Rawlings Flares Up

Posted: Daily Guide | Friday, 25 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Former President Jerry John Rawlings yesterday broke loose at the Constitution Review Commission’s sitting scheduled for him when he was heard shouting.

His attitude therefore broke the code of silence associated with the high-profile personalities’ (including former and incumbent Presidents and their Vices) sessions with the commissioners to make their inputs into the review of the country’s 1992 constitution.

When Mr. Rawlings arrived at the Commission’s office at Cantonments around 11:30am in the company of his special aide, Kofi Adams, he exchanged pleasantries with the commissioners before the hearing, which was a closed session, began.

All seemed to be going well until Mr. Rawlings, under whose tenure as a military dictator the current constitution came into being, was overheard shouting at the meeting.

It is not clear what might have triggered his sudden outburst since details of the meeting were not made public.

After almost two hours, the former President, also the founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), came out of the meeting with members of the Commission and had a brief interaction with the media before driving away.

His aide declined to answer questions from the media and also drove off.

Though speculations were rife that some comments by some members of the Commission could have startled Mr. Rawlings, CRC’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Raymond Atuguba, said the former President was not provoked and that the raising of his voice was his usual way of talking.

“You know the man. That is the way he talks,” was what he told DAILY GUIDE when contacted.

However, it was generally rumoured that the mention of the ‘Indemnity Clauses’ in the constitution might have ruffled his feathers. The indemnity clauses are a part of the Transitional Provisions of the Constitution which provide blanket protection for all coup makers in the various military administrations which toppled constitutionally and democratically elected governments.

Mr. Rawlings said the meeting went well and members of the Commission were very receptive.

Asked whether the country’s Constitution had been tried and tested enough to warrant a review as being done, he said, “This happens once in a while as a result of changing circumstances, okay and if there is the need for something to be altered, it would be okay, if there is no need for it, it would not. But I think the opportunity ought to be created for it and I believe this is what has been done.”

The commissioners met President Mills at the Castle yesterday even though it was not clear if they took his views on the review or not.

Meanwhile, the Commission is expected to hold a week’s national conference from Tuesday, 1st March 2011 at the Accra International Conference Center.

The conference, which would be addressed by President Mills, is expected to serve as a representative national platform where the over 75,000 submissions received and processed will be tabled for national debate.

It is also expected to bring together persons with expert knowledge on the various thematic areas gathered by the submissions to assist the conference to arrive at options for constitutional redesign.

The submissions received so far have been synthesized into 12 thematic areas. These have been further broken down into some 77 sub themes and about 548 issues and would be tabled for a national debate.

Participants at the conference are being drawn from the public, private and civil society organizations.

Identifiable groups such as political parties, youth groups, gender groups, persons with disability, children, professional bodies and associations, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), private sector as well as eminent persons, facilitators and national and international consultants are expected to participate.

One Killed

In Accra flood
Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 24 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Several residents of Accra have been displaced by Tuesday’s torrential downpour with one person reported dead.

A young man whose name was given as Abubakar Barwuah was reported to have drowned in the Odaw River.

A visit to some of the affected areas including Glefe, the Kokomba market, and Kwame Nkrumah Circle showed a gloomy picture of the aftermath of the rain.

Though officials are yet to quantify the extent of damage, it is believed that the rain which started around 9:30pm and ended around 2am, destroyed properties running into several millions of cedis.

Several low-lying houses around the Kwame Nkrumah Circle were submerged.

At the time of the visit, some residents were seen removing their water-soaked properties including mattresses, sound systems, computers and other personal effects from their rooms to dry them outside, with signs of the water level marked on the walls.

Reports say Dansoman and its surrounding areas including Sakaman was the one of the hardest hit due to the ongoing road construction works in the area, coupled with the spillage of water from other water bodies nearby.

In areas like Korle Gonno, roofs of some buildings were also removed whilst houses were flooded, making it virtually impossible for some residents to come out of their houses until later in the day.

In some areas, the water was high up to the knee and waist levels whilst properties had been washed away.

At the Kokomba market and Glefe where a lot of slums have sprung up, people were finding it extremely difficult to clean the debris since their houses were still flooded.

Tuesday’s rain was the second in the month of February 2011.

Some residents of the Madina Redco Flats who called into Joy FM also reported of extensive flooding in the area.

One of such persons said after about two hours of rain, water levels in his home had reached the waist level forcing him and members of his household to move upstairs to safety.

“At the west point, the water level was above the windscreen level of my 4x4 vehicle. We had three 4x4 vehicles parked outside and they were all almost completely submerged,” he said.

The victim added that other homes in the area were not spared the fury of the floods.

A journalist at Alajo also had his residence flooded.

His only fear was of losing his Boer Bull dogs; but fortunately for him, they were rescued.

Flooding in Accra has become a perennial phenomenon with experts grappling with ways and means of containing it.

Over the past decade, floods have claimed several lives, and destroyed public infrastructure and property.

The rainfall of 4th July 1995 was the highest recorded in one event since 1936.

The 1995 floods caused damage to lives and property, disrupted infrastructural services like water supply, telephone, electricity, roads and railways. Seventeen (17) lives were lost in that flood while commercial and industrial activity was disrupted.

The most affected areas were those located within the flood plain of the Odaw and Onyasia rivers.

Experts attribute most of these floods that hit Accra to urbanization, reduced capacity of drainage systems, poor drains and culverts, maintenance, erosion and sediment delivery, obstructions, damming of water bodies, high rainfall intensities and tidal effects of the Korle Lagoon.

IC Quaye Spits Fire

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 22 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central, Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, has said that he and members of his family would not sit idle for any group to intimidate and take them for a ride.

The warning came a day after a group of marauding youth, suspected to be members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), attacked his family house and those of his other family members at Alajo, a suburb of Accra.

“Nobody sits in the comfort of his house for people to go and beat them and go scot free,” he said.

At a press conference at the family house yesterday, I. C. Quaye warned that the next time any group of persons would make any such attempt on their lives and property, he and his family members would be ready to face them squarely.

According to the MP, the attack took place at a time he was having a meeting with about 700 members of his party at his private residence at Roman Ridge.

The attackers, suspected to have been organised by the Assembly member-elect of the area, Abdul Aziz Sununu, and one William Quacoo Affum aka Obama, an NDC parliamentary hopeful in the constituency, allegedly vandalized five houses and vehicles in the house, broke into rooms and smashed glass windows including the office of Mohas, a company owned by Mohammed Quaye, a brother to the MP and chairman of the Alajo Town Development Association.

When news of the violence got to him, Sheikh said he immediately called in the police at Kotobabi who acted swiftly to stop what could have been a possible carnage if his people had decided to fight back.

But, Sheikh I.C. Quaye said their own investigations had led to the identification of ringleaders of the violence including Sadat Razak, Sumaila Victor, Mohammed Victor, Sani and Nurudeen Tetteh.

He hoped that the police would take the issue up for the law to take its course on the violent actions of the aforementioned individuals.

He also described as ‘stupid and nonsensical’ claims that his family house was attacked because he was keeping a cache of arms there, asking rhetorically, “So did they collect any weapons in my house?

Are they policemen who can just take the law into their own hands and conduct a search? Who sent them? They should tell me so that we take action against them.

"After causing all the damage thinking that there was no one here, when they were going, God made it possible for people to see the numbers and other details of the car that they used. We know and we are going to see the police with that information,” he said angrily.

“It is my sincere hope that this time around, the police will do everything possible to arrest the perpetrators of this violent act,” he said.

The MP had since called for calm and prevailed on family members and his numerous supporters who trooped to the house to commiserate with them when they heard news of the attack, to let the police do their work.

Meanwhile, the Assembly member of the area Abdul Aziz Sununu has denied being part of the vandalization that took place at I.C Quaye’s family house, indicating that what happened was an internal strife among members of the Quaye family.

NDC Gurus Fight Over Chop Chop

Posted: Daily Guide | Monday, 21 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
A big fight has broken out in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) between the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa-Doe and the party’s communications director in the region, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, over the award of building contracts.

Ms. Doe, a former National Women’s Organizer, accuses Mr. Jacobs of hatching a plot to get her removed from office because she refused to give him contracts.

