Thursday, July 10, 2008

Presidential debate c'ttee commissioned * By the Institute of Economic Affairs

Page 24: July 10, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has constituted an 11-member committee to organise this year’s presidential debates towards the December 7, 2008 elections.
Chaired by His Eminence, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, the Catholic Archbishop of Cape Coast, the committee will plan two presidential debates in October and November this year, to be held in Tamale for the Northern Zone and Accra for the Southern zone, respectively.
Addressing newsmen after the committee’s inaugural meeting, Cardinal Turkson said the flag bearers with party representation in Parliament were the eligible candidates for the two presidential debates.
He, however, said there were plans for a separate debate to be organised for the other presidential candidates whose parties did not have representation in Parliament.
That, he said, would also be on condition that those candidates file with the Electoral Commission (EC) to contest the December presidential election.
Cardinal Turkson said only flag bearers would be allowed to participate in the debates, explaining that nobody would be permitted to represent any flag bearer in the debates.
He explained that through the debates, the IEA intended to provide forums for the candidates to state what they stood for and intended to pursue if elected to lead the country.
In that way, he said, the electorate would be provided with a forum to assess the presidential candidates to enable them to make informed choices.
Cardinal Turkson said the debates would be co-ordinated by two moderators, who would ask the same questions for each of the candidates to answer.
He said the IEA had already started the process of gathering questions from a cross-section of the society and indicated that the Caucus of Party Chairmen would also be expected to make inputs into the process.
He said there would be balloting to determine how the flag bearers would sit and the order in which they would answer the questions to avoid the accusation of bias.
Prior to the questioning, he said, each candidate would be given three minutes to introduce himself and also state what he stood for.
Cardinal Turkson said at the end of the two-and-half hour debate, each of the candidates would be given five minutes to make his closing remarks.
Attendance, he stated, would strictly be by invitation, with each candidate being given 15 invites, while selected members of the public, including members of the Diplomatic Corps, would be present.
Responding to a question as to why the committee would not accept a representation on behalf of any of the aspirants, Cardinal Turkson said it was not fair to evaluate someone based on what another person had said or done.
He said it was to avoid such an incident that the committee was liaising with the aspirants and their parties to select a suitable date for all of them.
Other members of the committee are Odeneho Gyapong Ababio II, the President of the National House of Chiefs; Sheik O.N. Sharabutu, the National Chief Imam; Mr Ransford Tetteh, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA); Mrs Doris Acheampong, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the National Commission on Civic Education; Dr Yaw Baah, the Director of Research at the Trades Union Congress; Dr Rose Mensa-Kutin, Convenor, Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT); Mr William Ampem-Darko, the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation; Maulvi Wahab Adam, the Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission; Mrs Jean Mensa, the Administrator of the IEA, and Mr Kofi Owusu, the Director of Programmes at Joy FM.

Monday, July 7, 2008

GWCL to fence treatment systems

Front Page: July 7, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has decided to fence its water treatment systems throughout the country to ward off encroachment and maintain the wholesomeness of water to consumers.
To begin with, it has awarded a GH¢6 million contract for the fencing of the Weija WaterTreatment Plant.
The move is also part of measures by the company to protect the lifespan of the dam, which is the major source of water supply to most parts of the Accra metropolis.
It will cover a 51-kilometre stretch of land which is the catchment area of the treatment plant.
The chain-link fence with 12 security guard posts and access roads, would be constructed over a nine-month period.
The head of projects of GWCL, Mr Gilbert Quaye, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the decision to fence off the area was necessitated by the consistent threat to the dam by encroachers and activities of illegal stone winners.
He explained that the management, therefore, decided to fence off an area considered safest for the life of the dam.
"We tried as much as possible to minimise demolition of property," he said.
Mr Quaye said the company pushed off the stone winners to a place far enough to ensure that even if they considered further activities, they would not threaten the dam.
"After the fencing, the blasting and other stone winning activities would not affect the plant. We expect them to move away completely from the area," he said.
As to whether the company had plans to extend the project to all its water works throughout the country, Mr Quaye said "it is still in the thinking stage".
The Weija Water Treatment Plant had come under the threat of collapse following massive encroachment of the GWCL land and the activities of stone winners in the area.
Last year, the GWCL earmarked 2,000 structures for demolition and carried out its threat with the demolition of some of the buildings sited near the catchment area.
The exercise was, however, suspended a day after it started the demolition to enable the company investigate complaints by some property owners that their houses earmarked for demolition were outside the company’s land.
The company said it spends GH¢500,000 every month to treat the water from the Densu River, the only source of water supply to most parts of Accra.
It attributed the high cost of treatment to the high pollution of the river by illegal residents who had encroached the entire catchment area.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Loader arrested for smuggling live cartridges

