Sex Scandal Hits MP

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 01 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ho Central, Captain George Nfojoh (Rtd), is in hot waters, as a 23-year-old woman who prefers to give her name only as Sylvia, has accused him of forcibly having sex with her at gun-point.

Though the MP admitted knowing the woman and her father, who from all indications is a close pal, he has simply sought to deny her claims.

The Ho Central MP’s only defence has been that the lady is out to cause mischief and blackmail him, since he could not meet her demand for a certain amount of cash to buy cosmetics to fill her shop- a suggestion Sylvia has flatly rejected.

She told Joy News yesterday that she has no intension whatsoever of maligning him except that she feels insulted by Captain Nfojoh whom she claimed has objectified her to satisfy his sexual desires without recourse to her emotions and feelings.

Meanwhile, the lady has denied having a relationship with the two-term legislator, insisting, “If it was a love relationship, the man will not be doing it like that”; asking rhetorically, “How can you be treating your girlfriend like this?”

Though she claims to have a video footage of the good old Captain naked in his ‘birthday suit’, which is circulating in the media, Sylvia is yet to report her ordeal to the police.

When DAILY GUIDE contacted him yesterday, Captain Nfojoh, who sounded remorseful, said he could not tell whether Sylvia has a hidden agenda against him, since according to him, he cannot fathom why she has not thought it wise to inform the police or her parents about the issue; but rather found solace in the media.

For that matter, he declined to make any further comments since according to him, he wants the issue to die.

He claims to have reported the lady’s conduct to her father.

But Sylvia, who seems troubled by the tortuous ordeal she allegedly suffered at the hands of the beleaguered MP, insists that he forced her to bed, raising issues of abuse of her fundamental human rights.

What seems to annoy her the most is the fact that the ‘honourable’ MP has not given her a single pesewa for the ‘forced sexual service’ and yet uses her as and when he wants.

She talked about how on two separate occasions, Captain Nfojoh held a pistol to her head in order to satisfy his fleeting sexual desire.

She narrated that Captain Nfojoh, who lives in the same neighbourhood with her in Tema, has made her his sex machine and occasionally sneaks into her rented apartment, under the cover of darkness, to satisfy his unquenchable sexual desire.

In all instances that the MP had an affair with her, Sylvia noted that he failed to use a condom and whenever she insisted, he declined after which he would give her prescription for a certain contraceptive without giving her a dime.

“Because I didn’t want him to harm me, I agreed and said ok protect yourself, he said ‘no, no’, he is not going to use any condom so he did it like that, raw”, she recounted in the first instance.

Interestingly, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and human right institutions that have been making a lot of noise about women’s rights, as well as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, have remained silent on the issue.

John Mahama Spills The Beans

Posted: Daily Guide |Wednesday, 31 March 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
VICE PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has to some extent explained why his government has been economical in its spending pattern.

He attributes the steep cuts in government expenditure to efforts to narrow the country’s deficit, which has been pursued since the year 2009.

Speaking in Accra at an international conference organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) under the theme ‘The impact of the global financial crisis on West African states: leveraging public-private dialogue for development’, the Vice President noted that the cut in government spending has been the result of the global economic crisis, which has limited government’s borrowing options.

Whereas stimulus packages were pursued in other countries, Mr. Mahama indicated that the option was not available to Ghana since, according to him, major sources of external finance such as Official Development Assistance (ODA), revenue from export and import duties were affected by the crisis, thereby constraining growth through its effects on government spending.

In the case of Ghana, the Vice President indicated that “These effects were so severe that in 2009 Ghana had little option but to turn to the IMF and the World Bank for financial support to close the huge resource gap in government finances and to address the balance of payment weakness”.

This, according to him, was the reason behind the government’s decision to outline a number of strategies to mitigate the effect of the crisis on the poor and restore stability to the economy, including providing deprived basic school pupils with uniforms.

Aside that, he noted that government was also compelled by prevailing circumstance to also rationalize its expenditure by cutting down on wasteful expenses, including those on foreign travel, workshops and conferences.

Furthermore, he said it informed its decision to consolidate 27 ministries into 24 in order to rationalize its expenditure, and reduce the number of ministers from 87 to 72.

The decision to increase capitation grant from GH¢3.00 to GH¢4.50 (50%), provide free exercise books to pupils in all basic schools and the review of petroleum taxes, with the aim of reducing domestic petroleum prices, were all said to have been part of measures to cushion Ghanaians.