Media reports suggested that some individuals and groups have petitioned President Mills to remove Ms. Doe claiming she was the most inefficient government representative of all time in the Central Region.

But Benyiwa Doe, nicknamed ‘Ama Chavez’, believes “Allotey is behind all this”.

“If you read the newspaper story very well, it gives lead to Allotey Jacobs as the source of the story.”

The Central Regional Minister told Peace FM that this could be the result of strained relations between her and Jacobs, a Board member of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

According to her, she believed Allotey, who claims to be a contractor, was behind the negative reports on her “because he wanted a contract that does not exist and I couldn’t get it for him.”

She added, “He has gone to almost everybody who matters from the Central Region to the capital Accra, petitioning them that I should be removed from my position” –a claim Allotey Jacobs has since denied.

Apart from that, she said “he has gone to Mr. Quayson, the Chairman of the Revenue Agencies Board, he has come to Kwesi Ahwoi and Ato Ahwoi with the same allegation; so I have ample evidence that he is behind all this… this is his handiwork. Meanwhile, he was a CPP man and this is a CPP newspaper so the links are there.”

Allotey Jacobs, who calls himself an ‘educated fisherman’ however thinks Benyiwa Doe is only trying to create unnecessary attention for herself because he has done no such thing as she claims.

Though he admitted having a strained relation with the Minister, he denied having anything to do with the newspaper publication since his accuser could have equally planted the story to make it look as though some people including himself wanted her out.

Mr. Jacobs declined to comment on whether or not he had any such discussions about the possible removal or reshuffle of Benyiwa Doe, with the Ahwoi brothers, who are said to be the de facto leaders of this country.

He also declined to comment on whether or not Benyiwa Doe was competent enough to occupy the position of Central Regional Minister.

He rejected suggestions that he was eyeing Benyiwa Doe’s position, hence his alleged interest in seeing her out.

On the issue of the contract, the ‘educated fisherman’ said “it’s so funny that the contract came from the Ministry of Education and not from the region,” noting, “The person who helped me in getting that contract was George Lawson, our Deputy General Secretary who was then the Special Assistant to the Education Minister, who gave me that contract.”

For this reason, he said “it was not her who gave me that contract.”

Cocaine Arrests Snuffed

Posted: Daily Guide | Monday, 21 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) believes that President Mills and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) government have not been telling Ghanaians the truth about the fight against the drugs’ trade in the country.

In the ‘state of the nation’ address last week, President Mills said his government had acquitted itself very well two years after declaring war on the drugs’ trade in the country, noting “we will not relent in our fight against the narcotic trade and I believe (that) the majority of Ghanaians are happy that these days they don’t wake up to daily stories of cocaine here, cocaine there, cocaine everywhere.”

But Buabeng-Asamoa, who is a deputy Communications Director of the party, says the President appeared to project the fight against drug trafficking through Ghana as a political battle against the NPP.

He made these comments when he appeared on Joy FMs news analysis programme ‘Newsfile’, alleging that the Mills administration has been deliberately suppressing information about drug arrests for political purposes.

Mr Buabeng-Asamoa, lawyer, quoted paragraphs 841 of the 2011 budget statement which stated “…the Board (NACOB) recorded 32 cases of narcotic drugs, arrested 38 culprits and seized a total of 483.6 kilograms of various narcotic drugs” to support his claim, noting that “these seizures were in 2010 alone and could be the tip of the iceberg.”

He therefore asked “where are the 483.6 kilograms of drugs?” since according to Mr Asamoa, the NPP government passed two very important laws in the fight against drug traffickers which the NDC government seemed to have ignored.

“Because of influence, there is a suspicion that cocaine suspects on bail either run away or bribe their way.

When the law was passed under then Attorney-General Joe Ghartey, 20 suspects were convicted in 2 months. It is alleged that against this law, the prosecution is said to have demanded bail”, he stated.

According to him, another law was passed which made it obligatory for cocaine to be destroyed as soon as it was seized after a sample had been shown to the court.

That was also to avoid the situation where the exhibits could get missing being transported to court daily for hearings, asking “so has the government destroyed the 483.6 kilos of cocaine?”

Other panelists on the programme bemoaned the fact that drug cases and arrests were not being reported in the media thus giving the impression that the NDC had created that since it came to power the drug trade had suddenly stopped.

Editor-in-Chief of the ‘New Crusading Guide’ Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako Jnr indicated that if the government continued to play politics with sensitive issues such as that of drug control, then the fight against the menace would not be successful.

Between 1994 and 1999, Kwaku Baako alleged that over 300 cases of cocaine-related drug issues were not clearly dealt with, an indictment on the NDC.

He stressed the need for the issue of cocaine to be dealt with in a nationalistic manner so that everybody would be involved.

Otherwise, he said the NDC’s attempt to paint NPP black would only worsen the problems of enforcement.

Whilst welcoming the President’s announcement of his decision to re-open investigations into the infamous MV Benjamin cocaine case in which 77 parcels of the drug got missing from a vessel, he said it was sad that the President seemed misinformed that the suspects in that case had been tried, convicted and jailed.

‘Crucify Me’

-Asiedu Nketiah
Posted: Daily Guide | Saturday, 19 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Barely 24 hours after coming under severe criticism for an alleged conflict of interest in the ongoing Bui Hydro Power construction project, General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu-Nketia also called General Mosquito, has gone on the defensive, trying to justify his role and that of his block manufacturing company.

Asiedu-Nketia said if his company was supplying blocks to the Bui Dam Project, and some Ghanaians did not understand why, they should crucify him. The NDC chief scribe’s conflict of interest situation had generated a furore, with people accusing him of abusing his position.

This was after the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bui Power Authority (BPA) and First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Fred Oware, exposed how a block manufacturing company owned by the NDC General Secretary had been awarded a contract to supply blocks for the entire resettlement project of the BPA, though he was and continued to serve on the company’s Board.

General Mosquito had earlier threatened to expose former President Kufuor for allegedly failing to implement the hydro power project and particularly in the funding of the Bui City project – a claim both individuals had vehemently denied.

But on Thursday, an obviously bruised General Mosquito had a hell of time defending himself, hopping from one radio station to the other denying any wrong-doing in securing a contract with the BPA though he himself admitted not informing the Board about his decision to do business with the organisation.

Mr Asiedu-Nketiah told Peace FM he could not fathom why people were trying to make his contract with the said company look awkward since, in his opinion, it was not the first time somebody serving on a company’s Board had managed to secure a contract with the same company.

He however admitted establishing a branch of his block manufacturing company at the Bui project site only three months ago.

He said he noticed the seeming difficulties by sub-contractors of the Bui project in procuring blocks and therefore decided to extend his block factory, which was originally in his hometown, Seikwa, closer to the project site for the benefit of the subcontractors.

In the face of the probing questions he was being asked, he said anybody who felt he had done something wrong should go and crucify him.

His defence was that he did not source the contract directly from the Board and could therefore not be cited for conflict of interest, since he got the contract from some of the companies subcontracted to work on the resettlement project, after which the board, of which he is a member, would then supervise.

That notwithstanding, the NDC General Secretary boasted of having been able to create jobs for the residents of the area, especially the youth, most of whom were currently into the block manufacturing business.

He therefore could not fathom why Mr Oware and his colleagues in the NPP who had been pushing for the inclusion of local companies in the construction of the STX houses, were raising issues with the award of contract to his company and citing him for conflict of interest.

This, he said, was because as a Board member of the BPA, he was not under any contractual obligation to provide blocks for the project, neither were the contractors under any compulsion to buy the blocks from his company.

That aside, General Mosquito said his blocks were of higher quality and therefore higher priced than those of his competitors, hence the wide patronage.

He later accused the Kufuor administration of not doing proper work on the Bui project, saying they either failed to conduct feasibility studies on the project, claiming nothing was left behind for the new managers.

But Mr Oware stood by his claim that prior to leaving office in May 2009, they had made provisions for funding for the Bui City with $28million set aside, of which $5million goes into employers permanent facilities, $12million for irrigation structures and $11million for facilities for resettlement as contained in the Bui Hydroelectric, EPC/Turn-key project contract volume 1 schedule of payment, subsection scheduled no. 17 provisional sum, which means that there wouldn’t be any need for extra cost as the government was pushing for $118million.