Page 3: July 4, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 28-YEAR-OLD loader of Chisco Transport Limited in Accra has been arrested for allegedly smuggling four cartons of live cartridges onto a Nigeria-bound bus.
The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, told the Daily Graphic that the suspect, Richard Akunnor, was arrested upon a tip-off that the cartridges had been concealed in St Louis sugar boxes and packed into the cartons to avoid detection.
He said Akunnor was currently assisting the police in their investigations.
DCOP Opare-Addo said Akunnor alleged that it was a Nigerian who had brought the items for him to put on board the vehicle.
He added that under normal circumstances, the cargo should have been weighed and tagged for identification purposes but that was not done.
He said the suspect claimed that the owner of the cartridges, whose name and residence he claimed he did not know, gave him (Akunnor) GH¢40 to put the cargo on board the vehicle.
DCOP Opare-Addo said the goods were already on board the vehicle when the police moved in to arrest the suspect and intercept the goods.
According to him, the suspect claimed that the owner had been bringing items for him to put on board Nigeria-bound vehicles without going through the normal processing procedures.
Last Monday, the Accra Regional Police Command intercepted 2,987 pieces of cartridges at the Konkomba Market in Accra.
The cartridges, which had been removed from their original boxes, were concealed in sacks and were said to be bound for the Upper East Region.

Primex brings down price of rice

Page 72: July 3, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PRIMEX Ghana Limited has announced a reduction in the prices of its rice products in line with government’s policy to mitigate the rising food prices.
The price reduction ranges from eight to 12 per cent on all its Gino branded Thai perfumed and American rice.
It said the prices were reduced soon after President J. A. Kufuor had in a nationwide broadcast announced measures to mitigate the effects of global food crisis on Ghanaians.
The managing director of the company, Mr Annu Gupta, told the Daily Graphic last Monday that soon after President Kufuor announced the measures, the company, which markets Gino, Pomo and Jago brands of products immediately effected changes in its prices.
The reduction was also in line with the company’s policy of providing consumers with high quality products at lower prices.
He said after Parliament amended the law, the company again reduced the prices of its products.
“With the reduction, a 50kg bag of Gino Thai perfumed rice (five per cent broken) is now GH¢45, down from GH¢50 first reduction price; while the 100 per cent long grain rice (Grade B) is GH¢46 and American No. 2 rice is now GH¢58,” he said.
Mr Gupta said the 25 kg bag was now GH¢35, down from GH¢38, adding that a bag of 20 pieces of one kilogramme rice was now GH¢29.5 while a bag of 10 pieces of two kilogramme rice was GH¢28.5
He explained that although the cost of the rice abroad was increasing, the company cushioned its clients by delaying any local price increases for three to four weeks.
“Being part of corporate Ghana, we share in the suffering of Ghanaians, which is as a result of the global food crisis, and embarked upon this measure to enable the to company continue with its policy of providing quality food at the most affordable price for all,” he said.
Mr Gupta commended the government for the measures it took to alleviate the effects of the crisis on Ghanaians, saying that “the hallmark of any good government is to be sensitive to the plight of the citizens”.
President J. A. Kufuor, on May 23, 2008, announced measures to mitigate the hardships on Ghanaians resulting from the global food and fuel crises.
Following that, Parliament amended the Customs and Excise (Duty and other Taxes) Act 2008 to remove import duties on rice, wheat, yellow maize and crude vegetables for soap and food manufacture to become law and it was assented to by President Kufuor last Friday.

