Page 3: October 31, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia & Donald Ato Dapatem
THE Catholic Archbishop of Cape Coast, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, has expressed the hope that the conduct of the four leading presidential candidates in their debate last Wednesday would deepen the culture of political tolerance in the country.
He said seeing the four aspirants on the stage shaking hands and patting each other on the shoulder in a cordial manner was a great credit for the nation’s fledgling democracy and expressed the hope that their followers would emulate them to avoid violent clashes.
Cardinal Turkson made the remark at the end of the presidential debate organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy institution.His comments were shared by other participants in the event, including a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah; a Research Fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Mr Kwesi Jonah; the Deputy Commissioner of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Augustina Akumanyi; Dr K. Hiadze of the University of Ghana, and the Head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning.
They described the debate as a feather in the cap of the nation’s efforts at entrenching peace, stability and democracy in the country.
The four presidential aspirants who took part in the debate are Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Convention People’s Party (CPP); Prof. John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Dr Edward Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC).
They were selected on the basis of their political parties having representation in Parliament.
The debate, which was live on Ghana Television and other broadcast media, was moderated by Prof. Kwame Karikari, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, and Mr Cyril Acolatse, a retired broadcaster.
Cardinal Turkson, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Debates Planning Committee, said there were many questions that had been reserved for the next debate scheduled to take place in Tamale on November 12, 2008.
Prof. Addae-Mensah said he was impressed with the delivery of the aspirants, adding that the candidates kept to the issues.
He said to enrich the next debate in Tamale, whatever lessons learnt at the Accra debate must guide the organisers.
On his part, Dr Hiadzi described the event as a good exercise that gave every candidate the opportunity to explain himself and applauded the fact that it was devoid of acrimony.
“The debate teaches us to be tolerant and secondly to be able to debate issues in an open environment without resort of violence,” he added.
Mr Jonah described the debate as good quality but he was of the view that the structure of the questions did not meet all expectations.
He said there should have been a question on the macro economy because that was how they would raise money to finance their programmes.
“On the whole, it was an improvement," he said, but pointed out that candidates could have been made to make opening statements because that would establish their stance and within that, establish their claims.
Mrs Akumanyi said, “It's nice to see all the contenders together debating in such a civil way which is taking us forward.”
She said it was high time the followers of political parties emulated the lessons arising out of the debate in their interactions.
Mrs Akumanyi said politics was not war or fight, but was about ideas and how a group of people, through the ballot box, could get the mandate of Ghanaians to rule and improve their lives.
Dr Aning said the greatest success of the presidential debate was seeing the candidates on the same stage in a friendly and open discussion.
“That should send a signal to followers of the various political parties that if the leaders are not fighting, it is important for them to co-exist,” he said.
Dr Aning said although the content of the messages might not have satisfied specific detail, the atmosphere of congeniality and respect gave “Ghanaians something for us to think about”.
He said seeing Mr Alan Kyerematen and Mr E. T. Mensah hold each other’s hands, whispering and smiling should be an abiding issue.
He said the first round of the debate itself provided much detail and specific responses but the concluding statements very disappointing.
According to him, the concluding statements should have been used by the candidates to rally their supporters and particularly the floating voters to their side but that was lacking.
Dr Aning said the format of the debate only provided the avenue for the candidates to repeat what they had been telling the electorate already.
He said a real debate should have afforded the candidates much more time to discuss topic by topic what they intended to do and have a thorough critique of their messages.
Friday, October 31, 2008
BNI RESCUES CAPTIVE * 3 Kidnappers in custody 8 2 accomplices on the run
Front Page: October 31, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PERSONNEL of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), on Wednesday night rescued the Israeli businessman who had been held captive by gunmen in Accra since October 19.
Dror Weinstein, 62, was rescued at about 11:10pm on Wednesday.
Three of his captors — Alex Sampson Ojanomare alias Leonard, Clifford Ogheonovo Osiobe and Blessing Osiobe Muliaga, the younger brother of Clifford — who are all Nigerians, are currently in custody.
The victim, who said he was tortured and made to sleep naked while in captivity, mentioned Sampson Ojanomare as having led his accomplices to kidnap him and that two guards of Sampson collected $13,000.
Two others — identified as Felicia Baah-Wiredu, who is alleged to have lured Dror into the country, and Albert Koomson — are currently on the run.
The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of $500,000 but later back-tracked and agreed to collect $300,000.
The National Security Co-ordinator, Dr Sam Amoo-Ghartey, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that although the Israeli government had indicated its willingness to send a member of the Mozzart to assist their Ghanaian counterparts to investigate the kidnapping of Dror, the security agencies lived up to their billing by rescuing the Israeli.
He said investigations had revealed that Felicia, who posed as a daughter of the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, invited Dror into the country to assist her retrieve a treasure that her father had left in the custody of a private security firm.
Accordingly, he said, Dror arrived in Ghana on October 15, 2008 with a Luthansa flight and checked in at the Penta Hotel for a night.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said Dror checked out of the hotel the next day and moved into the Airport West Hotel on October 16, 2008.
All that while, he said, Dror was in the company of Felicia and Albert, who Felicia introduced as her brother and an engineer by profession.
The National Security Co-ordinator said Dror checked out of the Airport West Hotel on October 17, 2008 and checked in at the Protea Hotel at East Legon for two days and was allegedly kidnapped on October 19, 2008.
He said the kidnappers allegedly took Dror to an unknown house at Ashongman where he was left in the company of another person, identified only as Tony, also a Nigerian.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said while in the custody of Tony, Dror informed the Israeli government, his family and his business partner.
Reports of his kidnapping, however, got to the security agencies on Sunday, October 19, 2008 after the Israeli government notified the Ghanaian Government on the issue, he said.
He said apart from Dror’s business partner who parted with $500 to the kidnappers, no money changed hands.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said the BNI did everything possible to track the kidnappers and after a lot of efforts, the BNI arrested three of them and used them as a bait to negotiate the release of Dror.
He said Dror was dropped around the Atomic Police Station where he was made to take a taxi to the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra to be received by officials of the BNI.
He said the Israeli Government had already sent a message of commendation to the Ghanaian security agencies for the wonderful and professional work done to rescue Dror.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey urged the international community to disabuse their minds about kidnapping in Ghana, saying that it was rare.
He, however, urged businessmen and firms to be careful in their transactions in order not to fall into the hands of tricksters.
Meanwhile, the head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Training Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning, has said the issue of kidnapping had become the new phenomenon of criminal gangs, something that was quite worrying.
He said he suspected that phenomenon was being perpetrated by business partners who had been cheated and wanted to find an alternative to recoup their money.
He explained that the resort to kidnapping, if not dealt with immediately, was going to become a booming business “because the investment in it is low and the dividend high, since families would be desperate to reunite with their loved ones due to the emotional attachment”.
Dr Aning urged Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of the fact that kidnapping was uncharacteristic of the Ghanaian.
“We do not do ourselves any good if we say a particular crime is not a Ghanaian style. It is part of the societal change and we must gird our loins to deal with the problem,” he said.
He said it was on a similar vein that Ghanaians saw armed robbery, drug trafficking and violent crime as not associated with the Ghanaian society but which had now become a nightmare for the country.
Dr Aning, therefore, advised Ghanaians to be careful with whom they dealt with as business partners and become a bit more conscious of their surroundings, as well as take their personal security more serious.
He said the government needed to equip the security agencies with the requisite gadgets and appropriate training to the personnel so that they could deal with the menace with ease.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PERSONNEL of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), on Wednesday night rescued the Israeli businessman who had been held captive by gunmen in Accra since October 19.
Dror Weinstein, 62, was rescued at about 11:10pm on Wednesday.
Three of his captors — Alex Sampson Ojanomare alias Leonard, Clifford Ogheonovo Osiobe and Blessing Osiobe Muliaga, the younger brother of Clifford — who are all Nigerians, are currently in custody.
The victim, who said he was tortured and made to sleep naked while in captivity, mentioned Sampson Ojanomare as having led his accomplices to kidnap him and that two guards of Sampson collected $13,000.
Two others — identified as Felicia Baah-Wiredu, who is alleged to have lured Dror into the country, and Albert Koomson — are currently on the run.
The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of $500,000 but later back-tracked and agreed to collect $300,000.
The National Security Co-ordinator, Dr Sam Amoo-Ghartey, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that although the Israeli government had indicated its willingness to send a member of the Mozzart to assist their Ghanaian counterparts to investigate the kidnapping of Dror, the security agencies lived up to their billing by rescuing the Israeli.
He said investigations had revealed that Felicia, who posed as a daughter of the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, invited Dror into the country to assist her retrieve a treasure that her father had left in the custody of a private security firm.
Accordingly, he said, Dror arrived in Ghana on October 15, 2008 with a Luthansa flight and checked in at the Penta Hotel for a night.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said Dror checked out of the hotel the next day and moved into the Airport West Hotel on October 16, 2008.
All that while, he said, Dror was in the company of Felicia and Albert, who Felicia introduced as her brother and an engineer by profession.
The National Security Co-ordinator said Dror checked out of the Airport West Hotel on October 17, 2008 and checked in at the Protea Hotel at East Legon for two days and was allegedly kidnapped on October 19, 2008.
He said the kidnappers allegedly took Dror to an unknown house at Ashongman where he was left in the company of another person, identified only as Tony, also a Nigerian.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said while in the custody of Tony, Dror informed the Israeli government, his family and his business partner.
Reports of his kidnapping, however, got to the security agencies on Sunday, October 19, 2008 after the Israeli government notified the Ghanaian Government on the issue, he said.
He said apart from Dror’s business partner who parted with $500 to the kidnappers, no money changed hands.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey said the BNI did everything possible to track the kidnappers and after a lot of efforts, the BNI arrested three of them and used them as a bait to negotiate the release of Dror.
He said Dror was dropped around the Atomic Police Station where he was made to take a taxi to the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra to be received by officials of the BNI.
He said the Israeli Government had already sent a message of commendation to the Ghanaian security agencies for the wonderful and professional work done to rescue Dror.
Dr Amoo-Ghartey urged the international community to disabuse their minds about kidnapping in Ghana, saying that it was rare.
He, however, urged businessmen and firms to be careful in their transactions in order not to fall into the hands of tricksters.
Meanwhile, the head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Training Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning, has said the issue of kidnapping had become the new phenomenon of criminal gangs, something that was quite worrying.
He said he suspected that phenomenon was being perpetrated by business partners who had been cheated and wanted to find an alternative to recoup their money.
He explained that the resort to kidnapping, if not dealt with immediately, was going to become a booming business “because the investment in it is low and the dividend high, since families would be desperate to reunite with their loved ones due to the emotional attachment”.
Dr Aning urged Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of the fact that kidnapping was uncharacteristic of the Ghanaian.
“We do not do ourselves any good if we say a particular crime is not a Ghanaian style. It is part of the societal change and we must gird our loins to deal with the problem,” he said.
He said it was on a similar vein that Ghanaians saw armed robbery, drug trafficking and violent crime as not associated with the Ghanaian society but which had now become a nightmare for the country.
Dr Aning, therefore, advised Ghanaians to be careful with whom they dealt with as business partners and become a bit more conscious of their surroundings, as well as take their personal security more serious.
He said the government needed to equip the security agencies with the requisite gadgets and appropriate training to the personnel so that they could deal with the menace with ease.
Two arrested for visa fraud
Page 54: October 30, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
ONE of the three suspected visa connection men who were declared wanted by an Accra circuit court for allegedly defrauding a number of people of thousands of Ghana cedis on the pretext of securing them visas to travel abroad has been arrested.
The alleged principal architect, Kofi Boateng, alias Francis Fofie, was arrested at Achimota last Friday after the Daily Graphic had published his picture, along with those of the two others in its Thursday, October 24, 2008 edition that they had jumped bail.
Another person, Abraham Boateng, who is said to be an accomplice of the suspect, was also arrested.
The two other suspects, Alex Appiah Danquah and Nana Boakye, are still on the run.
A source at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service told the Daily Graphic that Kofi Boateng, who was based in Italy, allegedly offered to procure visas for his victims to travel to Italy in February and April 2007.
It said Kofi’s accomplice, Abraham Boateng, collected the money from prospective visa seekers and handed it over to Kofi.
The source said following investigations into the case after two of the victims had lodged a complaint, Abraham Boateng was arrested at Teshie in April 2008.
It said the suspect allegedly admitted receiving the money on behalf of Kofi Boateng and was subsequently admitted to police enquiry bail and asked to report himself periodically to the police.
“However, since the day he was admitted to bail Abraham has failed to report himself to the police as instructed,” it added.
According to the source, some time in August this year the police had information that Kofi Boateng had returned from Italy and that he was being harboured by Abraham.
It said the police arrested Kofi Boateng at his hideout at Teshie and he allegedly admitted during interrogations that after collecting the money, he had to return to Italy.
It said the suspect then informed the police that he (Kofi Boateng) had brought a VW Golf car to sell, after which he would refund the money to the complainants.
The source said Kofi Boateng pleaded with the police to grant him bail to enable him to dispose of the car in order to refund the money to the complainants.
It said the car, which was then in the custody of the police, was released to Kofi Boateng to dispose of, but ever since he was granted bail he had failed to report to the police and also switched off his mobile phone.
It said Abraham Boateng was spotted at the Cocoa Affairs Court on October 24, 2008 and was arrested. He later led the police to arrest Kofi Boateng at Achimota.
The source said the two suspects would be charged for conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretences.
Story: Albert K. Salia
ONE of the three suspected visa connection men who were declared wanted by an Accra circuit court for allegedly defrauding a number of people of thousands of Ghana cedis on the pretext of securing them visas to travel abroad has been arrested.
The alleged principal architect, Kofi Boateng, alias Francis Fofie, was arrested at Achimota last Friday after the Daily Graphic had published his picture, along with those of the two others in its Thursday, October 24, 2008 edition that they had jumped bail.
Another person, Abraham Boateng, who is said to be an accomplice of the suspect, was also arrested.
The two other suspects, Alex Appiah Danquah and Nana Boakye, are still on the run.
A source at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service told the Daily Graphic that Kofi Boateng, who was based in Italy, allegedly offered to procure visas for his victims to travel to Italy in February and April 2007.