Additionally, Mr. Oware indicated that “there was a sum of $12million under schedule no. 2 road and bridge works which was to be applied to road works within the proposed city”, noting with emphasis, “A copy of the business plan (on the planning and development of Bui City) was handed over to the new Chief Executive Officer as part of the materials I left behind.”

He could therefore not fathom why the current government had approached Parliament with a request for additional funding of $118million to complete the hydroelectric project and submitted that “as an EPC/Turnkey contract, any additional funding to complete the project should have been out of the question”.

At the time of leaving office, Mr. Oware claimed there were three other passed certificates totaling over $97million which were unpaid, attracting penalties and therefore increasing the project cost, indicating that “the late payment has also led to delayed completion date”.

But the Bui Hydro Power Project which was started by previous NPP administration to build and operate an efficient hydroelectric plant that would generate electricity at base price to spur industrial and agricultural revolution in Ghana, impacting the lives of millions, is currently cash-strapped.

Mr. Oware however blamed the NDC government since adequate measures were put in place by the previous administration to forestall any such drawbacks which had led to government demanding an additional $118million to complete the hydroelectric project.

Asiedu Nketia Sells Blocks To Bui Dam

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 17 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, appears to have bitten more than he could chew after issuing threats on former President John Agyekum Kufuor over the latter’s handling of projects relating to the construction of the Bui Dam.

The NDC General Secretary, popularly called General Mosquito, was badly exposed for transacting business with the Bui Power Project while serving as a Board member.

Asiedu-Nketia confirmed allegations that he was now a high-flying contractor who also supplied cement blocks to the Bui Power Project, of which he is a member of the Board of Directors.

The NDC boss however disagreed with suggestions that his relation with the project constituted a conflict of interest, insisting he was a supplier like others who supplied building materials for the project, which was started under the Kufuor administration with funding from the Chinese government.

He was compelled to reveal his business relations after Fred Oware raised red flags over a company purported to be owned by the NDC chieftain, which he said was the only block manufacturing company for the entire resettlement project.

He stated that “the higher prices charged by him (Asiedu-Nketiah) ultimately affect the project cost.”

Yesterday, Asiedu-Nketiah, former manager of the Seikwa-based Nkoranman Rural Bank, clashed with the leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after he urged the power authority to invite the former President to answer for his stewardship regarding the project.

According to him, the former administration failed to leave behind any document that could help with the implementation process, especially regarding the Bui City Project.

Mosquito had, among others, alleged that the former President as Chairman of the Bui Power Authority, together with the Board and management, failed in the implementation of the hydro power project and particularly in the funding of the Bui City Development project – a claim former Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority (BPA) and current First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Fred Oware, vehemently denied.

Asiedu-Nketia, a former teacher at Seikwa Presbyterian Middle School, alleged that no funds were made available either as part of the hydro funds or other financial arrangements initiated for the Bui City project.

He therefore suggested that President Kufuor should be made to appear before a body for questioning.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr. Oware said, “Such irresponsible statements can only come from one who does not read materials sent to him or if he plainly chooses to be mischievous.”

Mr Oware told journalists how a block manufacturing company owned by the NDC General Secretary had been single-handedly awarded a contract to supply blocks for the entire resettlement project, indicating that “subcontractors who make their own blocks risk their contracts being terminated”.

Mr. Oware dared General Mosquito to do his worst by, as it were, telling the whole country what wrong either he or President Kufuor did regarding the Bui project.

Though Mr. Asiedu-Nketiah admitted ownership of the said block manufacturing company in Kabrono which sells blocks to companies working on the Bui dam project, he denied that it was the only one supplying blocks to the project site saying there were about four others.

Prior to leaving office in May 2009, the former CEO of BPA said, they had made provisions for funding for the Bui City with $28million set aside, of which $5million goes into employers permanent facilities, $12million for irrigation structures and $11million for facilities for resettlement as contained in the Bui Hydroelectric, EPC/Turnkey project contract volume 1 schedule of payment, subsection scheduled no. 17 provisional sum.

Additionally, Mr. Oware indicated that “there was a sum of $12million under schedule no. 2 road and bridge works which was to be applied to road works within the proposed city”, noting with emphasis, “A copy of the business plan (on the planning and development of Bui City) was handed over to the new Chief Executive Officer as part of the materials I left behind.”

He could also not fathom why the current government had approached Parliament with a request for additional funding of $118million to complete the hydroelectric project and submitted that “as an EPC/Turnkey contract, any additional funding to complete the project should have been out of the question.”

At the time of leaving office, Mr. Oware claimed there were three passed certificates totalling over $97million which were unpaid, attracting penalties and therefore increasing the project cost, indicating that “the late payment has also led to delayed completion date.”

He said the current Board of Bui had appointed a number of subcontractors to undertake the resettlement housing with charges higher than the Chinese rates, in the name of enhancing local content, whilst the Chinese continue to supervise the resettlement project.

Furthermore, the new Board was said to be insisting that the Chinese should buy chippings/aggregates from a supplier based in Sunyani (over 60km) at a price likely to add a further $50million to the original project cost.

As it stands now, the former CEO of the BPA said the project would be completed in the year 2013 instead of 2012 with further cost implications.

Mr. Asiedu-Nketiah told DAILY GUIDE yesterday that since there were about four other companies operating there, everybody was free to sell blocks and that others even brought blocks from as far as Kumasi to the project site.

According to him, the system at the project site was a free market, noting that “because of their quality, my blocks are a little more expensive than the others. So those who want it, come to buy, those who cannot, buy from the other block manufacturers.”

But this time round, General Mosquito changed his tongue and said “I have my operations in Bungase and so those who want it come to buy.”

Mills Fires 2 Ministers

Posted: Daily Guide | Wednesday, 16 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
In what looks like another musical chairs ministerial reshuffle, President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills has reshuffled his Deputy Ministers, swapping some of them while bringing on a few fresh limbs.

He also dropped two and rewarded a man who just last Friday floated an organisation to champion support for his re-election, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi.

Key among those affected by yesterday’s reshuffle are Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mohammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, the man who proclaimed Jihad during the Akwatia by-election, replacing James Agyenim-Boateng as one of the two Deputy Ministers of Information.

This was contained in press release signed by Secretary to the President, J.K. Bebaako-Mensah, sent to the media yesterday.

It is not too clear why Baba Jamal is being brought to a delicate ministry as Information considering his intemperate nature; but some believe that he was being sent there to do the government’s hatchet job which Agyenim-Boateng, who heads for the Tourism Ministry as Deputy Minister, could not do.

Just a week ago, Baba Jamal, who had hints of his possible dismissal from government, rallied Eastern Regional Youth Organisers of the NDC to drum up support for him in order for the President to maintain him.

They appeared to have succeeded, but it is not clear if he can get on well with the people at the Ministry, especially Stan Dogbe, the de facto Minister at the Information Ministry.

Mr Agyenim-Boateng, a final year student at the Ghana School of Law, is replacing Kobby Acheampong, a man noted for making unfounded allegations, who is taking over from newly appointed Eastern Regional Minister, Dr. Kwasi Akyem Apea-Kubi as Deputy Interior Minister.

Former Presidential Spokesman, Mahama Ayariga, who was made Deputy Trade Minister not too long ago, swaps positions with Dr J.S Annan, Deputy Minister of Education, who has been accused by the President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Anthony Abotsi-Afriyie, of meddling in typical student affairs.

President Mills however decided to bring in some fresh limbs to justify his claim of 2012 being an ‘action year’, with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mfantsiman West, Aquinas Tawiah Quansah heading for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as an additional Deputy.

He joins Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah as Deputy Minister whilst Member of Parliament for Trobu-Amasaman, Ernest Attuquaye Armah, has also been appointed Deputy Minister of Communication and set to go and face the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting anytime soon, like his colleague Aquinas Quansah.

The President however decided to relieve two persons, Gideon Quarcoo and Betty Bosomtwe-Sam, of their jobs as Deputies for Communication and Western Region respectively.

Though the statement did not state explicitly, Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that the President has shown them the exit, but did not say why, since it is subject to the President’s personal discretion.