Non-partisan debate of drug problem a necessity* Says Kofi Quantson

Page 48/49: July 3, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A FORMER Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, has called for a national non-partisan platform to exhaustively review the drug problem in the country, from law enforcement, through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Responding to questions on the recent seizure of drugs across the country, Mr Quantson commended the police for the recent hauls of large quantities of narcotics but pointed to those seizures as evidence that the drug problem was becoming more entrenched, saying that should give cause for concern by all.
He said it was time for a greater public involvement in the search for solutions to the drug cases that affected the international image of the country.
Mr Quantson, who is also a former National Security Co-ordinator, said, “The best platform will be a non-partisan parliamentary commission serviced by local expertise and other knowledgeable people.”
He said the outcome of that exercise should produce solutions to be owned by the people and implemented through the people.
According to him, the government had announced measures and taken some steps to address the problem.
“As to whether some of the measures can provide a sustainable solution to the problem is not quite clear,” he said.
Mr Quantson noted that the Justice Georgina Wood Committee failed in its primary task of finding where the missing cocaine on the MV Benjamin went, while the Ampewuah Committee also failed to find the missing five kilogrammes of cocaine at NACOB, with the Kojo Armah Committee failing to find the whereabouts of the missing cocaine at the Exhibits Store of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
“What all these mean is that the infrastructure that was in place for bringing in the drugs and their disappearance is still intact. It constitutes an indictment on the enforcement system,” he stated.
Mr Quantson said the public had also been shielded from the reports of the committees and, therefore, wondered how the public would get involved in solving the problem.
He noted that the government organised a series of workshops, under the auspices of NACOB, at Elmina and Akosombo in 2006, the outcomes of which were to see the strengthening of NACOB and its status raised to a commission under the Presidency.
He said the war on drugs should be fought on a comprehensive multi-disciplinary basis to simultaneously address enforcement and preventive measures through education and treatment for addicted persons.
Mr Quantson said it was in recognition of this that the United Nations proposed that membership of the boards of drug fighting agencies should be based on the multi-disciplinary approach, with institutional representation.
He said in response to that, NACOB was established with representation from the core ministries involved in enforcement, health, education, among others.
“The drug plague has landed on our shores and sustained measures must be taken to deal with it. Enforcement action should be executed consistently, and offenders dealt with in a transparent, expeditious way,” he said.

Cartridges destined for Upper East intercepted

Page 40: July 1, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Accra Regional Police Command has intercepted 2,987 pieces of cartridges at the Konkomba Market in Accra.
The cartridges, which had been removed from their original boxes, were concealed in sacks and were said to be bound for the Upper East Region.
No arrest has, however, been made, although officials of the Konkomba Market branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) were assisting the police in investigations.
The Accra Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, told newsmen yesterday that the seizure followed a tip-off.
He said before the police could get to the scene, the owners of the cartridges had allegedly bolted.
DCOP Opare-Addo said the owners were allegedly bringing the cartridges in pieces but had not yet booked the cartridges for any particular vehicle.
He, therefore, appealed to members of the public to help the police with information that would lead to the arrest of the owners of the cartridges.
DCOP Opare-Addo said each box of a cartridge contained 25 pieces but because the owners wanted to outwit the police, the cartridges were removed from the boxes and put in sacks.

Suspect commits suicide in BNI cells

Page 3: July 1, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 36-YEAR-OLD man, Emmanuel Borketey Boye, has allegedly committed suicide in the cells of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Boye allegedly wove his cell dress into a rope and used it to hang himself on Wednesday, June 25, 2008.
A brother of the deceased’s, Mr Moses Bortey, told the Daily Graphic that he would comment on the matter only after a post-mortem examination had been conducted on the body.
But the BNI explained to the Daily Graphic that there had been no foul play, neither had the deceased been tortured.
A source told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the deceased had, since February 13, 2007, been facing two counts of forgery of documents and defrauding by false pretences in court.
It said the deceased had allegedly sold 30 plots of land at Borteyman to people, adding that the deceased allegedly collected GH¢19,000, a Toyota Four Runner pick-up, a Daewoo saloon car and a Peugeot car from those people, under the pretext of selling the 30 plots of land to them.
According to the source, after collecting the money and the cars from the complainants, the deceased led them to Borteyman and showed them the 30 plots of land with documents covering it.
“The complainants made checks at the Lands Commission and got to know that the documents had been forged and that the deceased had no title to the land in question,” it said.
It explained that when the complainants, who had also collected money from other people to purchase the 30 plots, confronted the deceased, he allegedly promised to give them new plots at Dodowa, while he contested the other claimants to the Borteyman land in court.
Unfortunately, it said, the deceased went into hiding but he was arrested upon a tip-off.
The source said the deceased was arraigned before Circuit Court “4”, presided over by Mrs Jennifer Dodoo, on February 16, 2007 on two counts of forgery of documents and defrauding by false pretences.
It said the deceased was admitted to bail on February 26, 2007 to be appearing before court but after a few appearances he went into hiding again, following which a bench warrant was obtained for his arrest.
According to the source, Boye was arrested and put before court but he was granted bail again.
It noted that he went into hiding after the second and a second bench warrant was issued for his arrest on February 15, 2008.
It said it was based on the second warrant that Boye was arrested on June 24, 2008 at his hideout at Teshie-Nungua to be put before court the next day.
The source said in the morning of June 25, 2008 it was detected that Boye had committed suicide.
It explained that the BNI then called Boye’s brother and the Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department to witness the incident for the police to take over the investigations.
It said the deceased’s brother rather showed up at about 3.00 p.m. on the same day, by which time the police had taken the body to the mortuary.