It said Kofi’s accomplice, Abraham Boateng, collected the money from prospective visa seekers and handed it over to Kofi.
The source said following investigations into the case after two of the victims had lodged a complaint, Abraham Boateng was arrested at Teshie in April 2008.
It said the suspect allegedly admitted receiving the money on behalf of Kofi Boateng and was subsequently admitted to police enquiry bail and asked to report himself periodically to the police.
“However, since the day he was admitted to bail Abraham has failed to report himself to the police as instructed,” it added.
According to the source, some time in August this year the police had information that Kofi Boateng had returned from Italy and that he was being harboured by Abraham.
It said the police arrested Kofi Boateng at his hideout at Teshie and he allegedly admitted during interrogations that after collecting the money, he had to return to Italy.
It said the suspect then informed the police that he (Kofi Boateng) had brought a VW Golf car to sell, after which he would refund the money to the complainants.
The source said Kofi Boateng pleaded with the police to grant him bail to enable him to dispose of the car in order to refund the money to the complainants.
It said the car, which was then in the custody of the police, was released to Kofi Boateng to dispose of, but ever since he was granted bail he had failed to report to the police and also switched off his mobile phone.
It said Abraham Boateng was spotted at the Cocoa Affairs Court on October 24, 2008 and was arrested. He later led the police to arrest Kofi Boateng at Achimota.
The source said the two suspects would be charged for conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretences.
200-Man team from ECOWAS * To observe Dec 7 polls
Front Page: October 29, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 200-member mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by a former Nigerian military ruler, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), is expected in Ghana to observe the December 7 elections.
This was announced in Accra yesterday by Professor Amos Sawyer, a former Interim President of Liberia, when he led an ECOWAS pre-election fact-finding mission to pay a courtesy call on the Interior Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor.
The mission had earlier held discussions with various stakeholders in the forthcoming elections.
Prof Sawyer said ECOWAS was not just interested in the immediate casting of the ballot but the environment, the preparation and post-election matters.
He explained that Ghana was a blazing the trail in terms of democratic governance not only in the West African sub-region but on the continent as a whole, having successfully and peacefully held previous elections.
Those credentials, he said, also included a political alternation of governments, stressing that “Africa is very proud of these developments”.
Prof Sawyer said the mission had already met and held discussions with the government, civil society organisations, the political parties and four presidential candidates, including those of three of the leading political parties.
He said the mission had also met twice with officials of the Electoral Commission (EC).
“We are not here to tell Ghanaians what to do but to learn about what is being done and what ECOWAS could do to ensure free, fair and credible elections,” he stated.
Prof Sawyer said the report of the mission would serve as a guide to the ECOWAS Observer Mission which is expected to be in Ghana by December 1, 2008.
He described the interaction which the pre-election mission had had with the various stakeholders as informative and very co-operative.
Responding to a question as to whether the mission could react to the concerns of some political parties about possible rigging, Prof Sawyer said the team was yet to finish its work and could, therefore, not reach any conclusions.
“We hope that the process will be free and fair and the results credible. We believe the sovereign will of Ghanaians will prevail in the end,” he said.
For his part, Dr Addo-Kufuor assured the team that the government would accept the outcome of the elections.
He noted that there would often be occasional tension and conflicts by over-zealous supporters of political parties, as was associated with elections in Africa.
The Defence Minister said the government wanted Ghana to remain the oasis of peace in Africa and it would, therefore, not do anything to subvert the sovereign will of the people.
He, however, said the government would deal with anybody who attempted to subvert the peace and stability of the country.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said the government would not stand in the way of the sovereign will of the people but it would also not shirk its responsibility to maintain law and order.
He said apart from the ECOWAS Observer Mission, the Carter Centre in the United States of America, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the European Union had also indicated that they would send observer missions to the polls.
The minister said the observers would be assisted to visit any part of the country to interact with all stakeholders and observe the polls.
“What the government wants is that at the end of the process the results will be accepted as credible,” he stated, adding, “We believe there will be no rigging.”
He said the government was one that believed in democratic governance, came to power through elections and would want to entrench democratic and good governance principles.
Other members of the ECOWAS Pre-election mission are the ECOWAS Good Governance Advisor, Professor Ade Adefuye; the former President of the Benin Electoral Commission, Mr Nouwatin Sylvain; a former ECOWAS Member of Parliament, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa; the Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Unit, Mr Frances Oke; a member of the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, Ms Sissoko Sira Diop of Mali, and the Principal Programme Officer in charge of Democracy and Governance, Mr Eyesan Okorodudu.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 200-member mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by a former Nigerian military ruler, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), is expected in Ghana to observe the December 7 elections.
This was announced in Accra yesterday by Professor Amos Sawyer, a former Interim President of Liberia, when he led an ECOWAS pre-election fact-finding mission to pay a courtesy call on the Interior Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor.
The mission had earlier held discussions with various stakeholders in the forthcoming elections.
Prof Sawyer said ECOWAS was not just interested in the immediate casting of the ballot but the environment, the preparation and post-election matters.
He explained that Ghana was a blazing the trail in terms of democratic governance not only in the West African sub-region but on the continent as a whole, having successfully and peacefully held previous elections.
Those credentials, he said, also included a political alternation of governments, stressing that “Africa is very proud of these developments”.
Prof Sawyer said the mission had already met and held discussions with the government, civil society organisations, the political parties and four presidential candidates, including those of three of the leading political parties.
He said the mission had also met twice with officials of the Electoral Commission (EC).
“We are not here to tell Ghanaians what to do but to learn about what is being done and what ECOWAS could do to ensure free, fair and credible elections,” he stated.
Prof Sawyer said the report of the mission would serve as a guide to the ECOWAS Observer Mission which is expected to be in Ghana by December 1, 2008.
He described the interaction which the pre-election mission had had with the various stakeholders as informative and very co-operative.
Responding to a question as to whether the mission could react to the concerns of some political parties about possible rigging, Prof Sawyer said the team was yet to finish its work and could, therefore, not reach any conclusions.
“We hope that the process will be free and fair and the results credible. We believe the sovereign will of Ghanaians will prevail in the end,” he said.
For his part, Dr Addo-Kufuor assured the team that the government would accept the outcome of the elections.
He noted that there would often be occasional tension and conflicts by over-zealous supporters of political parties, as was associated with elections in Africa.
The Defence Minister said the government wanted Ghana to remain the oasis of peace in Africa and it would, therefore, not do anything to subvert the sovereign will of the people.
He, however, said the government would deal with anybody who attempted to subvert the peace and stability of the country.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said the government would not stand in the way of the sovereign will of the people but it would also not shirk its responsibility to maintain law and order.
He said apart from the ECOWAS Observer Mission, the Carter Centre in the United States of America, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the European Union had also indicated that they would send observer missions to the polls.
The minister said the observers would be assisted to visit any part of the country to interact with all stakeholders and observe the polls.
“What the government wants is that at the end of the process the results will be accepted as credible,” he stated, adding, “We believe there will be no rigging.”
He said the government was one that believed in democratic governance, came to power through elections and would want to entrench democratic and good governance principles.
Other members of the ECOWAS Pre-election mission are the ECOWAS Good Governance Advisor, Professor Ade Adefuye; the former President of the Benin Electoral Commission, Mr Nouwatin Sylvain; a former ECOWAS Member of Parliament, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa; the Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Unit, Mr Frances Oke; a member of the ECOWAS Council of the Wise, Ms Sissoko Sira Diop of Mali, and the Principal Programme Officer in charge of Democracy and Governance, Mr Eyesan Okorodudu.
DRUGS BUSTED * Vehicle speeds off - clearing agent flees
Front Page: October 25, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
OFFICIALS of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) on Thursday evening intercepted 664 kilogrammes of compressed Indian hemp and hashish which had been parcelled for export to the United Kingdom.
The 240 parcels were made up of 192 slabs of compressed cannabis, 40 plastic bowls of hashish and eight cylindrically shaped containers of hashish.
As of the time of filing this report, CEPS officials had made no arrest, as the vehicle which had sent the items was said to have sped off, while the clearing agent, identified as Kennedy Biney, was also let off the hook.
The Chief Collector in charge of Investigations and Narcotics of CEPS, Nana Agyin Buadu, told journalists that not much information had been gathered so far on the exporter.
He explained that the agent had not even started processing the goods for export when it was detected that they were drugs.
The substances had been well packaged and concealed under boxes covered with cocoyam, plantain and Fante kenkey.
According to the chief collector, the vehicle which sent the goods sped off when the driver sensed that CEPS officials inspecting the goods had become suspicious of the contents of the boxes.
Nana Buadu said CEPS dealt with clearing agents and not exporters per se and indicated that it was only when an agent had presented documents for processing that CEPS would know the exporter of an item and the consignee.
Responding to questions, he said the interception was normal, and so was the mode of concealment.
He, however, said it had been a while since such a large quantity of drugs was intercepted at the airport.
Story: Albert K. Salia
OFFICIALS of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) on Thursday evening intercepted 664 kilogrammes of compressed Indian hemp and hashish which had been parcelled for export to the United Kingdom.
The 240 parcels were made up of 192 slabs of compressed cannabis, 40 plastic bowls of hashish and eight cylindrically shaped containers of hashish.
As of the time of filing this report, CEPS officials had made no arrest, as the vehicle which had sent the items was said to have sped off, while the clearing agent, identified as Kennedy Biney, was also let off the hook.
The Chief Collector in charge of Investigations and Narcotics of CEPS, Nana Agyin Buadu, told journalists that not much information had been gathered so far on the exporter.
He explained that the agent had not even started processing the goods for export when it was detected that they were drugs.
The substances had been well packaged and concealed under boxes covered with cocoyam, plantain and Fante kenkey.
According to the chief collector, the vehicle which sent the goods sped off when the driver sensed that CEPS officials inspecting the goods had become suspicious of the contents of the boxes.
Nana Buadu said CEPS dealt with clearing agents and not exporters per se and indicated that it was only when an agent had presented documents for processing that CEPS would know the exporter of an item and the consignee.
Responding to questions, he said the interception was normal, and so was the mode of concealment.
He, however, said it had been a while since such a large quantity of drugs was intercepted at the airport.
Remain Neutral * D-G Police Operations tells security personnel
Front Page: October 24, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Director-General of Police Operations, DCOP Patrick Timbillah, has called on personnel of the security services to help erase the perception that the services support the government by being seen to be neutral in the discharge of their duties.
He said the neutrality, firmness, fairness, resoluteness and consistency of the personnel, coupled with a high sense of professionalism, would win them public confidence and disabuse the minds of people of any suspicion of bias.
He was addressing Crime and Public Affairs Officers of the Ghana Police Service at a day’s workshop on monitoring the elections ahead of the December polls in Accra yesterday.
DCOP Timbillah said challenges associated with the elections included clashes at political events, disobedience of the Public Order Act, protests, late arrival of election officers and materials, the general conduct of election officers, party agents, voters and campaigning during voting.
Other problems, he noted, were the hijacking of results/ballot boxes, protests at polling stations and collation centres, inability to trace names, missing voter ID cards of potential voters, preventing minors/aliens from voting, illumination at polling stations and collation centres, poor routes to polling stations, feeding of polling agents, electoral and security officers, as well as transporting election materials to collation centres.
DCOP Timbillah also drew participants’ attention to post-election problems, including protests regarding rejected ballots, signing of results by polling agents after counting, reaction to results, riot and disorder at the swearing-in ceremony.
The director-general said it was in view of those challenges that the National Elections Security Task Force had outlined a comprehensive security arrangement to ensure a safe and secure environment for peaceful electioneering before election day and thereafter to ensure post-election peace.
He said the programme, which had been divided into three phases, gave the police a leading role, supported by the other security services, with the Ghana Armed Forces taking over from the police to restore law and order when necessary.
DCOP Timbillah said Phase I of the security operations, which started on September 8, would end on December 6, a period which would be characterised by intensified political campaigns and preparation/distribution of electoral materials and personnel throughout the country.
He said Joint Operations Room staff with police were expected to be deployed by December 1, while personnel of the Rapid Deployment Forces (RDFs) would be deployed by December 4, 2008.
DCOP Timbillah said Phase II, which would start from December 7 to 10, 2008, would be characterised by the casting of votes, counting of votes/compilation of results, tension and anxiety associated with the elections, recovery of election materials and personnel, announcement of results and possible conflict and violence.
To deal with the security threats associated with Phase II, he said personnel of the security services would be deployed at all polling stations, escort and protect election officers and materials, as well as maintain and restore law and order at all flash points.
According to him, the RDFs would be maintained in central positions, monitor situation reports through joint operations rooms, that is, election control centres, maintain close liaison with the Electoral Commission and intensify day and night patrols.
Phase III, which would span the period December 10 to March 10, 2009, he said, would be characterised by the declaration of results/conceding defeat, victory rallies, protests/demonstrations by the defeated, trading of accusations and crowd disturbances, a second round presidential election, if necessary, and the possibility of non-acceptance of election results, albeit limited or general.
DCOP Timbillah said the security services were expected to enhance Operation Calm Life, monitor post-election activities, maintain the RDFs and maintain border security in conjunction with other security agencies and the security forces of neighbouring countries.
The director-general stressed the need for the security personnel to have a perfect knowledge of the Criminal Code, the conduct of elections, roles of all stakeholders, basic election laws, political parties code of conduct, the political terrain, political parties and their leadership, candidates, polling stations and collation centres.
In that way, he said, the personnel would be on top of any task assigned them in relation to the elections.
The News Editor of Metro TV, Ms Mariam Acolatse, said the media were expected to create equal opportunities for all stakeholders, irrespective of their political affiliations.
She said it was important that the public appreciated that role in order not to inhibit the work of the media.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Director-General of Police Operations, DCOP Patrick Timbillah, has called on personnel of the security services to help erase the perception that the services support the government by being seen to be neutral in the discharge of their duties.
He said the neutrality, firmness, fairness, resoluteness and consistency of the personnel, coupled with a high sense of professionalism, would win them public confidence and disabuse the minds of people of any suspicion of bias.
He was addressing Crime and Public Affairs Officers of the Ghana Police Service at a day’s workshop on monitoring the elections ahead of the December polls in Accra yesterday.