Typical of a job-for-the-boys scenario, the President also decided to reward Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, a Biochemistry lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and failed NDC Parliamentary candidate for Oforikrom constituency in the 2008 elections, who recently formed the ‘Get Atta Mills Elected’ group.

He has been given a juicy appointment as Deputy Eastern Regional Minister to replace Baba Jamal, whilst District Chief Executive (DCE) for Shama, Emelia Arthur, has been appointed Deputy Western Regional Minister, replacing Betty Bosomtwi-Sam, a victim of foot-soldiers’ agitation. She was accused of having poor human relations with foot-soldiers.

President Mills also made the following appointments of District Chief Executives (DCEs)- Apraku Lartey, Tano North; and Atta Bosompem, Asunafo South, both in the Brong Ahafo Region.

In the Ashanti Region, he appointed Solomon Agyei-Mensah and Samuel Asiamah DCEs for the Sekyere East and Sekyere Afram Plains respectively, whilst Reginald Asamoah Osae takes the position of DCE for Kwaebibirim District Assembly in the Eastern Region.

Drama In Court Over Lawyers’ Licence

Posted: Daily Guide | Wednesday, 16 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
DRAMA UNFOLDED in court last Friday when the judge presiding over the case in which POS Foundation has sued Fan Milk Company for selling expired products to unsuspecting members of the public raised issues about the operational licence of solicitors of the ice-cream manufacturing company.

Fan Milk was seeking to set aside the writ of summons of POS Foundation and its Chief Executive, Jonathan Osei Owusu, on the grounds that the plaintiff, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), and its Chief Executive, a human rights activist, had failed to sign the statement of claim attached to the writ of summons.

This followed a suit filed by Mr. Owusu against the company and the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) after being hospitalized for consuming supposed expired yoghurt, one of the numerous products of the company.

Justice Utter Peter Dery of the Human Rights Court questioned the credibility of the licence of solicitors of Fan Milk, Messrs Quist, Brown, Wontumi and Associates, represented by Yaw Adjei Affram with registration number 03115, quoted on the statement of conditional appearance signed by S. K. Amoah.

This, according to the judge, was because the solicitors' licence expired on January 13 while the letter was written on January 20.

He therefore ordered the solicitors to immediately renew their licence to continue with the case.

Justice Dery therefore dismissed Fan Milk’s motion, saying “this application is thrown overboard since the first defendant, Fan Milk Limited, cannot stand on this minor error to seek the court to dismiss the case."

Mr. Affram said the failure to sign the statement of claim rendered the summons void since every writ of summons should be accompanied by a statement of claim duly signed.

Mr. Affram said "In the absence of a signed statement of claim, the writ of summons cannot stand."

But counsel for Pos Foundation and Jonathan Osei Owusu, Denis Ofosuappeah and Isaac Aidoo of Ahmed and Co., contended that the statement of claim which was not signed could be corrected within a matter of seconds so that the case could be speedily heard and disposed of instead of dragging it to waste the court's time.

POS Foundation and Jonathan Osei Owusu are seeking the court’s order to get Fan Milk Company to put an expiry date on Fanyogo, one of its products, and make it legible while stopping the sale of its products carried by vendors in the hot sun.

The plaintiff is also asking the court to order the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) which is the second defendant to ensure that Fan Milk fixes legible expiry dates on the products and institutes an effective monitoring mechanism to ensure public interest and safety.

It wants the court to order Fan Milk to immediately recall all Fanyogo products on the market until the expiry dates are fixed on the products and an injunction on the production of Fanyogo until they have met all the conditions of legible expiry date and recall of the products on the market.

Furthermore, Pos Foundation is seeking an extensive health care in favour of Mr. Osei Owusu as well as general damages and cost.

Clash Over ‘All Die Be Die’

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 15 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The famous ‘all die be die’ comment by the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) refuses to die a natural death, as it continues to generate heat in political circles.

The latest of these is the clash between a leading member of the NPP, who is aspiring to become the party’s parliamentary candidate in the Ablekuma South constituency, Ursula Owusu, and Presidential Aide, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe.

Ursula appeared on Metro TV’s ‘Good Morning Ghana’ show wearing a branded T-shirt with the bold inscription ‘ALL DIE BE DIE,’ incurring the anger of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

This follows calls by NDC for the NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to apologise for comments he made at a meeting with party faithful at Koforidua in the Eastern region, urging them to be bold--a comment which he repeated in several other meetings in the Greater Accra. Nana Addo is now in the Upper East region, and he is expected to repeat the same message.

The wearing of the T-shirt by Ursula seemed to have provoked Stan Dogbe, a man who until recently did not have his name in the official list of presidential appointees sent to Parliament. According to him, Ursula who happens to be the vice president of the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), was only trying to court what he described as cheap popularity for herself to lobby for a ministerial appointment should Nana Addo become President after the 2012 elections.

Stan Dogbe of the infamous ‘Dogbegate’ scandal told Accra-based Citi FM why Ursula Owusu should be wearing a T’ Shirt with that inscription.

“As for Ursula, she thinks that being boisterous and overly supportive of whatever Nana Addo says whether good or bad is what would give her the popularity that she requires to win her parliamentary seat or get her a ministerial appointment in Nana Addo’s government. I am sorry Nana is nowhere near the Presidency in 2012 or 2016 and she ought to realize that this country would have to remain stable before they come back to power,” he charged.

But Ursula dismissed Stan’s criticisms insisting that there was nothing wrong with the T-shirt she displayed on the programme, indicating that she wore the dress in response to the NPP presidential candidate’s call for party members to be bold and defend their right in the 2012 elections, since the NPP would not succumb to the intimidations of the NDC government.

She therefore accused Stan of rather being the person who was scheming to win cheap popularity and recognition in the Mills administration.

The NPP stalwart thus urged Stan to show some element of respect to Nana Addo who fought against the brute dictatorship of the AFRC and PNDC of former President Rawlings.

We’re ready for NDC

Adding his voice, Boakye Agyarko, Campaign Manager for Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP was more than ready to meet the NDC boot-for-boot in 2012, adding they would no longer sit in laxity for their members to be beaten by NDC goons as happened in Chereponi, Atiwa, Akwatia and Agbogbloshie.

Mr. Agyarko told DAILY GUIDE yesterday that “we should stop this hypocrisy. NDC has visited violence upon this nation many a time. We refuse to be intimidated this time round. We are going to stand our grounds. Let the NDC, given their character, do their worst, we will be ready for them but we will not run.”

He therefore turned down a request by the NDC for Nana Addo to apologise for the “all die be die” comment.

“You apologise for a wrong. The NDC has to convince us what the wrong is ethnocentrism. That is a figment of their imagination. If you listen to what Nana Addo said, he said ‘ye se yen Akan fuo.’ Do you understand that, it means somebody told Nana Addo or they say? It is not Nana Addo saying ‘Akan fuo.”

Until then, Mr. Agyarko noted, “you don’t render an apology because someone insists you render an apology. “Nana Addo is not inciting anybody. He is not asking people to jump onto the streets with cudgels and cutlasses to attack the NDC.”

Instead, he said, all the NPP leader did was to send a message to the NDC that “if they continue in the fashion they have always done in Chereponi, Atiwa and all of those areas and if they believe that we are cowards and each time they will attack us we will run away, no. They will be wrong; this time round we will not run away”.

For him, his colleagues in the NDC are upset because “now their usual victim is ready to face them, the school-yard bully, that’s all it is.”

Mr. Agyarko recalled how his younger brother and former Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Emmanuel Agayrko, was nearly lynched by members of the NDC in the year 2008 when he stood as NPP parliamentary candidate for Lower Manya constituency in the Eastern Region.

A night before the 2008 general elections, Mr. Agyarko narrated that “seven armed men, armed with pump action guns driving the vehicle of the NDC MP, drove into his house (and) started firing.

“Luckily, my brother was not there but my sisters and other relatives who were in that house were recklessly beaten and most of them injured” he said, noting that “the attack is imminent again. They have threatened to attack him again.”

In that regard, the NPP Campaign Manager could not but say “the question I want to ask the NDC and all those who are saying that Nana Addo shouldn’t have said what he said is ‘what is the advice they should give my brother when the attack comes. What advice do they want to give my brother; that he should run away, is that what they are going to ask him to do when the next attack comes?”