Meanwhile, provisional estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service put the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the year 2009 at 4.7 per cent, whilst the Central Bank, the Bank of Ghana, projects a real GDP growth rate of above 6 per cent for 2010.

Vice President John Mahama thus believes that projected increased total revenue grants for the 2010 fiscal year will not only depend on tax policy and the revenue administration system, but on the overall economic activity.

For this reason, he said, “Our revenue targets could be affected if there is a downturn in economic activity as a result of the global financial crisis”.

Under the current circumstance, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Seth Tekper said Ghana, and for that matter the government, is planning to pass a Petroleum Revenue Resource Management Law to regulate and channel the inflow of revenues into specific expenditures.
Whilst appreciating the fact that there appears to be increases in global demand and output, translating into increased exports of primary commodities for many developing countries, he stressed the need for countries within the West African sub-region to adopt what he described as a counter-cyclical and contingency measure to avoid being swept off again should another crisis erupt.

Sammy Crabbe:

GIA Trial Is A Witch Hunt
Posted: Daily Guide | Tuesday, 30 March 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) seems to have succumbed to mounting pressure from party founder J.J. Rawlings and foot soldiers, to prosecute members of the Kufuor-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime.

The first batch of individuals perceived to have engaged in some wrongdoings in the sale of Ghana Airways (GA) to Ghana International Airline (GIA) is scheduled to appear in court today to be formally charged with their offences.

They include former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani; former Road and Transport Minister, Dr Richard Anane; former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei; and former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP, Sammy Crabbe, who was also the former Vice-President of GIA.

Yesterday, former Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo was also hauled before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to answer charges relating to causing financial loss to the state.

However, even before they appear before the court to be formally charged, Sammy Crabbe, who represented the minority shareholders in GIA, has questioned the basis of government’s decision to prosecute him for his role in the management of the airline.

Speaking to Joy FM’s ‘Super Morning Show’ host, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah yesterday, Mr. Crabbe described the move as a ‘witch hunt’.

According to him, he was not surprised at government’s decision to bring what he described as frivolous charges against him.

He thus expressed the belief that the entire process was politically motivated since, according to him, he was being pursued for the mere fact that he was the former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP.

This, he said, was evident in the fact that even before assuming the reigns of power, the NDC had indicated their intentions to prosecute members of the NPP.

Mr Crabbe has been charged for allegedly withdrawing $1.9 million dollars from government’s account without approval from the government, the majority stakeholder, on June 27, 2005.

Though he has denied any complicity, Mr Crabbe wondered why the NDC waited for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to conduct extensive investigations into the issue before preferring charges against them.

“Nobody has access to the government of Ghana’s account. Who signs that document, who attested that signature, was it authorized…? Can you just stand up and withdraw money from Government of Ghana’s account?” he asked rhetorically.

At the time of the transaction, Sammy Crabbe argued that he was neither a board member nor a signatory to any account number of GIA and also not an employee of the company.

“If a private person should invest in a company that government also has an interest, does it mean that that person’s money immediately becomes public money?

These are some of the things we need to look at. I believe that the government has goofed from all angles.”

Meanwhile, lawyers for former Roads and Transport Minister Dr Richard Anane have indicated their preparedness to defend their client to establish his innocence with regard to the charges preferred against him.

One of the lawyers, George Nimako, told Oman FM yesterday that he and his colleagues were geared up to defend the Nhyieso Member of Parliament (MP) in court.

“We are ready to defend our client through thick and thin. Let me tell you that there is a vast difference between charging somebody and going to court for the trial to begin,” Nimako emphasized.

He however expressed reservations about government’s decision to put the story in the media to create the impression that Dr Anane had been formally charged for willfully causing financial loss to the state.

Mr Nimako emphasized that his client has not been formally charged. “We have not been notified of any charge against our client; we only heard that in the news.

I think that it is not the proper thing to do. We do not charge somebody in the media,” he lashed out at the report carried as the front banner news in yesterday’s edition of state-owned Daily Graphic.

He explained that when Dr Anane was invited to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on Thursday, he was only cautioned and not charged with any offence.

“Let me emphasize clearly that there is a major difference between cautioning somebody and charging him, so the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice ought to have known better,” Nimako stressed.
Dr Anane was for several hours detained at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Accra last Thursday and he answered questions relating to alleged impropriety at the GIA.