DCOP Timbillah said challenges associated with the elections included clashes at political events, disobedience of the Public Order Act, protests, late arrival of election officers and materials, the general conduct of election officers, party agents, voters and campaigning during voting.
Other problems, he noted, were the hijacking of results/ballot boxes, protests at polling stations and collation centres, inability to trace names, missing voter ID cards of potential voters, preventing minors/aliens from voting, illumination at polling stations and collation centres, poor routes to polling stations, feeding of polling agents, electoral and security officers, as well as transporting election materials to collation centres.
DCOP Timbillah also drew participants’ attention to post-election problems, including protests regarding rejected ballots, signing of results by polling agents after counting, reaction to results, riot and disorder at the swearing-in ceremony.
The director-general said it was in view of those challenges that the National Elections Security Task Force had outlined a comprehensive security arrangement to ensure a safe and secure environment for peaceful electioneering before election day and thereafter to ensure post-election peace.
He said the programme, which had been divided into three phases, gave the police a leading role, supported by the other security services, with the Ghana Armed Forces taking over from the police to restore law and order when necessary.
DCOP Timbillah said Phase I of the security operations, which started on September 8, would end on December 6, a period which would be characterised by intensified political campaigns and preparation/distribution of electoral materials and personnel throughout the country.
He said Joint Operations Room staff with police were expected to be deployed by December 1, while personnel of the Rapid Deployment Forces (RDFs) would be deployed by December 4, 2008.
DCOP Timbillah said Phase II, which would start from December 7 to 10, 2008, would be characterised by the casting of votes, counting of votes/compilation of results, tension and anxiety associated with the elections, recovery of election materials and personnel, announcement of results and possible conflict and violence.
To deal with the security threats associated with Phase II, he said personnel of the security services would be deployed at all polling stations, escort and protect election officers and materials, as well as maintain and restore law and order at all flash points.
According to him, the RDFs would be maintained in central positions, monitor situation reports through joint operations rooms, that is, election control centres, maintain close liaison with the Electoral Commission and intensify day and night patrols.
Phase III, which would span the period December 10 to March 10, 2009, he said, would be characterised by the declaration of results/conceding defeat, victory rallies, protests/demonstrations by the defeated, trading of accusations and crowd disturbances, a second round presidential election, if necessary, and the possibility of non-acceptance of election results, albeit limited or general.
DCOP Timbillah said the security services were expected to enhance Operation Calm Life, monitor post-election activities, maintain the RDFs and maintain border security in conjunction with other security agencies and the security forces of neighbouring countries.
The director-general stressed the need for the security personnel to have a perfect knowledge of the Criminal Code, the conduct of elections, roles of all stakeholders, basic election laws, political parties code of conduct, the political terrain, political parties and their leadership, candidates, polling stations and collation centres.
In that way, he said, the personnel would be on top of any task assigned them in relation to the elections.
The News Editor of Metro TV, Ms Mariam Acolatse, said the media were expected to create equal opportunities for all stakeholders, irrespective of their political affiliations.
She said it was important that the public appreciated that role in order not to inhibit the work of the media.
Court issues warrant for arrest of three
Page 55: October 23, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Accra Circuit Court has issued three separate warrants for the arrest of three persons accused of defrauding some other people of thousands of Ghana cedis.
The suspects, Nana Boakye, alias Ofori, Kofi Boateng, alias Fofie Francis, and Alex Appiah Dankwah, are said to have jumped court bail after they made first appearances in the court.
A source at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service told the Daily Graphic that Nana Boakye went to Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region to demand and allegedly collected more than GH¢60,000 from some persons in the town on the pretext of securing them entry visas to the United States of America and Italy.
The source said after collecting the money, Nana Boakye went into hiding until he was arrested in September, this year.
It said when the court granted him bail, he failed to re-appear at the adjourned date.
Similarly, it said, Kofi Boateng, a native of Mim in the Brong Ahafo Region, went to collect huge sums of money from a group of persons at Asamankese in the Eastern Region on the pretext of securing them entry visas to various destinations abroad.
The source said the suspect, who failed to secure the visas for his victims, also refused to refund the money.
Accordingly, it said, he was arrested and arraigned on a charge of defrauding by false pretences.
The source said Kofi Boateng also failed to re-appear before the court.
With regard to Appiah Danquah, the source said the suspect collected money from his victim on the pretext of procuring him a KIA truck.
It said Appiah Danquah failed to procure the KIA truck and also failed to refund the money and went into hiding.
The source appealed to any member of the public who had information on the whereabouts of the three suspects to call 0277-311866 or 0243-474413 or alert the nearest police station.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Accra Circuit Court has issued three separate warrants for the arrest of three persons accused of defrauding some other people of thousands of Ghana cedis.
The suspects, Nana Boakye, alias Ofori, Kofi Boateng, alias Fofie Francis, and Alex Appiah Dankwah, are said to have jumped court bail after they made first appearances in the court.
A source at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service told the Daily Graphic that Nana Boakye went to Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region to demand and allegedly collected more than GH¢60,000 from some persons in the town on the pretext of securing them entry visas to the United States of America and Italy.
The source said after collecting the money, Nana Boakye went into hiding until he was arrested in September, this year.
It said when the court granted him bail, he failed to re-appear at the adjourned date.
Similarly, it said, Kofi Boateng, a native of Mim in the Brong Ahafo Region, went to collect huge sums of money from a group of persons at Asamankese in the Eastern Region on the pretext of securing them entry visas to various destinations abroad.
The source said the suspect, who failed to secure the visas for his victims, also refused to refund the money.
Accordingly, it said, he was arrested and arraigned on a charge of defrauding by false pretences.
The source said Kofi Boateng also failed to re-appear before the court.
With regard to Appiah Danquah, the source said the suspect collected money from his victim on the pretext of procuring him a KIA truck.
It said Appiah Danquah failed to procure the KIA truck and also failed to refund the money and went into hiding.
The source appealed to any member of the public who had information on the whereabouts of the three suspects to call 0277-311866 or 0243-474413 or alert the nearest police station.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Anas wins Kurt Schork Award
Page 31: Daily Graphic, October 22, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
MR Anas Aremeyaro Anas of the Crusading Guide newspaper has won the seventh annual Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism.
He was named the joint winner with Mr Nicholas Schmidle, a US freelance journalist.
While Anas picked up the award in the local journalist category, Schmidle picked up first place in the freelance journalist category.
The two journalists were selected by a panel of international judges which included Ben Brown, BBC TV’s Special Correspondent, Christina Lamb of the Sunday Times, Roy Greenslade of the Guardian and the celebrated editor of the Irrawaddy magazine, Aung Zaw.
The judges found Anas's expose of a complex cross-border human trafficking syndicate “fearless and compelling” and a rich example of “journalism that has brought about real change for the better”.
The judges noted that as a result of Anas’s undercover investigation and his collaboration with law enforcement, NGOs and other journalists, 17 Nigerian trafficking victims were rescued.
According to Mr Anas, “This award is not about the money; it is about the prestige and, more important, how it has rejuvenated me to aspire higher and higher to serve humanity. The fact that somebody somewhere respects what we produce in our little corners here is enough motivation for me.”
Schmidle picked up first place in the freelance journalist category for his work spanning tribal insurgency in a Pakistan province to the depth and breadth of Iranian influence in Western Afghanistan.
The publication of his piece, Next-Gen Taliban, in the New York Times led the government to deport him and his wife from the country within 48 hours.
The judges “particularly appreciated the way in which he disaggregated Muslim fundamentalism. His mix of detailed information with historical context gives you a wonderful sense of being there”.
Launched in 2001, The Schork Awards honour excellence and bravery in freelance reporting from areas of crisis and transition. They celebrate the life and work of Kurt Schork, the former freelance reporter who was killed eight years ago in Sierra Leone while on assignment for Reuters.
The awards are funded by the Kurt Schork Memorial Foundation and managed by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR).
Story: Albert K. Salia
MR Anas Aremeyaro Anas of the Crusading Guide newspaper has won the seventh annual Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism.
He was named the joint winner with Mr Nicholas Schmidle, a US freelance journalist.
While Anas picked up the award in the local journalist category, Schmidle picked up first place in the freelance journalist category.
The two journalists were selected by a panel of international judges which included Ben Brown, BBC TV’s Special Correspondent, Christina Lamb of the Sunday Times, Roy Greenslade of the Guardian and the celebrated editor of the Irrawaddy magazine, Aung Zaw.
The judges found Anas's expose of a complex cross-border human trafficking syndicate “fearless and compelling” and a rich example of “journalism that has brought about real change for the better”.
The judges noted that as a result of Anas’s undercover investigation and his collaboration with law enforcement, NGOs and other journalists, 17 Nigerian trafficking victims were rescued.
According to Mr Anas, “This award is not about the money; it is about the prestige and, more important, how it has rejuvenated me to aspire higher and higher to serve humanity. The fact that somebody somewhere respects what we produce in our little corners here is enough motivation for me.”
Schmidle picked up first place in the freelance journalist category for his work spanning tribal insurgency in a Pakistan province to the depth and breadth of Iranian influence in Western Afghanistan.
The publication of his piece, Next-Gen Taliban, in the New York Times led the government to deport him and his wife from the country within 48 hours.
The judges “particularly appreciated the way in which he disaggregated Muslim fundamentalism. His mix of detailed information with historical context gives you a wonderful sense of being there”.
Launched in 2001, The Schork Awards honour excellence and bravery in freelance reporting from areas of crisis and transition. They celebrate the life and work of Kurt Schork, the former freelance reporter who was killed eight years ago in Sierra Leone while on assignment for Reuters.
The awards are funded by the Kurt Schork Memorial Foundation and managed by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR).
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
'Govt won't shirk law enforcement responsibility'
Page 34: Daily Graphic, October 21, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, has warned that the government will not shirk its law enforcement responsibilities just because it is an election year.
He has therefore asked those who think they can breach the law and go unpunished to rethink their positions.
Nana Boahen told the Daily Graphic yesterday that some persons were of the view that because this was an election year, the government would relax in the enforcement of law and order in the country.
He said the tendency for such Ghanaians to take the law into their own hands during election years must be a thing of the past.
He said an election year did not mean that laws within a given situation should be treated with impunity.
Nana Boahen, therefore, urged the law enforcement authorities to sit up and deal with any acts of lawlessness to maintain the sanity of the country.
He said Ghana had reached a stage of its development, where Ghanaians must learn to do things right without waiting for the government or the enforcement authorities to prompt them to do the right thing.
Nana Boahen said drivers, for instance, should not think that because politicians were seeking their votes, they would throw road traffic regulations to the wind.
“In every given situation, every Ghanaian or professional must endeavour to do the right thing and not treat the law within their given areas with impunity,” he stressed.
Touching on the elections, Nana Boahen appealed to political parties, those seeking political office and their supporters to conduct their campaigns in an atmosphere of peace and serenity.
He said a campaign without rancour and intimidation would strengthen the country’s image as one of peace and tranquillity.
Nana Boahen said reports of attacks and counter-attacks of supporters of political parties were not the best.
He urged political parties to endeavour to strictly go by the provisions of the Public Order Act in relation to organising events and also abiding by other laws, especially road safety regulations, so as to not put their supporters in danger.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, has warned that the government will not shirk its law enforcement responsibilities just because it is an election year.
He has therefore asked those who think they can breach the law and go unpunished to rethink their positions.
Nana Boahen told the Daily Graphic yesterday that some persons were of the view that because this was an election year, the government would relax in the enforcement of law and order in the country.
He said the tendency for such Ghanaians to take the law into their own hands during election years must be a thing of the past.
He said an election year did not mean that laws within a given situation should be treated with impunity.
Nana Boahen, therefore, urged the law enforcement authorities to sit up and deal with any acts of lawlessness to maintain the sanity of the country.
He said Ghana had reached a stage of its development, where Ghanaians must learn to do things right without waiting for the government or the enforcement authorities to prompt them to do the right thing.
Nana Boahen said drivers, for instance, should not think that because politicians were seeking their votes, they would throw road traffic regulations to the wind.
“In every given situation, every Ghanaian or professional must endeavour to do the right thing and not treat the law within their given areas with impunity,” he stressed.
Touching on the elections, Nana Boahen appealed to political parties, those seeking political office and their supporters to conduct their campaigns in an atmosphere of peace and serenity.
He said a campaign without rancour and intimidation would strengthen the country’s image as one of peace and tranquillity.
Nana Boahen said reports of attacks and counter-attacks of supporters of political parties were not the best.
He urged political parties to endeavour to strictly go by the provisions of the Public Order Act in relation to organising events and also abiding by other laws, especially road safety regulations, so as to not put their supporters in danger.
"Help develop tourism"
Page 30: Daily Graphic, October 21, 2008.
THE Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie, has urged tour operators to explore solidarity-based tourism to develop the tourism sector.
“The opportunity to exchange ideas should go a long way to create better understanding and build closer collaboration among citizens of the different countries,” she said.
Ms Sai-Cofie was speaking at a welcoming reception in Accra on Monday for a special caravan, dubbed “Solidarity-based Caravan 2008”, en route from Benin to Mali through Ghana to attend the third International Forum on Solidarity-based Tourism (FITS) from October 20 to 22, 2008.
Solidarity-based tourism involves the hosting of representatives in a caravan travelling through various countries visiting eco-tourism sites and discussing issues of sustainable development.
With the French Government as a major sponsor, FITS is an initiative of non-governmental organisations and associations, to make governments more aware of the special nature of eco-tourism as well as facilitate the exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences about the challenges facing the sector.
Five Ghanaians would join the West African caravan through Burkina Faso to Mali for the event, which would also attract delegations from Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroum and France.
As part of the programme, the solidarity-based caravans, one of which would start from France, would visit eco-tourism sites in the countries they would be passing through.
Mrs Sai-Cofie advised Ghanaian participants to endeavour to learn and impact on their counterparts during their interaction.
She affirmed that Ghana fully embraced the initiative and was appreciative for her inclusion in the programme.
She pointed out that the opportunity for the delegates to interact with local communities would also provide avenues to foster international solidarity, peace and unity among the various countries.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Gautier K. Amoussou, observed that Ghana abounded in tourism potentials especially in the area of eco-tourism.