He said that it would be important for those calling for the NPP presidential candidate to apologise to understand the context in which Nana Addo was speaking, stressing, “If the NDC insists on lying by taking part of the sentence away in its attempt to incriminate Nana Addo, shame on them.”

Back Off Nana

Posted: Daily Guide | Friday, 11 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Kobina Ivor Greenstreet, has asked the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop its hypocrisy; spare the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, their tantrums over his ‘all die be die’ comments; and concentrate on the affairs of state.

Mr. Greenstreet believed the NDC was making a case out of nothing because Nana Addo’s comments were in no way an inference to violence come 2012, stressing that what the ruling party was doing was just “an orchestration to make him appear unelectable”.

This, he said, was because the NPP presidential candidate’s comment was one directed at internal party members to prepare them for what he called ‘the metaphorical political battle’.

The CPP General Secretary was speaking on X.FM’s ‘Big Bite’ programme yesterday, touting Nana Addo as a man who hates violence and has been fighting for the rights of the individual, emphasizing that what the NDC was doing was their own way of denigrating their opponents.

Nana Addo had asked his party supporters at a forum in Koforidua on Tuesday to stand firm and not to allow themselves to be intimidated. He said they should get ready to meet the NDC boot-for-boot in the 2012 elections.

He was quoted to have said, "We need to be bold and courageous for 2012 because Ghanaians need us to come to power", stressing, “They (NDC) have intentions to intimidate us in 2012 because they believe that we are soft and cowards.

If that is the thinking, then we shall see. At least, during the Atiwa by-election, we showed a little of our colours there.”

He added, "You must understand that this party was formed by courageous people. Our leaders who formed this party that has now become the biggest political movement in Ghana were not cowards. So in 2012, we need to be courageous because all 'die be die'. All die be die," he said.

This is what has triggered leading members of the NDC including the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah to launch a series of blistering attacks on Nana Addo.

“Nana Addo’s personal political history should be able to tell Ghanaians that he does not believe in violence; he does not believe in subverting the rule of law and the constitutional provision which protects all Ghanaians.

Rather on the contrary, he has been an individual who over many years has fought for the right of Ghanaians, has fought for the opening up of the political space, for freedom of association and for freedom of speech”, noted the CPP General Secretary.

For this reason, Mr Greenstreet said, “I think that it was more of an internal matter that he was speaking to his own rank and file, trying to get them prepared and ready for the struggle ahead.”

Instead of punching holes and finding faults in Nana Addo’s comments, the CPP General Secretary asked the NDC to focus on delivering the so-called ‘Better Ghana Agenda’ they promised Ghanaians and stop building mountains out of molehills, saying, “It is clear that the incumbent NDC government has a definite strategy to try and create the impression that Nana Addo is some kind of cocaine smuggler, violent and some kind of ‘gidigidi’ human being; but I think what they need to concentrate on doing is to show Ghanaians what their strategies are and what they are working on and stop spending time trying to pick on every word Nana Addo has to say and paint it in a certain light to the public.”

NDC On Nana

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah asked the NPP to take steps to remove Nana Addo as its presidential candidate since, in his opinion, the actions and words of the opposition leader were inimical to Ghana's democracy.

He took issue with Nana Addo’s comments, describing him as a war monger who must be sacked by the NPP.

This, according to him, was because “the violence that characterized the Atiwa by-election was part of an orchestrated and a well rehearsed grand design to plunge this nation into chaos during the 2012 elections”, emphasizing that “Nana Akufo-Addo has reconfirmed his credentials as a war monger who will stop at nothing in his bid to pursue his selfish political ambition of becoming President at all cost even if it means plunging this nation into civil and tribal war.”

The NDC called on the NPP presidential candidate to withdraw what they described as “these unfortunate statements and apologise unconditionally to all Ghanaians, particularly his own party for putting them into such an awkward and embarrassing situation by these utterances.”

NPP Hits Back

In a sharp and swift rebuttal to the NDC’s press conference, NPP General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie said Nana Akufo-Addo had nothing to apologise for.

He sent a clear message to the ruling party that the NPP would not allow the democratic will of the majority of Ghanaians to be abused by intimidation, violence or electoral fraud in 2012.

Instead, he said, “Our flagbearer’s firm and uncompromising position on ensuring a clean contest in 2012 is based on the extra-electoral tactics employed by the NDC in Akwatia, Chereponi and Atiwa and the shocking inaction of the security personnel in the face of such blatant acts of intimidation, violence and electoral malpractices.”

In a statement, the NPP warned: “Let them not think that we would give them a free hand at repeating these unhealthy practices in 2012. NPP will be no rollover in 2012”, calling on its activists and supporters to stand firm and defend their democratic rights.

In that regard, the NPP has turned down the suggestion by the NDC for its presidential candidate to apologise for those comments since “the NPP is proud to be led by a man who would not stand by and allow Ghanaians to be cheated” and that “the NPP will continue to express, through both our words and deeds, that we are deeply committed to the democratic process.”

The NPP has consequently asked the ruling NDC to stop the diversionary tactics and focus on doing what is important, asking them to fix the economy and deliver on their promise of a ‘Better Ghana’ since “propaganda will not pay school fees; it will not reduce the cost of living or create jobs.”

The statement said: “It is not for the NDC to define to Ghanaians who Nana Akufo-Addo is. For over 35 years that Nana Akufo-Addo has been at the forefront of fighting the Ghanaian cause - for political freedom, human rights, democracy, opportunities and prosperity - Nana Akufo-Addo never once used any instrument of violence as his weapon.

“True to the character of the founders of our political tradition, Nana Akufo-Addo has used his courage, wisdom, words and legitimate persuasion to help bring about the kind of democratic environment that we are all enjoying today, which the NPP is committed to protecting and enhancing,” the statement said noting, “Nana Akufo-Addo's record speaks for itself.

“His contribution to both national and international peace and freedom can never be wished away by the programmed amplifiers of false propaganda. It is a hopeless endeavour destined to fail.”

The UK and Ireland branch of the NPP has also declared an unflinching support for Nana Addo’s comments.

A statement issued and signed by its Communications Officer, Nana Yaw Sarpong said Nana Akufo-Addo is also right to ask party members to remain steadfast, disciplined and focused, as well as prepare to sacrifice, and work hard for the party to come to power in 2012.

Nana Akufo-Addo’s comments raised serious concerns about the attitude and machinations of the National Democratic Congress and its leadership under President John Evans Atta Mills and the current attempts to undermine the peace and security of Ghana without honoring its numerous promises to the Ghanaian people, as well as the seeming lack of political will from civil society to address this menace, citing several instances in which members of the ruling party visited brutality on members of the NPP including those at the Kokomba market in Accra, Chereponi and Atiwa be-elections to back their claims.

Four people mainly NPP supporters were butchered by NDC goons with impunity in broad-day light in front of a Police Station at Agbogbloshie in 2009, a few weeks after NDC had assumed power, with no arrest made since then.

Pratt Taken To Cleaners

Posted: Daily Guide |Wednesday, 09 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) have taken on the Managing Editor of The Insight newspaper Kwesi Pratt Jnr, over his comments about their icon.

Mr. Pratt had sworn to do whatever it takes to ensure that the former First Lady and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) does not become the President of Ghana.

This was what provoked the group to cause its Communications Director, Dela Coffie to issue a strongly-worded statement in which they questioned the credibility of Mr. Pratt noting, “In his usual predilection of betraying the truth and denigrating pillars of society, this ingrate mounted a sermon of preaching vile doctrines which seem logical only in his head and said that he would do anything in his power to prevent Nana Konadu from becoming a President of Ghana.

“FONKAR takes offence to the ill-informed and ill-conceived commentary by this tainted politician who wants to come across as a journalist. Should Mr. Pratt’s populist brand of political rhetoric go unchallenged? We find Pratt’ belligerence and his utterances on the former first lady, to be very reckless and we are convinced that such unprovoked attacks on Nana Konadu could only be part of that grand scheme being orchestrated by the Mills’ administration to discredit the former first lady,” the statement noted.

They could not fathom why and how Mr. Pratt, whom they described as a ‘journalistic albino’ has suddenly become a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to decide what is good for the party stressing, “the likes of Kwesi Pratt talk as if they own the country and without them everyone in the country doesn't matter. Who is Pratt to choose a President for the 24 million Ghanaians? Since when did he become the spokesperson of Ghanaians?”

