the NDC almost two years to launch the policy, Sekou wondered “how long will it take you to implement it with two years to finish your term?”

Meanwhile, various interest groups including the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have kicked against the policy which was launched by Vice President John Mahama last week.

As it stands now “it looks like some of us are even regretting campaigning for a leadership that will put this country in this embarrassing situation.

I regret campaigning for Professor Mills because I believe the NDC can do much better than that so it’s a question of people sitting up and changing this leadership that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.”

He said, “From where I stand, it’s a big embarrassment for me and I don’t even know where to take it from here, but I guess I will have to consult with other people and see how we can move this country forward,” he noted.

Sekou said he only joined the NDC because it served as the probable leftist party that was left in Ghanaian politics since his father’s CPP was not going anywhere “and that’s why some of us had to eat humble pie and go to the NDC.

“But if it is looking like there are people in the NDC who are obstructing this whole forward march, then those of us on the left side of Ghanaian politics really need to advise ourselves.”

In the current situation, he thinks things are not clear and therefore he is not sure which individuals and group of persons are advising the President, saying “I think he is surrounded by people who are misleading him and things are not going to be good for the NDC.”

We’re Ready For Betty

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 12 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Lawyers for former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani, and Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana @50 secretariat, say they are more than ready to meet the Attorney General (AG) and her prosecuting team in court at any point in time.

They have therefore called the bluff of Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu to haul their clients back to court on charges of allegedly causing financial loss to the state.

Lawyer for Mr Mpiani, Yoni Kulendi, yesterday told DAILY GUIDE he and his legal team were unfazed by the decision of the AG to appeal against the High Court’s decision to discharge Kwadwo Mpiani and Dr Wereko-Brobby.

Hours after the High Court struck out the case involving the two, the AG issued a statement and granted an interview to several radio stations in which she indicated her preparedness to appeal against the decision.

Though she had not taken time to study the court’s ruling, Betty Mould-Iddrisu insisted that “the discharge of the accused persons by the court is not a determination of their guilt or innocence.”

She therefore indicated that after studying it, she would take such appropriate actions that would address the procedural issues raised by the court.

“I will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the probity and accountability we require from every person entrusted with public money is held accountable and most importantly suffers the penalty for stealing and wasting such funds,” she stated.

“This is an interlocutory proceeding and the court only discharged and not acquitted them. They can therefore be tried again and we will do that by all means,” the Attorney General said in a statement issued in Accra.

Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu was in Namibia at the time the court gave its ruling.

But Mr Kulendi has stated that “they have an uphill task overturning that verdict, we do not. Our responsibility will be to sustain the verdict to show the court was right.

“It is proper for them to go back to their books instead of these unexamined comments they are making in the air when they haven’t even read the judgment.”

Whilst he agreed that the AG had a legitimate option to appeal the High Court’s decision, he said “we will be ready to meet them any day anytime.

But my sense is that anybody who reads the ruling…it’s a very compelling, erudite, lucid reasoning based on the law. I think it’s a correct statement of the law.”

That notwithstanding, Yoni noted “if you are stuck with a very compelling decision and you persist in the way in which the indications are coming, then your good faith becomes questionable.

“It’s the AG’s constitutional prerogative to mount an appeal which is what it sought to do. If it turns out that she is wrong, she is wrong. I think that anytime the law is upheld, the Attorney General wins. The courts have spoken, they have upheld the law.”

He hoped that the AG and her legal team would stick to their legitimate option which was the essence of the rule of law.

In his ruling, which lasted an hour and nine minutes, Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as additional High Court judge, described the Attorney General’s action as “unconstitutional” and said it was an “abuse of the AG’s powers under Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution”.

The court said the prosecution of Dr. Wereko-Brobby and Mr. Mpiani was based on the White Paper issued by the government after the Ghana @ 50 Commission of Enquiry report, adding that the constitution frowned on any attempt to mount criminal proceedings against any person who testified before a Commission of Enquiry and the prosecution was based on adverse findings of that Commission.

The judge said the essence of a Commission of Enquiry was to afford the President the opportunity to establish an independent body to investigate any wrongdoing and make adverse findings.

Once the President went ahead to issue a White Paper, the findings became a judgment of a High Court.

“If the intention is to prosecute public officials, then the way to go is not to use findings of a Commission of Enquiry.

The state is at liberty to use the traditional way of prosecuting public officials so that the AG can exercise the powers rightly,” the presiding Judge said.

JJ Turns To God

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 12 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Despite government’s claims that it has put the economy on a sound footing, the party’s founder, Jerry John Rawlings insists “Ghana is facing serious social, cultural and political challenges.”

He has therefore entreated all Muslims nationwide who would be fasting to pray for God to give the leadership of this country a good sense of direction.

This was contained in a statement issued by the former first family, Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings, as part of their message to Muslims for the Ramadan fasting.

“Our country, and indeed the whole world, is engulfed with several challenges - hunger, poverty, enmity, hatred, war and natural disasters,” the statement said.

The former President and his wife believe “these are signs of the negativity we create because we fail to express love to our fellow humans.”

It is therefore their prayer that at the conclusion of the Ramadan period, “we would have prayed for God to give us a sense of direction and to make us bold” since “Ramadan is an opportunity to pray to Allah for his mercies for him to give us strength of character to stay pure throughout the year and foster friendship, peace and love with our neighbours.”

The statement added: “Let us not lose this opportunity to seek Allah’s favour to turn around the atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust that has engulfed the world through concerted prayer” since “Ramadan gives us great opportunities and lessons, which we see through sight and insights.”

The Rawlingses asked Muslims the world over to strengthen cohesion and the feelings of compassion, love and the rebuilding of their respective common national aspirations based on great and high morals.

They asked Muslims embarking on this annual religious journey to re-evaluate their lives and enhance their inner purity, saying “Ramadan is the month of revelation of the Quran and the month of reading and reciting the whole Quran.”

It is also a month of significant demonstration of the love of Allah towards mankind and between Muslims and peoples of all faiths.

As Muslims embark on this month-long period of fasting, prayer and restraint from human pleasures, they urged them to use the opportunity to enhance the unity and strength of communities by praying for love and peace.

“Nana (Konadu) and I take this opportunity to wish you all a sound body and an enlightened mind and a pure heart so you may be able to fast and recite his revealed thoughts in the Quran, for only he is unhappy who is devoid of Allah’s forgiveness during this Holy month,” the statement said.