He, however, said there were a number of challenges in the eco-tourism sector especially in the area of providing potable water for tourists.
Mr Amoussou observed that many women were engaged in other tourist activities such as handicrafts and called for support for such women to expand their business.
THE Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie, has urged tour operators to explore solidarity-based tourism to develop the tourism sector.
“The opportunity to exchange ideas should go a long way to create better understanding and build closer collaboration among citizens of the different countries,” she said.
Ms Sai-Cofie was speaking at a welcoming reception in Accra on Monday for a special caravan, dubbed “Solidarity-based Caravan 2008”, en route from Benin to Mali through Ghana to attend the third International Forum on Solidarity-based Tourism (FITS) from October 20 to 22, 2008.
Solidarity-based tourism involves the hosting of representatives in a caravan travelling through various countries visiting eco-tourism sites and discussing issues of sustainable development.
With the French Government as a major sponsor, FITS is an initiative of non-governmental organisations and associations, to make governments more aware of the special nature of eco-tourism as well as facilitate the exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences about the challenges facing the sector.
Five Ghanaians would join the West African caravan through Burkina Faso to Mali for the event, which would also attract delegations from Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroum and France.
As part of the programme, the solidarity-based caravans, one of which would start from France, would visit eco-tourism sites in the countries they would be passing through.
Mrs Sai-Cofie advised Ghanaian participants to endeavour to learn and impact on their counterparts during their interaction.
She affirmed that Ghana fully embraced the initiative and was appreciative for her inclusion in the programme.
She pointed out that the opportunity for the delegates to interact with local communities would also provide avenues to foster international solidarity, peace and unity among the various countries.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Gautier K. Amoussou, observed that Ghana abounded in tourism potentials especially in the area of eco-tourism.
He, however, said there were a number of challenges in the eco-tourism sector especially in the area of providing potable water for tourists.
Mr Amoussou observed that many women were engaged in other tourist activities such as handicrafts and called for support for such women to expand their business.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Challenges of the Immigration Service
Page 34: Daily Graphic, October 20, 2008.
Article: Albert K. Salia
UNTIL the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, many governments the world over paid little or no attention to immigration policies.
Our own Ghana Immigration Service was considered (and some still consider it) as an orphaned organisation crying not only for the right policy direction and focus but also the requisite logistics, both material and human, good salaries and incentives, among others.
However, since the event of September 11, coupled with mobility changes in the world, the ease in movement of people, particularly investors, and transnationalisation of crime, governments the world over, are beginning to pay serious attention to migration policies. Indeed, the United States of America tightened its entry regimes with many Americans volunteering to keep watch at that country's borders to support the security services to prevent "uninvited" guests from entering the country.
In Ghana, a lot has taken place within the last six years to help improve the operations of the GIS to secure the country’s borders. From an insignificant player in the national development agenda, the service has become a major player because it has been duly recognised that immigration and national security were intrinsically linked.
That has resulted in the changes in the curricular for training of personnel of the service to integrate intelligence and tactical monitoring to enable the personnel to go beyond looking at passports to forecasting, as well as analysing profiles and threats. Fortunately, the government, together with donor partners, have supported the service with modern gadgets, albeit limited, to facilitate electronic border checks at all major points of entry. It has also been provided with improved communication equipment resulting in the use of more passenger information. Currently, the service has the electronic stoplist database to facilitate the early clearing of passengers at entry points as intelligence on wanted persons and suspected criminals are stored in this database.
These changes call for moving from mere identification of documents to training personnel in information technology (IT), the use of cameras, scanners and how to manage the information. From next year, the service is expected to mount Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the major entry points and selected areas to capture the movement of both humans and animals and any other thing.
Although technology can assist, it must be noted that technology is a hands-on job. Upon seeing people on the CCTV, immigration personnel would be required to move to the spots captured on the camera. From a staff strength of 680 in 2002, the number has been increased to 2,300 and continues to increase to a level that would help secure the 43 official borders and the unapproved routes.
To meet the challenges, the infrastructure of the immigration training school at Assin Fosu in the Central Region has seen some major expansion and where necessary, the service has fallen on sister security agencies’ training facilities. For instance, immigration personnel under the Border Patrol Unit undergo further training at the Asutuare Military Training Camp.
Without doubt, the number of people coming into Ghana within the last seven years has increased tremendously and this calls for effective management of the immigrants, as well as those leaving the shores of the country. One should not forget that the rise of Asia as a global giant has greatly impacted on all nations, including Ghana, as the country has witnessed a tremendous influx of people of Asian origin.
Certainly, these developments call for an integrated border patrol system to instil discipline and integrity at the the borders. In 2006, the government responded appropriately by starting the deployment of more agents at the country’s borders.
According to Ms Elizabeth Adjei, Director of the GIS, daily situation reports (SITREPS) management and what the government receives indicate that the country's borders were safer and secure now. She said by 2009, the cliche of "porous borders" would have been put to rest.
The use of fraudulent documents to travel out or enter Ghana has also reduced significantly, thanks to the use of biometric gadget at the Kotoka International Airport. The gadget is capable of detecting any fake document. With the support of donors, personnel have been trained to use the machine to detect all genuine travel documents, from passports and visas to resident and work permits. More than 800 fake travel documents were intercepted in 2004 alone at the airport. The major land borders at Aflao, Elubo and Paga have been secured with the capacity to intercept such fraudulent documents, thus making it difficult for criminals to use Ghana as an assembling point.
Since her appointment in September 2002, Ms Elizabeth Adjei has not disappointed her employers, the government for that matter, as the first female director of the GIS. In fact, she has made a strong case for Ghanaian women for better recognition. As the first female director of the GIS and female head of a security agency, Ms Adjei has written her name in gold for posterity. She has exuded the confidence of a general with a high sense of professionalism and discipline. Her demand for excellence has catapulted the GIS to a high level.
In the last six years, there have been an increase in logistics, particularly vehicles and motorbikes, to enhance the operations of the service. Currently, the service is expecting all-purpose jungle vehicles for its border personnel to make them more effective.
"We expect the graph to keep on rising for the next five years to about 2012", Ms Adjei said.
She said considering the way Ghanaians also left the country to seek greener pastures, the service had created a data management system to help profile such people to advise the government on policies that would benefit such persons. That, she said, was also being done with the international community, donors and interest groups who host such Ghanaians, to see how best they could help positively improve the lot of the Ghanaian traveller.
In dealing with such situations, one needs to be critical in managing migration, especially the issue of illegal migration. One needs to look at the segment of the population that are involved in illegal migration and the sort of documents they use.
While the nation look forward to receiving not just tourists but business executives as well, the service is obliged to also check who actually come in and that could conflict with the nation’s desire to attract investment.
To facilitate the implementation of these trends, there is the need for a review of the legal framework of the GIS. The current GIS Act and immigration laws were put in place to cater for a limited function but things have changed. For instance, the immigration law needs to be amended to cater for present threats permiting the use of limited weapons, power of arrest and also have a strategic response to the Asia onslaught. Any review would have implications for investment and unemployment. Thus, any review should relate positively with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre laws to address the issue of equity requirements of shifting from industry to the service sectory.
In this way, immigration laws would move from the management of movement of persons to facilitating sound policies to attract investment. It is also important that there is policy change in the status of the service as a law enforcement agency to cohere??? with investment and trade policies of the government.
As a matter of importance, the country’s manpower laws should inform the immigration law. That is required because the country needs to identify its skills gaps to inform the government in its policies. The GIS should be seen to be moving from law enforcement to contributing to an integrated development policies. In fact, all these changes should reflect the critical impartance of immigration to national development. The government’s development strategy is hinged on foreign investment, hence the need for personnel of the GIS to be responsible, polite, efficient and professional in the discharge of their duty. However, they need to be wary not to compromise on those aspects of their duties which impact on national security.
No wonder in the last two years, the GIS has responded appropriately by insisting on security, medical and admissibility reports before processing emergency entry visas and resident permits for applicants.
According to Ms Adjei, the service has tried to facilitate business by working around the clock to reduce time spent in acquiring such entry documents. Besides, she said, the service had developed a fact-sheet and a website to enable clients access information and application forms to facilitate the turn-around time of doing business.
Challenges:
Ghana serves as a haven for many people in the sub-region and the rest of Africa. Due to security, political and social problems facing many countries on the continent, it is a matter of course that they would troop to Ghana. Ghanaians have the characteristics of being open, warm and hospitable. The country is also gaining the status as a fast developing country that has become a magnet to attract other people, including criminals.
The service should not seek to be a fortress but to manage a balance between investment and security well-being of the people. All our systems must be disposed of to deal with these natural dispositions of Ghanaians. Fortunately, we do not have nationalistic and xenophobic tendencies to deal with. But with the anticipated increase in foreign presence in the country, especially the discovery of oil, and the Asian challenge, it is important that the GIS is well positioned to deal with the increasing foreign presence. It can be seen that Ghana is gradually turning from an immigration country to one of receiving migrants hence the need to rethink the management of foreigners in the future. Ghanaians must ask whether the emphasis should be on placing restrictions on foreign entries or policing them.
It is believed that the introduction of the National Identification Cards was timely as it would help the GIS with its enforcement policies.
The security of the sea coast is also a challenge which should be confronted head on. In fact, the discovery of oil calls for a comprehensive and coherent policy to protect the country’s sea coast.
Article: Albert K. Salia
UNTIL the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, many governments the world over paid little or no attention to immigration policies.
Our own Ghana Immigration Service was considered (and some still consider it) as an orphaned organisation crying not only for the right policy direction and focus but also the requisite logistics, both material and human, good salaries and incentives, among others.
However, since the event of September 11, coupled with mobility changes in the world, the ease in movement of people, particularly investors, and transnationalisation of crime, governments the world over, are beginning to pay serious attention to migration policies. Indeed, the United States of America tightened its entry regimes with many Americans volunteering to keep watch at that country's borders to support the security services to prevent "uninvited" guests from entering the country.
In Ghana, a lot has taken place within the last six years to help improve the operations of the GIS to secure the country’s borders. From an insignificant player in the national development agenda, the service has become a major player because it has been duly recognised that immigration and national security were intrinsically linked.
That has resulted in the changes in the curricular for training of personnel of the service to integrate intelligence and tactical monitoring to enable the personnel to go beyond looking at passports to forecasting, as well as analysing profiles and threats. Fortunately, the government, together with donor partners, have supported the service with modern gadgets, albeit limited, to facilitate electronic border checks at all major points of entry. It has also been provided with improved communication equipment resulting in the use of more passenger information. Currently, the service has the electronic stoplist database to facilitate the early clearing of passengers at entry points as intelligence on wanted persons and suspected criminals are stored in this database.
These changes call for moving from mere identification of documents to training personnel in information technology (IT), the use of cameras, scanners and how to manage the information. From next year, the service is expected to mount Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the major entry points and selected areas to capture the movement of both humans and animals and any other thing.
Although technology can assist, it must be noted that technology is a hands-on job. Upon seeing people on the CCTV, immigration personnel would be required to move to the spots captured on the camera. From a staff strength of 680 in 2002, the number has been increased to 2,300 and continues to increase to a level that would help secure the 43 official borders and the unapproved routes.
To meet the challenges, the infrastructure of the immigration training school at Assin Fosu in the Central Region has seen some major expansion and where necessary, the service has fallen on sister security agencies’ training facilities. For instance, immigration personnel under the Border Patrol Unit undergo further training at the Asutuare Military Training Camp.
Without doubt, the number of people coming into Ghana within the last seven years has increased tremendously and this calls for effective management of the immigrants, as well as those leaving the shores of the country. One should not forget that the rise of Asia as a global giant has greatly impacted on all nations, including Ghana, as the country has witnessed a tremendous influx of people of Asian origin.
Certainly, these developments call for an integrated border patrol system to instil discipline and integrity at the the borders. In 2006, the government responded appropriately by starting the deployment of more agents at the country’s borders.
According to Ms Elizabeth Adjei, Director of the GIS, daily situation reports (SITREPS) management and what the government receives indicate that the country's borders were safer and secure now. She said by 2009, the cliche of "porous borders" would have been put to rest.
The use of fraudulent documents to travel out or enter Ghana has also reduced significantly, thanks to the use of biometric gadget at the Kotoka International Airport. The gadget is capable of detecting any fake document. With the support of donors, personnel have been trained to use the machine to detect all genuine travel documents, from passports and visas to resident and work permits. More than 800 fake travel documents were intercepted in 2004 alone at the airport. The major land borders at Aflao, Elubo and Paga have been secured with the capacity to intercept such fraudulent documents, thus making it difficult for criminals to use Ghana as an assembling point.
Since her appointment in September 2002, Ms Elizabeth Adjei has not disappointed her employers, the government for that matter, as the first female director of the GIS. In fact, she has made a strong case for Ghanaian women for better recognition. As the first female director of the GIS and female head of a security agency, Ms Adjei has written her name in gold for posterity. She has exuded the confidence of a general with a high sense of professionalism and discipline. Her demand for excellence has catapulted the GIS to a high level.
In the last six years, there have been an increase in logistics, particularly vehicles and motorbikes, to enhance the operations of the service. Currently, the service is expecting all-purpose jungle vehicles for its border personnel to make them more effective.
"We expect the graph to keep on rising for the next five years to about 2012", Ms Adjei said.
She said considering the way Ghanaians also left the country to seek greener pastures, the service had created a data management system to help profile such people to advise the government on policies that would benefit such persons. That, she said, was also being done with the international community, donors and interest groups who host such Ghanaians, to see how best they could help positively improve the lot of the Ghanaian traveller.
In dealing with such situations, one needs to be critical in managing migration, especially the issue of illegal migration. One needs to look at the segment of the population that are involved in illegal migration and the sort of documents they use.
While the nation look forward to receiving not just tourists but business executives as well, the service is obliged to also check who actually come in and that could conflict with the nation’s desire to attract investment.
To facilitate the implementation of these trends, there is the need for a review of the legal framework of the GIS. The current GIS Act and immigration laws were put in place to cater for a limited function but things have changed. For instance, the immigration law needs to be amended to cater for present threats permiting the use of limited weapons, power of arrest and also have a strategic response to the Asia onslaught. Any review would have implications for investment and unemployment. Thus, any review should relate positively with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre laws to address the issue of equity requirements of shifting from industry to the service sectory.