But Mr. Pratt ridiculed FONKAR’s statement when DAILY GUIDE contacted him yesterday, saying, “If this is the level of their campaign message then they are not going anywhere.”

FONKAR said it was aware of the fact that Mr. Pratt and another loud-mouth journalist as well as a self-styled pollster met a senior security operative of the NDC not too long ago and were given the contract to churn out polls that will indicate that a Nana Konadu presidential ambition will be a disaster for the NDC in 2012 indicating that, “every discerning Ghanaian knows that Mr. Pratt is a compromised journalist and what he churns out most of the time emanates from his stomach rather than his head.

“Despite his claims that he is an independent editor, we are yet to see this scandalous editor take on moral issues that speak to the growing misery of the nation’s majority who can barely pull themselves by the straps. The likes of Pratt and their style of journalism is an apology to media practice in this country.”

This, FONKAR said, was evident in the fact that “they have rejected the core principles that govern objective news coverage and have metastasized into a corporate body that is more interested in marketing the political ideals of paymasters while it downplays the cruel experiences of resource-deprived Ghanaians. Because of gluttony, and avarice, Pratt is trying very hard to run down the image of a woman who has shown tremendous consistency as a strong advocate of the ordinary people.”

For this and other reasons, the group said Mr. Pratt does not exhibit political and linguistic correctness in his constant critique of Nana Konadu, wondering whether if it is just mercenary journalism, media irresponsibility or corporate greed.

In this light, the angry NDC youth described Mr. Pratt as “nothing but a paid agitator, a mercenary journalist and a poster boy,” daring him “to come out and tell the whole world how he acquired a state-of-the-art printing press six months into the Atta Mills administration.

“Whose interest is he serving besides his own in his campaign of reckless vilification against Mrs. Rawlings? Haven’t Pratt and his collaborators waged their fruitless war of attrition against the former first lady long enough to realize that they are fighting a losing battle?”, they asked rhetorically, noting with emphasis: “Pratt must also be reminded that the former first lady was never made by the media, and cannot be unmade by the media.

“It is only Ghanaians who can decide whether Nana Konadu can become a President or not, it is not opportunists and crooks who parade as so-called senior journalists and political animals.”

FONKAR, which has declared a continuous and unflinching support for the former First Lady, noted, “The fallacy that Nana Konadu cannot win an election in this country is just another communist inferior tactic”, adding, “We are certain Mr. Pratt would be consumed by his mission of destroying Nana Konadu sooner rather than later.”

They therefore warned that “those who are bent on destroying Mrs. Rawlings and her family from within or outside of the NDC must desist from it or be well prepared for the fight of their lives.

“If President Mills’ men, in their wisdom, believe that they can hire Pratt to discredit Nana Konadu to suit their cause, then they must be living in a banana republic,” the statement said, noting with emphasis, “The President must be careful about his friends in the media because sooner rather than later they would help him sing his own dirges.”

Responding, Mr. Pratt wondered why the group would take him on for expressing his personal opinion since according to him, “I am a citizen of Ghana, and I say I don’t like Konadu as my President. Every citizen is entitled to do that.

“My main reason is that…if you are not with them, they will come at you, they will tell lies about you. They will bully you and so on, I cannot accept somebody like that as my President”, Pratt told DAILY GUIDE.

Fight Over Anas

Posted:Daily Guide |Tuesday, 08 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration seems to have lost confidence in the entire security apparatus of the state as it relies on private investigators to unearth corruption.

This has manifested in the contracting of investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his private investigative firm, ‘Tiger Eye’ to uncover the rot at the Tema Harbour.

Yesterday, there was utter confusion in government and the ruling party over which state institution funded Anas’s investigative piece, which has exposed massive corruption at the port.

While the Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, released a statement that the state funded it, Deputy Finance Minister, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey denied the claim.

“The Finance Ministry did not pay a dime, not one penny, not one pesewa,” Fiifi told Accra-based Citi FM.

But another statement issued and signed by National Propaganda Secretary of the NDC said “The NDC also commends the Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Duffour and his Ministry for collaborating with Mr. Anas, enabling him to investigate and analyze the situation at the GPHA from 2005.”

But Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, Editor-In-Chief of the ‘New Crusading Guide’ newspaper where Anas plies his profession has denied the claims by government and the National Propaganda Secretary of the ruling NDC, Richard Quashigah, that government sponsored the investigations.

Mr. Quashigah also alleged that former Chief of Staff under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Kwadwo Mpiani, failed to fund a similar investigation.

Mr. Baako said Anas never solicited funds from Mr Mpiani. “Anas has been doing investigative work since 1999 and has not been funded by any state institution or government agency.

However, his work has had support from within and without all networks whereby both public and private agencies are activated depending on the nature of investigations.”

For instance, he said “Anas was arrested by the police during the Elubo investigation and together with Halifax Ansah-Addo was nabbed over the Kwame Nkrumah Circle investigations as were the two female staffers at the Tema Harbour and these agencies were activated to assist their release.”

President Atta Mills who rushed to Tema Port upon the release of the damming video indicting CEPS officials said he had wished the expose was done by state agencies.

A statement issued by government yesterday under the hand of Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Information, stated that the two recent investigative works by Anas, “the cocoa smuggling report and the latest on happenings at the Tema Port were funded by a state institution.”

He indicated that the principle behind the state funding the two projects was to “employ counter-check measures in order to assess whether or not existing systems put in place were yielding the required results.”

Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa hinted of several other strategies that had been deployed at the instance of President John Atta Mills in the fight against corruption and stressed that "the president is determined to win this fight at all cost."

However, he said the funding was not given to him as an investigative journalist with New Crusading Guide but as a private investigator with ‘Tiger Eye’.

“At no time did we use the New Crusading Guide,” Okudzeto told Citi FM last night.

Though details of the said state institution which commissioned the investigative piece are being kept under wraps considering the conflicting accounts of denials and admissions by some government officials and the ruling party, speculation is rife that the Ministry of Finance may have collaborated with Anas and his team.

This, according to sources, was in view of the fact that there was an existing turf-war between two government ministries over the activities and operations of Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) at the Tema Port.

The Finance Ministry is said to be having issues with the operations of the DICs since they were believed to be under- invoicing and thereby not raising the needed revenue for the state and pushing for them to be replaced while the Minister of Trade, Hannah Tetteh, who has oversight responsibility over the DICs was not doing enough to expose them.

Eventually, the investigations ended up exposing the corrupt officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) who were supposed to be making revenue for the state.

But Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa told DAILY GUIDE “we want to do a full disclosure at a later time. Now our focus is on the arrest and finalizing dockets and looking at possible prosecution.”

Asked whether this does not defeat the essence and relevance of state institutions like the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), CID and National Security operatives mandated by law to investigate some of these unhealthy practices that lead to the loss of massive revenue to the state, the Deputy Information Minister said “it will keep them on their toes.

You know that the main reason why we created Customs was to check against people importing things and then the state losing money, but some officials there have become compromised.”

“Sometimes we send a security task force and sometimes some of them become compromised so the President is saying ‘look, enough is enough’ we want to make sure that we use every available means.”

In spite of that, Mr. Ablakwa said “we will continue to strengthen our institutions, sack those who have been compromised, punish them, bring in new hands but our institutions are best served when they know that there are counter measures to access the systems that are in place.”

He saw nothing wrong with the government or any state institution contracting a private investigator or an investigative firm to undertake undercover investigations for them even when there are state-funded institutions mandated to carry out such duties since according to him, “this is used all over in the world where people want to cross-check systems to ascertain the reliability of officials

“We just wanted to put this out so that we will just focus on the work Anas has done and the fight against corruption…You see state institutions alone cannot fight, we can collaborate with reputable and distinguished citizens and private investigators like Anas, we will do that so, that at least there is a watchman watching the watchmen,” he said.

Akwasi Agyeman’s Victim Petitions A-G

Posted: Daily Guide |Friday, 04 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The family of the 11year-old form one pupil, Aaron Okyem Djan, alleged to have been molested by former boss of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Nana Akwasi Agyeman, has finally petitioned the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

The family wants the A-G to recall the docket of the case and “deal with it expeditiously” for fear of it being influenced by the ‘forces from above.’

In the petition dated 3rd February, 2011 and copied to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and other related institutions, was signed by the boy’s mother, Lucy Djan and his uncle, Osei Asibey.

They noted “we think that the action of Kwasi Agyeman is tantamount to the abuse of the fundamental human rights of little Aaron.”

They therefore quoted Article 14 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana which states, inter alia, “every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty except in cases permitted by law” and Article 15 (2) which states “no person shall whether or not arrested, restricted or detained, be subjected to (a) torture or other cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or (b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being” to back their claim.

This, they noted, was because “Master Aaron Okyem Djan was kidnapped, detained and threatened with death on Thursday, 27th January, 2011 by ex-Kumasi Mayor, Nana Kwasi Agyeman in his residence from about 4pm to 8pm.”

Furthermore, they said the action of the former major was contrary to section 75 of the Criminal offences Act, Act 29 (1960) which states “whoever threatens any other person with death, with intent to put that person in fear of death, is guilty of second degree felony.

“We also know that the rights of Aaron as contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as his rights of protection under the Children’s Act 560 (1998) of Ghana have been grossly violated.”

The family of Aaron Okyem Djan has therefore asked the Attorney General to wade into the matter before it gets out of hand, considering the fact that it has been transferred from the Krofom Police Station, then to the Tafo/Pankrono district and divisional headquarters.

The police managed to interrogate and take the statement of Nana Akwasi Agyeman on Wednesday and it is left for them to disclose their next line of action, whether or not they would prosecute him.

Akwasi Agyeman Meets Police

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 03 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The former Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Nana Akwasi Agyeman, who is at the centre of a raging controversy over his alleged abduction and molestation of 11-year old Aaron Okyem Djan, a form one pupil of the University Primary in Kumasi, yesterday finally met the police.

This was after he had failed to honour several invitations extended to him by the police after they had gone to his Dichemso residence to invite him for interrogation.

At the time of going to press yesterday, credible sources said Nana Akwasi Agyeman had reported at the Tafo/Pankrono police station to give his statement to avoid being dragged to court this morning since the police were planning to go and serve him with a criminal summons for him to appear in court.

The police were said to have earlier in the day detailed some personnel to go and invite him but the former Mayor fondly called ‘Okumkom,’ was said to be having his meal and promised the police that he would be at the station later.

But that was not meant to be since he failed to show up at the police station several hours after the officers had left his house.

The source told DAILY GUIDE that when phone calls were put through to him, Akwasi Agyeman told the police officers he was on his way to the station and that he was stuck in a traffic jam.

He was said to have promised to be with them in no time.

Earlier in the day when our regional reporters contacted the Tafo/Pakrono Divisional Crime Officer, Boakye Ansah on phone, he retorted “Master, all that I can tell you is that the case is still under investigation.”

Pressed further to know whether the police had taken the caution statement of the former Mayor on the issue, the Divisional Crime Officer, who wondered how our reporters got his number insisted, “I am saying that the case is still under investigation” after which he dropped the line.

Later in the evening, the Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Victor Adusa Poku, who seemed frustrated by Akwasi Agyeman’s attitude, was said to have called and informed his superiors at the Regional command about the former Mayor’s foot-dragging.

The superior police officers at the Regional command were then said to have asked the criminal summons and the docket of the case to be sent to them.

Not long after that, around 6:30pm, Nana Akwasi Agyeman was said to have shown up at the police station where he was interrogated and made to write a statement to narrate what exactly happened on that fateful Thursday when he was alleged to have molested and detained Master Aaron Okyem Djan.

Nana Akwasi was alleged to have detained the 11-year old pupil in his house on Thursday at about 4:30 pm for allegedly beating his 5-year-old son, Nana Kwame.

He was said to have taken the young boy through a harrowing experience for almost four hours that the boy was under ‘detention’.

He later fired a warning shot to scare the innocent-looking boy.

It took the intervention of a woman said to be Okumkom’s sister to free Aaron from the ‘lions’ den’ around 8:30pm that day.

Baby Thief Grabbed At Korle-Bu

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 03 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Police at Korle-Bu have arrested a 27 year old woman, Jacinta Oduro Kwarteng, for stealing and selling a two-week old baby.

Jacinta, a resident of Agege beach road in Accra, sold the baby for GH¢300.

Sergeant Josephine Opoku, the investigator told DAILY GUIDE that on Monday, January 31, 2011, the baby’s mother; 24-year old Millicent Williams had gone to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra for a review.

She had by then been asked to go home and report on Thursday since the doctor was not available.

She approached Jacinta who was wearing a matron’s uniform seated behind the nurses’ desk at the Out Patient Department (OPD) at the Maternity Block to enable her to weigh the baby.

But even before she could ask her a question, Jacinta approached Millicent and demanded to know whether she could be of any assistance and the new mother told her she wanted her baby weighed.

Posing as a senior nurse, the suspect offered to help her to see a doctor in addition to accompanying Millicent to the central laboratory for her lab report.

As they walked to the car park of the Maternity Block, Jacinta convinced the nursing mother to wait while she (Jacinta) went back to the victim’s aunt, one Joyce Abaka, claiming that Millicent had asked her to come for the baby since she (Millicent) could not see the doctor without her.

Obviously not aware of her Jacinta’s ulterior motive, the woman handed over the baby to Jacinta, who took her away.

After waiting for a while without Jacinta showing up, Millicent decided to go for her baby from her aunt.

Upon reaching there, Millicent realized her aunt was not holding the baby. The aunt asked her niece whether she was not the one who instructed the nurse to come for the child.

That was when they both realized they had been swindled.

But all efforts to locate the woman and the stolen child proved unsuccessful since they were nowhere to be found in the entire hospital vicinity after security men had combed everywhere.

When the police managed to locate the baby-thief’s house along the beach road in Agege, a suburb of Accra on Monday, she had moved out.

The victim’s family however managed to locate her the following day in a house at Dansoman Last Stop and got some policemen to arrest her to the Korle-Bu police station, where a complaint had been lodged.

Upon interrogation, Jacinta said she sold the baby to a certain woman whose name she could not give for GH¢300.

But when she took the police to the buyer’s house, she was nowhere to be found.

The buyer who is currently at large is believed to be either hiding somewhere around Bubiashie, Accra or Asamankese in the Eastern region.

The police have since mounted a search for the buyer and asked members of the public to help them with any information that would lead to her arrest.

Meanwhile, management of the hospital has set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Director of Medical Affairs, Professor Efua Hesse, confirmed this yesterday.

NPP Flies Red Flag Over Census

Posted: Daily Guide | Wednesday, 02 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Ghanaians have criticized the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) for its inability to release details of the 2010 population and housing census.

A scheduled press conference to announce the provisional figures for last year’s census on Monday was suddenly called off after officers of the GSS spent several hours ‘consulting’ at the Information Ministry.

The Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, called the press conference on Monday apparently to announce the provisional results of the census.

However, after Dr. Bediako allegedly held a meeting with the Information Minister, they agreed to call off the exercise with the explanation that technical reasons prevented them from releasing the results.

Journalists who were invited to cover the event were left wondering for sometime what was going on until they received their ‘soli envelopes’ and left for their offices.

One of the several people who have started raising issues about the unexplained reasons for cancelling the release of the census results is General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, who says he has reason to believe that there is a deliberate ploy by government to massage the census figures, hence the undue delay.

In an interview with DAILY GUIDE yesterday, Mr. Owusu Afriyie said “there is a reason that they want to bloat the Volta regional figures so that it comes closer to that of Ashanti region.”

According to him, the situation has created a state of uneasiness at the Statistical Service since some of the individuals and technical persons there are not happy with the development.

Mr. Owusu-Afriyie said, “I hope that is not true because if they are, then it will raise a whole lot of concern and so I want to believe that it is not true.”

That notwithstanding, the NPP secretary said, “We are waiting with keen interest (to see) the figures that are going to emanate from it representing the Volta regional figures.”

He noted: “I quite remember that again we got this information that long after the thing had closed, they were still registering people or counting people in the Volta region and when they were asked they said ‘oh it is normal’ and that they were doing a mopping up exercise.”