In this way, immigration laws would move from the management of movement of persons to facilitating sound policies to attract investment. It is also important that there is policy change in the status of the service as a law enforcement agency to cohere??? with investment and trade policies of the government.
As a matter of importance, the country’s manpower laws should inform the immigration law. That is required because the country needs to identify its skills gaps to inform the government in its policies. The GIS should be seen to be moving from law enforcement to contributing to an integrated development policies. In fact, all these changes should reflect the critical impartance of immigration to national development. The government’s development strategy is hinged on foreign investment, hence the need for personnel of the GIS to be responsible, polite, efficient and professional in the discharge of their duty. However, they need to be wary not to compromise on those aspects of their duties which impact on national security.
No wonder in the last two years, the GIS has responded appropriately by insisting on security, medical and admissibility reports before processing emergency entry visas and resident permits for applicants.
According to Ms Adjei, the service has tried to facilitate business by working around the clock to reduce time spent in acquiring such entry documents. Besides, she said, the service had developed a fact-sheet and a website to enable clients access information and application forms to facilitate the turn-around time of doing business.
Challenges:
Ghana serves as a haven for many people in the sub-region and the rest of Africa. Due to security, political and social problems facing many countries on the continent, it is a matter of course that they would troop to Ghana. Ghanaians have the characteristics of being open, warm and hospitable. The country is also gaining the status as a fast developing country that has become a magnet to attract other people, including criminals.
The service should not seek to be a fortress but to manage a balance between investment and security well-being of the people. All our systems must be disposed of to deal with these natural dispositions of Ghanaians. Fortunately, we do not have nationalistic and xenophobic tendencies to deal with. But with the anticipated increase in foreign presence in the country, especially the discovery of oil, and the Asian challenge, it is important that the GIS is well positioned to deal with the increasing foreign presence. It can be seen that Ghana is gradually turning from an immigration country to one of receiving migrants hence the need to rethink the management of foreigners in the future. Ghanaians must ask whether the emphasis should be on placing restrictions on foreign entries or policing them.
It is believed that the introduction of the National Identification Cards was timely as it would help the GIS with its enforcement policies.
The security of the sea coast is also a challenge which should be confronted head on. In fact, the discovery of oil calls for a comprehensive and coherent policy to protect the country’s sea coast.
Ghana, Italy to co-operate in cultural tourism
Page 31: October 17, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
Ghana has been selected by Italy as one of two West African countries to be supported in the promotion of cultural tourism in the next five years.
The other West African country is Mali.
Ghana’s solid political, social and macro-economic environment resulting in her placing 87th among 178 countries and the first in West Africa in “The Doing Business 2008” report of the World Bank was a contributory factor for her selection.
The decision to choose Ghana was made recently in Italy after the sector minister, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie had presented a paper at a forum on the theme “Developing Africa: An opportunity for Europe, Italy and Sicily” in the Sicilian town of Taomina.
It was organised by Italian consultancy giants, Ambrosetti, under the auspices of the Italian government, with the view to exploring opportunities in Africa to invest in as part of its support to the development of the continent.
A Deputy Director of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr Kwabena Asante-Donkor, who accompanied the minister to the forum, told the Daily Graphic in Accra on Wednesday, that the aim of the forum was to analyse how Italy could become a bridge between Europe and Africa, with regard to economic and social issues and how Italy and Europe could enhance Africa’s growth.
He said based on the selection of Ghana, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was being prepared to be signed between the two countries, indicating the kind and level of support needed to promote cultural tourism.
He said under the project, Italy would provide the impulse by creating business opportunities with mutual benefit to Africa and Europe through highlighting the historical/cultural wealth of Ghana and identifying innovative tourist circuits from a cultural standpoint.
Mr Asante-Donkor said Italy observed that given the competitive nature of the “race for Africa”, it would have to make its relations with Africa more competitive through strong, unitary long-term strategies, identifying fields of mutual interest in which to develop European and Italian-based initiatives, with the involvement of both private and public institutions of the two continents.
Mr Asante-Donkor said the project would be in line with the ministry’s development programme for developing sites in rural areas to attract international interest.
He said the ministry saw tourism as an important lever for creating wealth and employment with the possibility of generating 300,000 new jobs with a fully developed tourism sector.
In her presentation, Mrs Sai-Cofie said tourism was the fourth largest foreign exchange earner for Ghana with more than $1.2 billion in receipts from its 586,612 arrivals.
She said Ghana’s destinations provided a variety mainly based on nature and culture with a rich mix of historical events and monuments.
She said a recent survey indicated that as much as 62 per cent of tourists visiting Ghana was because of her culture.
“What this translates to is that the sector is responsible for a huge percentage of the $1.2 billion the country received in 2007,” she noted.
Mrs Sai-Cofie said funding for tourism infrastructure, training and capacity building of operators were the major challenges facing the tourism sector.
Story: Albert K. Salia
Ghana has been selected by Italy as one of two West African countries to be supported in the promotion of cultural tourism in the next five years.
The other West African country is Mali.
Ghana’s solid political, social and macro-economic environment resulting in her placing 87th among 178 countries and the first in West Africa in “The Doing Business 2008” report of the World Bank was a contributory factor for her selection.
The decision to choose Ghana was made recently in Italy after the sector minister, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie had presented a paper at a forum on the theme “Developing Africa: An opportunity for Europe, Italy and Sicily” in the Sicilian town of Taomina.
It was organised by Italian consultancy giants, Ambrosetti, under the auspices of the Italian government, with the view to exploring opportunities in Africa to invest in as part of its support to the development of the continent.
A Deputy Director of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Mr Kwabena Asante-Donkor, who accompanied the minister to the forum, told the Daily Graphic in Accra on Wednesday, that the aim of the forum was to analyse how Italy could become a bridge between Europe and Africa, with regard to economic and social issues and how Italy and Europe could enhance Africa’s growth.
He said based on the selection of Ghana, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was being prepared to be signed between the two countries, indicating the kind and level of support needed to promote cultural tourism.
He said under the project, Italy would provide the impulse by creating business opportunities with mutual benefit to Africa and Europe through highlighting the historical/cultural wealth of Ghana and identifying innovative tourist circuits from a cultural standpoint.
Mr Asante-Donkor said Italy observed that given the competitive nature of the “race for Africa”, it would have to make its relations with Africa more competitive through strong, unitary long-term strategies, identifying fields of mutual interest in which to develop European and Italian-based initiatives, with the involvement of both private and public institutions of the two continents.
Mr Asante-Donkor said the project would be in line with the ministry’s development programme for developing sites in rural areas to attract international interest.
He said the ministry saw tourism as an important lever for creating wealth and employment with the possibility of generating 300,000 new jobs with a fully developed tourism sector.
In her presentation, Mrs Sai-Cofie said tourism was the fourth largest foreign exchange earner for Ghana with more than $1.2 billion in receipts from its 586,612 arrivals.
She said Ghana’s destinations provided a variety mainly based on nature and culture with a rich mix of historical events and monuments.
She said a recent survey indicated that as much as 62 per cent of tourists visiting Ghana was because of her culture.
“What this translates to is that the sector is responsible for a huge percentage of the $1.2 billion the country received in 2007,” she noted.
Mrs Sai-Cofie said funding for tourism infrastructure, training and capacity building of operators were the major challenges facing the tourism sector.
‘Reduce cost of providing internet facilities’
Page 43: October 16, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ministry of Communications has appealed to Internet service providers (ISPs) to reduce the cost of accessing Internet facilities to help increase the level of Internet penetration in the country.
An Assistant Director in charge of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at the ministry, Mr Kofi Benning, made the call at the launch of two products by iBurst Africa, an ISP, in Accra last Thursday.
The products, iSpeed and iShield, are designed to provide connectivity and mechanisms to prevent unauthorised access to certain sites and pages on the world-wide web.
He said the level of Internet penetration was still very low in Ghana, which was attributable to the high cost of accessing Internet usage.
He said it was estimated that between 1.5 million and two million Ghanaians had access to the Internet, although the number of ISPs had grown to nearly 20 firms.
Mr Benning commended iBurst Africa for its impact on the Ghanaian scene since it was launched in March this year.
The Product Manager of iShield, Mr Ken Gilford, said the product sought to put the controlling power of the Internet in the hands of the user.
“iShield is a complete Internet management tool which, combined with a stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall, enables the user to put in place mechanisms to prevent unauthorised access to certain sites and pages on the world- wide web,” he noted.
“iShield incorporates an e-mail server so that internal e-mail can stay internal to the company and does not need to be transmitted across the Internet and then downloaded again,” he added.
Mr Gilford explained that the product offered usage reports, as it displayed Internet usage per user, web sites visited, incoming and outgoing e-mails and online chats, stressing that “reports can be generated to show usage for selected periods and automatically lists highest users”.
For his part, the Head of Sales of iBurst Africa, Mr Maurice Gil, said iSpeed was a corporate product that provided connectivity and control for the end user by providing a bundled firewall solution.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ministry of Communications has appealed to Internet service providers (ISPs) to reduce the cost of accessing Internet facilities to help increase the level of Internet penetration in the country.
An Assistant Director in charge of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at the ministry, Mr Kofi Benning, made the call at the launch of two products by iBurst Africa, an ISP, in Accra last Thursday.
The products, iSpeed and iShield, are designed to provide connectivity and mechanisms to prevent unauthorised access to certain sites and pages on the world-wide web.
He said the level of Internet penetration was still very low in Ghana, which was attributable to the high cost of accessing Internet usage.
He said it was estimated that between 1.5 million and two million Ghanaians had access to the Internet, although the number of ISPs had grown to nearly 20 firms.
Mr Benning commended iBurst Africa for its impact on the Ghanaian scene since it was launched in March this year.
The Product Manager of iShield, Mr Ken Gilford, said the product sought to put the controlling power of the Internet in the hands of the user.
“iShield is a complete Internet management tool which, combined with a stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall, enables the user to put in place mechanisms to prevent unauthorised access to certain sites and pages on the world- wide web,” he noted.
“iShield incorporates an e-mail server so that internal e-mail can stay internal to the company and does not need to be transmitted across the Internet and then downloaded again,” he added.
Mr Gilford explained that the product offered usage reports, as it displayed Internet usage per user, web sites visited, incoming and outgoing e-mails and online chats, stressing that “reports can be generated to show usage for selected periods and automatically lists highest users”.
For his part, the Head of Sales of iBurst Africa, Mr Maurice Gil, said iSpeed was a corporate product that provided connectivity and control for the end user by providing a bundled firewall solution.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Man, 25, jailed 2 yrs for issuing threat
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 25-YEAR-OLD storekeeper who issued a threat, via a text message, to his employer, with the view to extorting GH¢5,000 from her, has been jailed for two years.
Justice Yaw Asante, the storekeeper, pleaded guilty before an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, and was sentenced on his own plea after he had been charged with threat of harm.
Asante sent the threatening text via an unfamiliar number to his boss, Mrs Mary Siaw-Marfo, about 7:52 p.m. on September 28, 2008.
The message read, “On the 10th, we are coming to your house. What we need is GH¢5,000 (¢50 million). The money or you will go down. Put the money at the gate and sleep and you will be free.”
A highly placed source at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) told the Daily Graphic that Mrs Siaw-Marfo reported the threat to the BNI for investigations.
It said the investigations traced the text message to Asante and another person, adding that during interrogations, Asante confessed issuing the threatening text but explained that it was meant to be only a joke and that he did not mean any harm.
A 25-YEAR-OLD storekeeper who issued a threat, via a text message, to his employer, with the view to extorting GH¢5,000 from her, has been jailed for two years.
Justice Yaw Asante, the storekeeper, pleaded guilty before an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, and was sentenced on his own plea after he had been charged with threat of harm.
Asante sent the threatening text via an unfamiliar number to his boss, Mrs Mary Siaw-Marfo, about 7:52 p.m. on September 28, 2008.
The message read, “On the 10th, we are coming to your house. What we need is GH¢5,000 (¢50 million). The money or you will go down. Put the money at the gate and sleep and you will be free.”
A highly placed source at the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) told the Daily Graphic that Mrs Siaw-Marfo reported the threat to the BNI for investigations.
It said the investigations traced the text message to Asante and another person, adding that during interrogations, Asante confessed issuing the threatening text but explained that it was meant to be only a joke and that he did not mean any harm.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
National Hajj Council goes to court
Page 3: October 9, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE National Hajj Council (NHC) has filed a writ at the Accra High Court seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the offices of the Vice-President and the National Chief Imam from interfering in the operations of the Hajj in Ghana.
It is also seeking an order requesting both offices and the defendants to hand over all arrangements made for the 2008 Hajj to the NHC.
The council is further seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the Office of the National Chief Imam and the defendants from interfering in the activities of the NHC.
In a statement of claim filed by Mr Bright Akwetey of Akwetey & Associates on behalf of the plaintiff, the NHC is also seeking a declaration by the court that the council is the sole and legitimate body charged with the responsibility to organise the Hajj in Ghana by the Muslim community.
The other defendants in the case are Alhaji Lumuna Mohammed Muniru of the Ministry of Health; Dr Alhaji Abdul-Wahab Alhassan of the Office of the Vice-President; Sheik Yunus Osman Mohammed of the Pathology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, and Alhaji Osman Kadri English of the Office of the Chief Imam.
The writ, filed on October 2, 2008, is further seeking a declaration that the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) did not have the mandate of the Muslim community in Ghana to organise Hajj operations.
It is also asking for an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to unblock access of the NHC to diplomatic facilities for the Hajj of 2008.
Among the reliefs are an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to desist from interfering with the work of the NHC regarding Hajj operations and an order requesting that office to refund, in full, the air fares paid and other expenses made by the 728 pilgrims who were not airlifted to Mecca for the 2007 Hajj, plus interest on their air fares at the prevailing bank rate.
The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the Office of the National Chief Imam is not vested with any authority to organise the Hajj for Muslims in Ghana, an order requesting the defendants to stop operating bank accounts in the name of the NHC and an order restraining the defendants from making any public statements or statements in private for the mobilisation of funds for the 2008 Hajj, as well as an order to restrain the defendants from executing any contracts with anybody or bodies in relation to Hajj operations in Ghana.