He could not understand why that mopping up was not done in any other region apart from the Volta region, noting, “and so it gives us cause for concern.

Like I said, I want to believe that it is not true that they want to increase the Volta regional figures and I pray that my fears are not confirmed.”

The NPP General Secretary, however, warned: “But if it comes out that that is what the figures are, we are not going to take kindly to that.”

That, he said, was because “everybody knows, every child knows that the Volta regional figures do not come anywhere near those for the Ashanti region. At least, all the election results that we have known and we have seen confirm that.

“So if they want to sit there and massage the figures in the Volta region so that it comes closer to that of the Ashanti region or …, then obviously, it’s not going to go down well for the people of this country. So they should be very careful,” he warned.

Mr. Owusu-Afriyie, popularly called Sir John, strongly believes that the only thing that would make the government and its agencies do such a thing would be for electoral purposes, saying, “If you care to know every election that we have had, they deliberately increased the Volta region margin so that it would cancel some of the results that come from the Ashanti region.

“So sometimes you hear Ketu North and Ketu South and the results that come from there it would cancel that of Ashanti. This is what they have always done in the years 1992 and the year 2000.

That has always been their modus operandi, even 2004 and 2008, they did the same thing. But this time round everybody knows the population of Volta region doesn’t come anywhere near Ashanti region,” he noted.

“So they should be careful and we hear that people are not happy that they want to touch the figures,” and “if that’s what they are going to do, we wait with keen interest and hope and pray that what we hear is not true,” he stated.

Tony Aidoo Unfit

Posted: Daily Guide |Wednesday, 02 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com
Charles Takyi-Boadu
The controversial Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa in the Central Region, PC Appiah-Ofori thinks the selection of Dr Tony Aidoo to serve on the Africa Union (AU) 11-member Advisory Board on Corruption is of no use because he has no track record in fighting corruption.

Appiah-Ofori said, “If the Board is a board established to insult people then Tony Aidoo is the right one to represent Ghanaians because his area is insulting people.”

Speaking on the appointment of Tony Aiddo on various networks in Accra yesterday, Mr. Appiah-Ofori, an avowed anti-corruption campaigner, said he does not know what contribution Dr Aidoo, who heads the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Office of the President, at the Osu Castle, would make on the AU Board, since according to him, he is not known in the fight against corruption.

“I don’t know who nominated him, and whoever nominated him didn’t know what he was doing… So I don’t think he is going to be of use to the nation or to the African organization,” he said.

He was therefore of the firm conviction that Dr Aidoo’s appointment is one of those numerous political jobs since “they could have gotten a better person to replace him if they did a thorough search among even members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)”.

In one of the interviews, Mr. Appiah-Ofori, who was speaking his local Fanti language, was compelled to ask rhetorically, “Enti onipa a otse sayi wode saa position yi ma no na oko international level a experience ben na ofi ne man mu ha a ode ko join won na wode aye adwuma?” to wit, if you nominate a person like this for such a position, what experience would he bring on board at the international level?

“If the person going to serve on that Board hasn’t got the experience in the fight against corruption, then he goes there for nothing”, he said, stating emphatically, “He hasn’t got the know-how, the experience and the skill. He is not going to be of use to Africa in this area. This is what I am saying.”

This, he said, is because “members of the Board must bring their experience in the fight against corruption in their various countries so that such a Board may absorb them and recommend to all countries for implementation.”

Dr Tony Aidoo, who is expected to serve a renewable two-year term of office, together with 10 others appointed from other countries in Africa, has since hit back at Mr. Appiah Ofori, describing his comments as a show of petty-mindedness.

An obviously bruised Tony Aidoo asked the MP what he has done in practical sense to fight corruption in Ghana and what his efforts have amounted to.

He teased the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa legislator, by indicating his preparedness to step aside for him to occupy the position, as well as his post at the Presidency, together with his full salary.

But Mr. Appiah-Ofori declined the offer, indicating that he has no interest in anything Tony Aidoo has.

“…who are you? Such a loud-mouthed talker… I have given you the opportunity to come for the job. Come and take it,” Tony Aidoo fumed.

He continued: “I will never behave like you did, go and stand in public and say that my wife has gonorrhea; you see, wo nbu wo ho ([you don’t respect yourself) and you want to be recognised as a respectable person…”

How I Was Drilled

Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 01 February 2011
www.dailyguideghana.com

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The 11-year old form-two pupil of the University Primary and Junior High School, Kumasi, who suffered an ordeal at the hands of former Mayor of Kumasi, Nana Akwasi Agyemang aka Okumkom, has narrated his harrowing experience to DAILY GUIDE.

Aaron Okyem Djan walked into the offices of DAILY GUIDE with his mother to tell his story after Akwasi Agyemang went on several radio stations across the length and breadth of the country yesterday denying the story.

Nana Agyeman’s defence has been that he was ‘not mad’ to detain such a boy for merely beating his little son, Nana Kwame.

But Aaron still maintains that the man indeed held him hostage for some hours at his Dichemso residence in Kumasi last Thursday, January 27 and tortured him.

He recalled how Agyemang ordered him to squat in his house, with both hands held at his back and his legs tied while it drizzled.

On that fateful day, Aaron said, he and five other school mates including his 9-year-old sister and Nana Kwame, the 5-year-old son of the former Mayor, were on their regular taxicab that picked them up after school when Nana Kwame put up a bad attitude on their way home.

Nana Kwame, who was holding a toffee molded like a ring, was pinching him and the others in a playful but hurtful manner so they asked him to stop being naughty.

As his actions became more irritating, Aaron asked the driver to ask Nana Kwame to stop it but he failed and eventually kicked him with his muddy shoes.

At this point, as he complained again, the driver, who he referred to as ‘Wofa Charles’, also asked Akwasi Agyeman’s little son to stop but he would still not budge.

According to Aaron, he felt another pinch of the instrument near his eye so he also tapped him on the shoulder, but Nana Kwame started to cry loudly until he reached home and alighted from the car.

Barely a minute after he got down from the car, Aaron said they saw Nana Kwame coming back with his father who beckoned the driver to stop and ordered them to enter the house.

When he and the driver got to the house, Aaron narrated that a furious-looking Akwasi Agyemang asked them not to only tell why his boy was crying but also explain what exactly happened.

Just as he was about to tell his story, he said, Akwasi Agyemang sent his watchman to call in another boy who was in the car during the incident and lived in the neighbourhood. He said the boy narrated that it was rather his son who started the whole squabble.

The boy noted that the former mayor would not listen to the eyewitness account, adding that “he said his son was too young so he can’t do this thing, I did it, so I should sit on the floor.

“When I sat on the floor, he told our driver that he should take my colleagues away so he has detained me. So I sat there for about three or four hours from about 4pm to about 8pm, in a kneeling position until it started to drizzle.”

Not even the pleadings of Akwasi Agyeman’s own sister, the driver and the boy could touch the heart of the former mayor and royal of the Ashanti kingdom to let the boy go home.

At this point, Mr. Agyeman called Aaron’s mother on her cell phone and told her he was going to send her son to ‘abofraboni’ school, Borstal Institute, because he had misbehaved.

“He asked that we should all go on our knees to beg his son before he will let me go.”


GUN SHOTS

After all that drama, Akwasi Agyemang still appeared not satisfied and now asked Aaron what sort of punishment he should be given.

He then asked the boy to kneel down and raise his hands whilst he (Agyeman) went to his vehicle, which was parked in the compound, for a ‘shot-gun’, threatening to shoot the boy.

If not for the intervention of the former Mayor’s sister, the victim said, he did not know what would have befallen him with Okumkom firing warning shots with the gun.

The driver had to assist Aaron to walk to the car since, after his long-sitting posture, the traumatized young boy could barely move his trembling legs.

Meanwhile, the 46-year-old taxi driver, Charles Osei Yaw, has confirmed Aaron’s account to DAILY GUIDE.

Despite meting out such inhuman treatment to the boy, Nana Agyemang walks on the streets of Kumasi a free man as he is yet to be questioned over his acts.

The Tafo/Pankrono district police commander, Superintendant Kwaku Buah, said he could not speak on the issue since the case had been transferred to the Ashanti regional police command.