In the statement of claim, the NHC said it was a body limited by guarantee established under the laws of Ghana as the umbrella institution mandated in 2005 by the Muslim community in Ghana to operate, manage and control the annual pilgrimage of Ghanaian Muslims to Mecca.
It said the first defendant, Alhaji Muniru, was a Deputy Director at the MOH in Accra who held himself out and styled himself as the Chairman of the IHMC of Ghana.
It said the second defendant, Dr Alhassan, was an officer who worked in the Office of the Vice-President and styled himself as a member of the IHMC, while the third defendant was a laboratory technologist at the Pathology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and held and styled himself as a member of the IHMC.
The statement said the fourth defendant, Sheik Mohammed, owned and operated a forex bureau at Cow Lane in Accra and held and styled himself as a member of the IHMC.
It said the NHC was composed by 10 stakeholder organisations and registered at the Registrar-General’s Department in 2006 with the mandate, as the sole authority, to operate, manage and control the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca.
It said the NHC had a board of trustees constituted by representatives of the 10 nation-wide Muslim umbrella organisations, institutions, bodies and other groupings of Muslims all over Ghana, with a management team headed by a paid executive secretary.
It explained that the stakeholder organisations constituted about 90 per cent of the Muslim community in Ghana and indicated that the only grouping outside those 10 bodies was the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission.
It was the contention of the plaintiffs that until 2005, the Hajj was organised and operated by selected individuals or groups and sometimes faceless people who could not be fully identified or who were not associated with any known umbrella Muslim organisation in Ghana.
“The Hajj operations, until 2005, were bedevilled by improprieties, including the inability of paid pilgrims to be airlifted to observe the Hajj, loss of baggage, delayed arrival of aircraft, delayed departures and other operational inefficiencies, resulting in the accumulation of debts to various banks that pre-financed previous operations,” it added.
The statement asserted that lack of good planning for the pilgrims while they were in Saudi Arabia also resulted in indecent accommodation, over-crowding, inadequate welfare services, appalling sanitation facilities and sometimes fatalities, stressing that “in short, the well-being of pilgrims was relegated to the background and profit was made the overriding motive for organising the Hajj”.
It said added to that litany of shortcomings were other poor pre-departure arrangements that resulted in keeping pilgrims in the open air at places such as the El Wak Stadium, the Aviation Social Centre and other places where the welfare of the pilgrims was subsumed under the urge for profits.
A date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE National Hajj Council (NHC) has filed a writ at the Accra High Court seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the offices of the Vice-President and the National Chief Imam from interfering in the operations of the Hajj in Ghana.
It is also seeking an order requesting both offices and the defendants to hand over all arrangements made for the 2008 Hajj to the NHC.
The council is further seeking an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the Office of the National Chief Imam and the defendants from interfering in the activities of the NHC.
In a statement of claim filed by Mr Bright Akwetey of Akwetey & Associates on behalf of the plaintiff, the NHC is also seeking a declaration by the court that the council is the sole and legitimate body charged with the responsibility to organise the Hajj in Ghana by the Muslim community.
The other defendants in the case are Alhaji Lumuna Mohammed Muniru of the Ministry of Health; Dr Alhaji Abdul-Wahab Alhassan of the Office of the Vice-President; Sheik Yunus Osman Mohammed of the Pathology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, and Alhaji Osman Kadri English of the Office of the Chief Imam.
The writ, filed on October 2, 2008, is further seeking a declaration that the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) did not have the mandate of the Muslim community in Ghana to organise Hajj operations.
It is also asking for an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to unblock access of the NHC to diplomatic facilities for the Hajj of 2008.
Among the reliefs are an order requesting the Office of the Vice-President to desist from interfering with the work of the NHC regarding Hajj operations and an order requesting that office to refund, in full, the air fares paid and other expenses made by the 728 pilgrims who were not airlifted to Mecca for the 2007 Hajj, plus interest on their air fares at the prevailing bank rate.
The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the Office of the National Chief Imam is not vested with any authority to organise the Hajj for Muslims in Ghana, an order requesting the defendants to stop operating bank accounts in the name of the NHC and an order restraining the defendants from making any public statements or statements in private for the mobilisation of funds for the 2008 Hajj, as well as an order to restrain the defendants from executing any contracts with anybody or bodies in relation to Hajj operations in Ghana.
In the statement of claim, the NHC said it was a body limited by guarantee established under the laws of Ghana as the umbrella institution mandated in 2005 by the Muslim community in Ghana to operate, manage and control the annual pilgrimage of Ghanaian Muslims to Mecca.
It said the first defendant, Alhaji Muniru, was a Deputy Director at the MOH in Accra who held himself out and styled himself as the Chairman of the IHMC of Ghana.
It said the second defendant, Dr Alhassan, was an officer who worked in the Office of the Vice-President and styled himself as a member of the IHMC, while the third defendant was a laboratory technologist at the Pathology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and held and styled himself as a member of the IHMC.
The statement said the fourth defendant, Sheik Mohammed, owned and operated a forex bureau at Cow Lane in Accra and held and styled himself as a member of the IHMC.
It said the NHC was composed by 10 stakeholder organisations and registered at the Registrar-General’s Department in 2006 with the mandate, as the sole authority, to operate, manage and control the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca.
It said the NHC had a board of trustees constituted by representatives of the 10 nation-wide Muslim umbrella organisations, institutions, bodies and other groupings of Muslims all over Ghana, with a management team headed by a paid executive secretary.
It explained that the stakeholder organisations constituted about 90 per cent of the Muslim community in Ghana and indicated that the only grouping outside those 10 bodies was the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission.
It was the contention of the plaintiffs that until 2005, the Hajj was organised and operated by selected individuals or groups and sometimes faceless people who could not be fully identified or who were not associated with any known umbrella Muslim organisation in Ghana.
“The Hajj operations, until 2005, were bedevilled by improprieties, including the inability of paid pilgrims to be airlifted to observe the Hajj, loss of baggage, delayed arrival of aircraft, delayed departures and other operational inefficiencies, resulting in the accumulation of debts to various banks that pre-financed previous operations,” it added.
The statement asserted that lack of good planning for the pilgrims while they were in Saudi Arabia also resulted in indecent accommodation, over-crowding, inadequate welfare services, appalling sanitation facilities and sometimes fatalities, stressing that “in short, the well-being of pilgrims was relegated to the background and profit was made the overriding motive for organising the Hajj”.
It said added to that litany of shortcomings were other poor pre-departure arrangements that resulted in keeping pilgrims in the open air at places such as the El Wak Stadium, the Aviation Social Centre and other places where the welfare of the pilgrims was subsumed under the urge for profits.
A date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Businessman held for fraud
Page 14: October 8, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police have arrested a businessman for allegedly defrauding an Accra-based real estate developer of $36,000 on the pretext of entering into a business partnership with him.
Although discussions prior to the collection of the money centred on the partnership with the victim, it turned out to be a fake currency printing deal.
Mohammed Kazim, alias Banjul, the suspect, was arrested at his New Gbawe residence on Monday by a team of police personnel, led by ASP Ebenezer Nketiah, in charge of Operations at the Commercial Crime Unit.
That was after two other suspects, Andy Odia, alias Julius Paul, and Razak Fulan, had been arrested earlier in September this year.
The Public Affairs Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector J. B. Darkwah, told the Daily Graphic that on August 23, 2008, the complainant received a telephone call, supposedly from London.
He said the caller introduced himself as Nana Agyeman and indicated that he (Agyeman) was trying to get in contact with somebody and accordingly apologised for calling the wrong number.
Inspector Darkwah said the following day, the complainant again received a call from Agyeman, who eventually told the complainant that his (Agyeman’s) boss in London wanted to enter into a partnership with someone in Ghana to establish a real estate business.
According to Inspector Darkwah, the so-called boss of Agyeman with Arabic ascent later spoke and confirmed to the complainant he wanted to establish a real estate business in Ghana with a Ghanaian.
He said the supposed investor later sent a profile of his company, indicating that he owned a chain of jewellery shops across Europe and that he also wanted to buy gold from Ghana.
Inspector Darkwah said the caller then indicated that he had sent someone he identified only as Williamson, described as a gold tester, to test some gold from one Nana Adjei.
He said Nana Agyeman later requested the complainant to collect 20 kilogrammes of gold from Nana Adjei and pay him (Adjei) $36,000.
He said Nana Agyeman explained to the complainant that his Arabian boss had sent $2.5 million to him (complainant) for the commencement of the real estate development partnership and asked him to deduct whatever expenses he had made on the 20 kilogrammes of gold from the $2.5 million.
Inspector Darkwah said because of the interest the complainant showed in the real estate business, he decided to make part payment of $10,000 to one of the suspects, Ofori Appiah, on August 29, 2008.
He said the complainant later made an additional $10,000 payment to another suspect, identified only as Atta, who is currently on the run, after the complainant had been directed to give the money to Atta by Nana Adjei.
According to the CID officer, Nana Agyeman and his so-called boss called the complainant on September 5, 2008 and asked him to meet two men around the Achimota Overhead Bridge to collect the $2.5 million.
He said the complainant, after meeting the two men, paid them the remaining $16,000 before collecting the box purported to contain the $2.5 million.
Inspector Darkwah said the complainant later opened the box and found black pieces of paper cut into the size of $100 bills and alleged certificate of instructions.
He said the complainant later called one of the men who had handed over the box to him, identified as Andy Odia, alias Julius Paul, to inform him of the contents of the box.
He said Andy then booked an appointment with the complainant to discuss how the black pieces of paper were to be washed into real notes.
Inspector Darkwah said the complainant, at that point, began to suspect foul play and immediately alerted the police.
According to him, at the appointed date on September 18, 2008, the police arrested Andy and Razak Fulan, who had accompanied Andy.
Inspector Darkwah said further investigations led to the arrest of Mohammed Kazim, alias Banjul, at his house at New Gbawe.
He said a quantity of black pieces of paper cut into sizes of dollar notes, fake pound sterling notes, forged documents from various institutions and a copy of the instructions manual sent to the complainant.
Inspector Darkwah said Kazim then allegedly confessed to having supplied the instruction manual to Atta, who later gave him $3,000 as his share of the deal.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police have arrested a businessman for allegedly defrauding an Accra-based real estate developer of $36,000 on the pretext of entering into a business partnership with him.
Although discussions prior to the collection of the money centred on the partnership with the victim, it turned out to be a fake currency printing deal.
Mohammed Kazim, alias Banjul, the suspect, was arrested at his New Gbawe residence on Monday by a team of police personnel, led by ASP Ebenezer Nketiah, in charge of Operations at the Commercial Crime Unit.
That was after two other suspects, Andy Odia, alias Julius Paul, and Razak Fulan, had been arrested earlier in September this year.
The Public Affairs Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector J. B. Darkwah, told the Daily Graphic that on August 23, 2008, the complainant received a telephone call, supposedly from London.
He said the caller introduced himself as Nana Agyeman and indicated that he (Agyeman) was trying to get in contact with somebody and accordingly apologised for calling the wrong number.
Inspector Darkwah said the following day, the complainant again received a call from Agyeman, who eventually told the complainant that his (Agyeman’s) boss in London wanted to enter into a partnership with someone in Ghana to establish a real estate business.
According to Inspector Darkwah, the so-called boss of Agyeman with Arabic ascent later spoke and confirmed to the complainant he wanted to establish a real estate business in Ghana with a Ghanaian.
He said the supposed investor later sent a profile of his company, indicating that he owned a chain of jewellery shops across Europe and that he also wanted to buy gold from Ghana.
Inspector Darkwah said the caller then indicated that he had sent someone he identified only as Williamson, described as a gold tester, to test some gold from one Nana Adjei.
He said Nana Agyeman later requested the complainant to collect 20 kilogrammes of gold from Nana Adjei and pay him (Adjei) $36,000.
He said Nana Agyeman explained to the complainant that his Arabian boss had sent $2.5 million to him (complainant) for the commencement of the real estate development partnership and asked him to deduct whatever expenses he had made on the 20 kilogrammes of gold from the $2.5 million.
Inspector Darkwah said because of the interest the complainant showed in the real estate business, he decided to make part payment of $10,000 to one of the suspects, Ofori Appiah, on August 29, 2008.
He said the complainant later made an additional $10,000 payment to another suspect, identified only as Atta, who is currently on the run, after the complainant had been directed to give the money to Atta by Nana Adjei.
According to the CID officer, Nana Agyeman and his so-called boss called the complainant on September 5, 2008 and asked him to meet two men around the Achimota Overhead Bridge to collect the $2.5 million.
He said the complainant, after meeting the two men, paid them the remaining $16,000 before collecting the box purported to contain the $2.5 million.
Inspector Darkwah said the complainant later opened the box and found black pieces of paper cut into the size of $100 bills and alleged certificate of instructions.
He said the complainant later called one of the men who had handed over the box to him, identified as Andy Odia, alias Julius Paul, to inform him of the contents of the box.
He said Andy then booked an appointment with the complainant to discuss how the black pieces of paper were to be washed into real notes.
Inspector Darkwah said the complainant, at that point, began to suspect foul play and immediately alerted the police.
According to him, at the appointed date on September 18, 2008, the police arrested Andy and Razak Fulan, who had accompanied Andy.
Inspector Darkwah said further investigations led to the arrest of Mohammed Kazim, alias Banjul, at his house at New Gbawe.
He said a quantity of black pieces of paper cut into sizes of dollar notes, fake pound sterling notes, forged documents from various institutions and a copy of the instructions manual sent to the complainant.
Inspector Darkwah said Kazim then allegedly confessed to having supplied the instruction manual to Atta, who later gave him $3,000 as his share of the deal.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Togbui Fiti granted bail in fraud case
Page 48: October 7, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN Accra Circuit Court yesterday granted bail to Togbui Amenya Fiti V, the Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, after he had been charged on two counts of defrauding two businessmen.
He pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, adjourned the case to October 22, 2008.
He was granted bail in the sum of GH¢15,000 with one surety.
Togbui Fiti was arrested in Aflao last Thursday in response to a circuit court warrant issued on Wednesday to that effect.
The warrant, with reference D6/537109 and dated October 1, 2008, was addressed to the police.
The facts of the case, as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) P. K. Frimpong, were that the chief allegedly collected the money in two tranches of GH¢14,060 and GH¢21,090 for the supply of 5,000 bags of cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited.
He said Togbui Fiti, however, managed to supply only 1,000 bags and refunded GH¢2,500 to the complainant, Armani Garba, a businessman at Awoshie in Accra.
DSP Frimpong said some time in May 2008 the complainant travelled to Aflao with the view to buying cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited for sale.
He said as a result of the difficulties associated with getting the cement, a witness in the case advised Mr Garba to contact Togbui Fiti because he was a friend to the top management of the company.
The prosecutor said on May 5, 2008, the witness led Mr Garba to the private home of the accused in Aflao.
He said the accused took GH¢200 for the visit to his house and promised to deliver the cement within two weeks.
DSP Frimpong said a second businessman, Mr Abubakar Halidou, who is the proprietor of H. Lab Ventures, on hearing what had transpired between Mr Garba and the accused, contacted the same witness who led him to the residence of Togbui Fiti on May 8, 2008.
He said with the same representation, the accused demanded and collected GH¢21,090 for the supply of 3,000 bags of cement, paying the same price per bag as Mr Garba had.
He said the accused also took GH¢200 from Mr Halidou for visiting him.
DSP Frimpong said when the cement was supplied to the accused, he allegedly sold it to someone in Benin.
He added that the complainants made several efforts to get the cement supplied to them without success, adding that the complainants then petitioned the Director-General of the Police CID to investigate the matter.
The prosecutor said the accused, in the course of investigations, supplied 1,000 bags of cement and refunded GH¢2,500 but had since refused to respond to invitations from the police.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN Accra Circuit Court yesterday granted bail to Togbui Amenya Fiti V, the Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, after he had been charged on two counts of defrauding two businessmen.
He pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over Mrs Ivy Heward-Mills, adjourned the case to October 22, 2008.
He was granted bail in the sum of GH¢15,000 with one surety.
Togbui Fiti was arrested in Aflao last Thursday in response to a circuit court warrant issued on Wednesday to that effect.
The warrant, with reference D6/537109 and dated October 1, 2008, was addressed to the police.
The facts of the case, as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) P. K. Frimpong, were that the chief allegedly collected the money in two tranches of GH¢14,060 and GH¢21,090 for the supply of 5,000 bags of cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited.
He said Togbui Fiti, however, managed to supply only 1,000 bags and refunded GH¢2,500 to the complainant, Armani Garba, a businessman at Awoshie in Accra.
DSP Frimpong said some time in May 2008 the complainant travelled to Aflao with the view to buying cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited for sale.
He said as a result of the difficulties associated with getting the cement, a witness in the case advised Mr Garba to contact Togbui Fiti because he was a friend to the top management of the company.
The prosecutor said on May 5, 2008, the witness led Mr Garba to the private home of the accused in Aflao.
He said the accused took GH¢200 for the visit to his house and promised to deliver the cement within two weeks.
DSP Frimpong said a second businessman, Mr Abubakar Halidou, who is the proprietor of H. Lab Ventures, on hearing what had transpired between Mr Garba and the accused, contacted the same witness who led him to the residence of Togbui Fiti on May 8, 2008.
He said with the same representation, the accused demanded and collected GH¢21,090 for the supply of 3,000 bags of cement, paying the same price per bag as Mr Garba had.
He said the accused also took GH¢200 from Mr Halidou for visiting him.
DSP Frimpong said when the cement was supplied to the accused, he allegedly sold it to someone in Benin.
He added that the complainants made several efforts to get the cement supplied to them without success, adding that the complainants then petitioned the Director-General of the Police CID to investigate the matter.
The prosecutor said the accused, in the course of investigations, supplied 1,000 bags of cement and refunded GH¢2,500 but had since refused to respond to invitations from the police.
Torgbui Fiti placed in police custody
Page 32: October 4, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, Torgbui Amenya Fiti V, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a businessman of more than GH¢20,000.
His arrest at Aflao on Thursday was in response to a circuit court warrant issued on Wednesday to that effect.
He is currently in custody at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
The chief allegedly collected the money in two tranches of GH¢14,060 and GH¢21,090 for the supply of 5,000 bags of cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited.
Torgbui Fiti, however, managed to supply 1000 bags of cement and refunded only GH¢2,500 to the complainant, Armani Garba, a businessman at Awoshie in Accra.
The warrant, with reference D6/537109 dated October 1, 2008 and addressed to the police, noted that Torgbui Amenya Fiti V was accused of the offence of defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131 of Act 29/60 and directed the police that "you are hereby commanded in the name of the Republic of Ghana forthwith to apprehend the said Torgbui Amenya Fiti V and produce him before the court at CC8".
The Deputy Director-General of the CID, ACP Ken Yeboah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that sometime in May, 2008, the complainant, Mr Armani Garba, travelled to Aflao with the view to buying cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited for sale.
He said due to difficulties in getting the cement, a witness in the case advised Mr Garba to contact Torgbui Fiti because he was a friend to the top management of the company.
ACP Yeboah said on May 5, 2008, the witness led Mr Garba to the private home of the accused at Aflao.
According to him, at a meeting with the complainant and the witness, Torgbui Fiti allegedly boasted that he was the owner of the land on which Diamond Cement was operating and indicated that whatever quantity of cement he needed would be supplied to him.
ACP Yeboah said with that representation, Torgbui Fiti demanded and collected GH¢14,060 being the cost of 2,000 bags of the cement.
“This was with the understanding that even though the cement was selling at GH¢6.73 per bag, complainant should pay GH¢7.30 for each bag,” he explained.
He said the accused also collected GH¢200 for the visit to his house and promised to deliver the cement within two weeks.
ACP Yeboah said a second businessman, Mr Abubakar Halidou, who is the proprietor of H. Lab Ventures, on hearing what had transpired between Mr Garba and the accused, contacted the same witness who led him to the residence of Torgbui Fiti on May 8, 2008.
He said with the same representation, the accused demanded and collected GH¢21,090 for the supply of 3,000 bags of cement, paying the same price as Mr Garba per bag.
He said the accused also collected GH¢200 from Mr Halidou for visiting him.
“Based on this transaction, accused forged a letter on complainant Mr Abubakar company’s letterhead to the management of Diamond Cement requesting to export the cement,” he said.
ACP Yeboah said when the cement was supplied to the accused, he allegedly sold the cement to someone in Benin.
He explained that the complainants then made several efforts to have their cement supplied to them without success.
He said sometime in July 2008, the accused asked Mr Halidou to bring three articulated trucks to Aflao to convey the cement but it turned out to be hoax.
According to him, the accused caused the Aflao police to arrest and detain the complainants when the two men went to the palace to demand a refund of their money or the cement.
ACP Yeboah said the complainants then petitioned the Director-General of the CID to investigate the matter.
He said based on the petition, Torbgui Fiti was invited to the CID headquarters, where he allegedly admitted defrauding the complainants.
He said a sub-chief of the accused, Torgbui Kporvi, told the investigators that Torgbui Fiti sold the cement to one Alhaji Mulanga of Benin.
ACP Yeboah said the accused, in the course of investigations, supplied 1,000 bags of the cement and paid GH¢2,500 and had since refused to respond to invitations by the police.
He explained that it was based on that that the police sought a warrant from the court to effect the arrest of Torgbui Fiti.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Paramount Chief of the Aflao Traditional Area, Torgbui Amenya Fiti V, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a businessman of more than GH¢20,000.
His arrest at Aflao on Thursday was in response to a circuit court warrant issued on Wednesday to that effect.
He is currently in custody at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
The chief allegedly collected the money in two tranches of GH¢14,060 and GH¢21,090 for the supply of 5,000 bags of cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited.
Torgbui Fiti, however, managed to supply 1000 bags of cement and refunded only GH¢2,500 to the complainant, Armani Garba, a businessman at Awoshie in Accra.
The warrant, with reference D6/537109 dated October 1, 2008 and addressed to the police, noted that Torgbui Amenya Fiti V was accused of the offence of defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131 of Act 29/60 and directed the police that "you are hereby commanded in the name of the Republic of Ghana forthwith to apprehend the said Torgbui Amenya Fiti V and produce him before the court at CC8".
The Deputy Director-General of the CID, ACP Ken Yeboah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that sometime in May, 2008, the complainant, Mr Armani Garba, travelled to Aflao with the view to buying cement from Diamond Cement Ghana Limited for sale.
He said due to difficulties in getting the cement, a witness in the case advised Mr Garba to contact Torgbui Fiti because he was a friend to the top management of the company.
ACP Yeboah said on May 5, 2008, the witness led Mr Garba to the private home of the accused at Aflao.
According to him, at a meeting with the complainant and the witness, Torgbui Fiti allegedly boasted that he was the owner of the land on which Diamond Cement was operating and indicated that whatever quantity of cement he needed would be supplied to him.
ACP Yeboah said with that representation, Torgbui Fiti demanded and collected GH¢14,060 being the cost of 2,000 bags of the cement.
“This was with the understanding that even though the cement was selling at GH¢6.73 per bag, complainant should pay GH¢7.30 for each bag,” he explained.
He said the accused also collected GH¢200 for the visit to his house and promised to deliver the cement within two weeks.
ACP Yeboah said a second businessman, Mr Abubakar Halidou, who is the proprietor of H. Lab Ventures, on hearing what had transpired between Mr Garba and the accused, contacted the same witness who led him to the residence of Torgbui Fiti on May 8, 2008.
He said with the same representation, the accused demanded and collected GH¢21,090 for the supply of 3,000 bags of cement, paying the same price as Mr Garba per bag.
He said the accused also collected GH¢200 from Mr Halidou for visiting him.
“Based on this transaction, accused forged a letter on complainant Mr Abubakar company’s letterhead to the management of Diamond Cement requesting to export the cement,” he said.
ACP Yeboah said when the cement was supplied to the accused, he allegedly sold the cement to someone in Benin.
He explained that the complainants then made several efforts to have their cement supplied to them without success.
He said sometime in July 2008, the accused asked Mr Halidou to bring three articulated trucks to Aflao to convey the cement but it turned out to be hoax.
According to him, the accused caused the Aflao police to arrest and detain the complainants when the two men went to the palace to demand a refund of their money or the cement.
ACP Yeboah said the complainants then petitioned the Director-General of the CID to investigate the matter.
He said based on the petition, Torbgui Fiti was invited to the CID headquarters, where he allegedly admitted defrauding the complainants.
He said a sub-chief of the accused, Torgbui Kporvi, told the investigators that Torgbui Fiti sold the cement to one Alhaji Mulanga of Benin.
ACP Yeboah said the accused, in the course of investigations, supplied 1,000 bags of the cement and paid GH¢2,500 and had since refused to respond to invitations by the police.
He explained that it was based on that that the police sought a warrant from the court to effect the arrest of Torgbui Fiti.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Police receive complaint on forged voters ID cards
Page 13: October 3, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police have confirmed receiving a complaint from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on alleged forging of voters identity card in the Ejura Sekyedumase Constituency in the Ashanti Region.
The Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Frank Adu-Poku, told the Daily Graphic that the police accordingly gave the complainants statement forms to write their statements for the police to begin official investigations.
He said the NDC officials were even at his office on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 “and we are waiting for them to return the forms”.
He, however, said as of the time he was speaking to this reporter, “I am at Agogo for the one-week observance of the late Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu’s demise”.
According to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report, the Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday also directed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to report the alleged case of forging of voters identity card to the police.
Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the EC, directed the NDC to submit a written report to him on the alleged electoral infraction for action.
He gave the directive to Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, National Organiser of the NDC, and Mr Mohammed Issifu Pangabu, NDC MP for Ejura Sekyedumase, when they called on him in his office to show him more than 122 voters ID cards purported to have been retrieved from a leading member of the New Patriotic Party in Sekyedumase.
Dr Afari-Gyan, after examining the document, said the situation was amazing because all the documents originated from the EC.
Mr Pangabu told the EC that the voter ID cards got to him through one Emmanuel Owusu, 22, the son of Mr Alex Manu, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Sekyedumase.
He said Emmanuel was heard bragging that his father had in his possession a lot of voter ID cards.
When he was challenged, he brought about 122 voter ID cards to those challenging him.
Mr Pangabu said Emmanuel was asked to go and bring the rest of the voter ID cards and when he went for the rest, the father caught him, beat him mercilessly and threatened to kill him.
Emmanuel was released by one of his brothers who forced the window open to let him out.
Mr Pangabu said Emmanuel took refuge with him while he informed the NDC headquarters in Accra about the incident and was instructed that for the security of Emmanuel and others they should come to Accra.
Mr Ampofo told the EC that they had brought the incident to the knowledge of the EC because of its call on political parties to assist it clean the bloated voters register.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police have confirmed receiving a complaint from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on alleged forging of voters identity card in the Ejura Sekyedumase Constituency in the Ashanti Region.
The Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Frank Adu-Poku, told the Daily Graphic that the police accordingly gave the complainants statement forms to write their statements for the police to begin official investigations.
He said the NDC officials were even at his office on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 “and we are waiting for them to return the forms”.
He, however, said as of the time he was speaking to this reporter, “I am at Agogo for the one-week observance of the late Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu’s demise”.
According to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report, the Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday also directed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to report the alleged case of forging of voters identity card to the police.
Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the EC, directed the NDC to submit a written report to him on the alleged electoral infraction for action.
He gave the directive to Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, National Organiser of the NDC, and Mr Mohammed Issifu Pangabu, NDC MP for Ejura Sekyedumase, when they called on him in his office to show him more than 122 voters ID cards purported to have been retrieved from a leading member of the New Patriotic Party in Sekyedumase.
Dr Afari-Gyan, after examining the document, said the situation was amazing because all the documents originated from the EC.
Mr Pangabu told the EC that the voter ID cards got to him through one Emmanuel Owusu, 22, the son of Mr Alex Manu, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Sekyedumase.
He said Emmanuel was heard bragging that his father had in his possession a lot of voter ID cards.
When he was challenged, he brought about 122 voter ID cards to those challenging him.
Mr Pangabu said Emmanuel was asked to go and bring the rest of the voter ID cards and when he went for the rest, the father caught him, beat him mercilessly and threatened to kill him.
Emmanuel was released by one of his brothers who forced the window open to let him out.
Mr Pangabu said Emmanuel took refuge with him while he informed the NDC headquarters in Accra about the incident and was instructed that for the security of Emmanuel and others they should come to Accra.
Mr Ampofo told the EC that they had brought the incident to the knowledge of the EC because of its call on political parties to assist it clean the bloated voters register.
"Put voters register on website of EC"
Page 12: October 3, 2008.
Story:Albert K. Salia
Representatives of three political parties have called on the Electoral Commission to put the voters register on their website to assist in the cleaning of the register.
This, they said, will also clear any doubts or suspicion from the minds of the electorate.
The three, National Democracy Congress (NDC), EGLE Party and the Democratic People Party (DPP) made the call at the first maiden meeting of the Greater Accra Regional Election Security Task Force in Accra today with representatives of the political parties.
Although all the political parties were invited to the meeting on the NDC, EGLE and DPP responded to the invitation.
The NDC was was represented by Flt Lt Nii Tackie and Ahmed Sharm while Mr Francis Lokko and Alhaji Abdul Moomin Abdallah represented the EGLE with Capt Philip Agbeyome (rtd) representing the DPP.
They also called for the opening of a channel of communications for a free flow of information among the parties to help build trust and confidence in the system.
According to them, constitutional vandalism arises when suspicion categorises election and urged the EC to endeavour to elimination all suspicions before and after the elections.
The Chairman of the Task force who is also the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), James Oppong-Buanuh assured them that the security agencies would be neutral, fair and firm in the discharge of their duties during the elections.
He said the security agencies were a non-partisan body committed to ensuring that the elections were conducted in a safe atmosphere adding that “we cannot have a free and fair elections if we do not have adequate security and an atmosphere of law and order”.
He said to be able to do this, the task force had recognised the need to interface with stakeholders like the political parties, the media and the electorate in general.
DCOP Oppong-Buanuh appeal to the political parties to conduct their campaigns in an atmosphere of healthy exchange of ideas without fear of intimidation or molestation from the security.
‘We have had services of joint training seminars and exercises aimed at sharpening our skills and making them better equipped for ensuring law and order in the periods ahead’, he said.
He reminded them that the provisions of the Public Order Act which required that any person wishing to organise a public event notified the police not less that five days before the date of that event.
DCOP Oppong-Buanuh said the police could redirect the routes or location or asked for a postponement of the event if it was likely to generate violence.
He advised the youth of the country not to allow themselves to be used by anybody to break the law because the long arm of the law would definitely catch up with them.
A representative from the EC, Mr Mohammed Addoquaye, assured the meeting that the EC would do its best to discharge its duties as stipulated by law.
He said preventing electoral fraud was a shared responsible for all and not the EC alone.
He said it was the responsibility of political parties to restrain their followers from engaging in any political violence or electoral malpractices.
Story:Albert K. Salia
Representatives of three political parties have called on the Electoral Commission to put the voters register on their website to assist in the cleaning of the register.
This, they said, will also clear any doubts or suspicion from the minds of the electorate.
The three, National Democracy Congress (NDC), EGLE Party and the Democratic People Party (DPP) made the call at the first maiden meeting of the Greater Accra Regional Election Security Task Force in Accra today with representatives of the political parties.
Although all the political parties were invited to the meeting on the NDC, EGLE and DPP responded to the invitation.
The NDC was was represented by Flt Lt Nii Tackie and Ahmed Sharm while Mr Francis Lokko and Alhaji Abdul Moomin Abdallah represented the EGLE with Capt Philip Agbeyome (rtd) representing the DPP.
They also called for the opening of a channel of communications for a free flow of information among the parties to help build trust and confidence in the system.
According to them, constitutional vandalism arises when suspicion categorises election and urged the EC to endeavour to elimination all suspicions before and after the elections.
The Chairman of the Task force who is also the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), James Oppong-Buanuh assured them that the security agencies would be neutral, fair and firm in the discharge of their duties during the elections.
He said the security agencies were a non-partisan body committed to ensuring that the elections were conducted in a safe atmosphere adding that “we cannot have a free and fair elections if we do not have adequate security and an atmosphere of law and order”.
He said to be able to do this, the task force had recognised the need to interface with stakeholders like the political parties, the media and the electorate in general.
DCOP Oppong-Buanuh appeal to the political parties to conduct their campaigns in an atmosphere of healthy exchange of ideas without fear of intimidation or molestation from the security.
‘We have had services of joint training seminars and exercises aimed at sharpening our skills and making them better equipped for ensuring law and order in the periods ahead’, he said.
He reminded them that the provisions of the Public Order Act which required that any person wishing to organise a public event notified the police not less that five days before the date of that event.
DCOP Oppong-Buanuh said the police could redirect the routes or location or asked for a postponement of the event if it was likely to generate violence.
He advised the youth of the country not to allow themselves to be used by anybody to break the law because the long arm of the law would definitely catch up with them.
A representative from the EC, Mr Mohammed Addoquaye, assured the meeting that the EC would do its best to discharge its duties as stipulated by law.
He said preventing electoral fraud was a shared responsible for all and not the EC alone.
He said it was the responsibility of political parties to restrain their followers from engaging in any political violence or electoral malpractices.
Litigation Centre opens
Page 14: October 1, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia, back from Abuja, Nigeria.
THE President of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr Femi Falana, has challenged the judiciary in the sub-region to use local cases as authority instead of always referring to foreign cases.
He explained that the continued reference to foreign cases was a colonial legacy that excluded majority of the citizens from justice delivery, remote and unrelated to their peculiar needs.
Mr Falana was speaking at the launch of the West Africa Public Interest Litigation Centre (WAPILC) in Abuja, Nigeria at the weekend.
The centre, which is a special project of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), seeks to promote, support and initiate Public Interest Litigation (PIL) efforts aimed at holding public officials and private entities accountable for acting contrary to the public interest and reforming anti-democratic policies.
Its activities would cover national, sub-regional and regional courts and other judicatory fora and serve as a resource base for PIL cases in the sub-region.
Mr Falana made reference to a landmark ruling of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) versus the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on the Public Order Act in 1992, which he used in a similar case between the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the IGP of Nigeria in 2006.
He said such cases fostered a good development for the sub-region especially in the legal field and that was certainly going to accelerate the integration process.
According to Mr Falana, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation mechanism being presented as foreign initiative was indeed an African Dispute Resolution that was being used before the advent of the European judicial system.
A board member of OSIWA, Ms Ayo Obe, noted that public interest litigation would set the standard for citizens across the sub-region.
She admitted that best practices were found within the sub-region as they were found outside and, therefore, urged legal practitioners to send their cases and judicial decisions to the centre to be shared in the region.
The Chief Registrar of the ECOWAS Court, Mr Tony Anene-Maidoh, gave the assurance that the court would partner the WAPILC in its activities.
According him, such a partnership was essential because there could not be a rule of law without access to justice, adding that many ECOWAS nationals were not even aware of the existence of the court.
Mr Anene-Maidoh said unlike other regional courts, people could bring their cases to the ECOWAS court without going through their local or national courts.
The Executive Director of OSIWA, Dr Nana Tanko, said the setting up of the centre was to help improve the lives of West Africans through enhancing transparency in governance.
She explained that OSIWA initiated the setting up of the centre following requests for such a centre to fill the gap on PIL cases in the sub-region.
Story: Albert K. Salia, back from Abuja, Nigeria.
THE President of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr Femi Falana, has challenged the judiciary in the sub-region to use local cases as authority instead of always referring to foreign cases.
He explained that the continued reference to foreign cases was a colonial legacy that excluded majority of the citizens from justice delivery, remote and unrelated to their peculiar needs.
Mr Falana was speaking at the launch of the West Africa Public Interest Litigation Centre (WAPILC) in Abuja, Nigeria at the weekend.
The centre, which is a special project of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), seeks to promote, support and initiate Public Interest Litigation (PIL) efforts aimed at holding public officials and private entities accountable for acting contrary to the public interest and reforming anti-democratic policies.
Its activities would cover national, sub-regional and regional courts and other judicatory fora and serve as a resource base for PIL cases in the sub-region.
Mr Falana made reference to a landmark ruling of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) versus the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on the Public Order Act in 1992, which he used in a similar case between the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the IGP of Nigeria in 2006.
He said such cases fostered a good development for the sub-region especially in the legal field and that was certainly going to accelerate the integration process.
According to Mr Falana, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation mechanism being presented as foreign initiative was indeed an African Dispute Resolution that was being used before the advent of the European judicial system.
A board member of OSIWA, Ms Ayo Obe, noted that public interest litigation would set the standard for citizens across the sub-region.
She admitted that best practices were found within the sub-region as they were found outside and, therefore, urged legal practitioners to send their cases and judicial decisions to the centre to be shared in the region.
The Chief Registrar of the ECOWAS Court, Mr Tony Anene-Maidoh, gave the assurance that the court would partner the WAPILC in its activities.
According him, such a partnership was essential because there could not be a rule of law without access to justice, adding that many ECOWAS nationals were not even aware of the existence of the court.
Mr Anene-Maidoh said unlike other regional courts, people could bring their cases to the ECOWAS court without going through their local or national courts.
The Executive Director of OSIWA, Dr Nana Tanko, said the setting up of the centre was to help improve the lives of West Africans through enhancing transparency in governance.
She explained that OSIWA initiated the setting up of the centre following requests for such a centre to fill the gap on PIL cases in the sub-region.
Man fathers five children with own daughter
Page 48: September 30, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
KWABENYA, a suburb of Accra, has been rocked by the bizarre story of a self-proclaimed prophet of the ‘I am-I am’ Nazareth Church, who allegedly fathered five children with his own daughter and murdered three of them in mysterious circumstances.
According to the Accra branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, which is investigating the case, three of the five children, who were all males, died under mysterious circumstances and were buried secretly after the suspect, Anthony Rowland Sampson Bleworda, 52, had performed some occultic rituals.
The daughter “wife”, is currently receiving treatment and counselling while their two female children have also been sent to a shelter for rehabilitation.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Inspector Irene Oppong, said during the early hours of last Thursday, neighbours of Bleworda saw the “couple” naked in their yard with the man running after the woman.
She said the couple later dragged their two little daughters into their room and locked themselves inside.
She said some of the onlookers, sensing danger that something could be happening to the family, broke into the room and rescued the two children and their mother to the premises of Christ Miracle Power Mission International at New Ashongman, on suspecting that the woman was mentally disturbed.
According to Inspector Oppong, some of the neighbours later handed over the suspect to the police for investigation.
She said the woman on September 26, 2008, openly confessed to being the biological daughter of Bleworda.
Inspector Oppong said investigations had so far revealed that the suspect, an ex-soldier, left Ghana in 1986 for Germany at a time the daughter was only six years old.
According to her, the victim was staying with her aunt at Teshie Camp and joined her father for about a month before he (suspect) returned to Germany again.
Inspector Oppong said the suspect developed interest in his daughter on seeing her and often allegedly laced drinks and food with Indian hemp for her.
She said the suspect would then sexually abuse the victim, something which she said took place for the one month duration that she stayed with her father.
Upon returning to her aunt, she said, it was detected that the victim was pregnant but she failed to disclose the person responsible for the pregnancy.
Inspector Oppong said the suspect returned from Germany the second time and took custody of the daughter to Brekuso in the Eastern Region.
She explained that on his first return in 2002, the suspect was staying at Taifa Burkina before relocating to Brekuso and finally to Kwabenya.
Inspector Oppong said the victim told investigators that she confessed to her mother about what had been going on between her and her father after reading from the Bible that it was a sin for one to sleep with his or her parents or siblings.
According to her, the victim, who is now 28 years of age, started behaving abnormally after the confession.
Inspector Oppong said the police had intensified their investigations and indicated that the Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) would visit the burial sites of the deceased children to unravel the mystery surrounding their deaths.
Story: Albert K. Salia
KWABENYA, a suburb of Accra, has been rocked by the bizarre story of a self-proclaimed prophet of the ‘I am-I am’ Nazareth Church, who allegedly fathered five children with his own daughter and murdered three of them in mysterious circumstances.
According to the Accra branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, which is investigating the case, three of the five children, who were all males, died under mysterious circumstances and were buried secretly after the suspect, Anthony Rowland Sampson Bleworda, 52, had performed some occultic rituals.
The daughter “wife”, is currently receiving treatment and counselling while their two female children have also been sent to a shelter for rehabilitation.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Inspector Irene Oppong, said during the early hours of last Thursday, neighbours of Bleworda saw the “couple” naked in their yard with the man running after the woman.
She said the couple later dragged their two little daughters into their room and locked themselves inside.
She said some of the onlookers, sensing danger that something could be happening to the family, broke into the room and rescued the two children and their mother to the premises of Christ Miracle Power Mission International at New Ashongman, on suspecting that the woman was mentally disturbed.
According to Inspector Oppong, some of the neighbours later handed over the suspect to the police for investigation.
She said the woman on September 26, 2008, openly confessed to being the biological daughter of Bleworda.
Inspector Oppong said investigations had so far revealed that the suspect, an ex-soldier, left Ghana in 1986 for Germany at a time the daughter was only six years old.
According to her, the victim was staying with her aunt at Teshie Camp and joined her father for about a month before he (suspect) returned to Germany again.
Inspector Oppong said the suspect developed interest in his daughter on seeing her and often allegedly laced drinks and food with Indian hemp for her.
She said the suspect would then sexually abuse the victim, something which she said took place for the one month duration that she stayed with her father.
Upon returning to her aunt, she said, it was detected that the victim was pregnant but she failed to disclose the person responsible for the pregnancy.
Inspector Oppong said the suspect returned from Germany the second time and took custody of the daughter to Brekuso in the Eastern Region.
She explained that on his first return in 2002, the suspect was staying at Taifa Burkina before relocating to Brekuso and finally to Kwabenya.
Inspector Oppong said the victim told investigators that she confessed to her mother about what had been going on between her and her father after reading from the Bible that it was a sin for one to sleep with his or her parents or siblings.
According to her, the victim, who is now 28 years of age, started behaving abnormally after the confession.
Inspector Oppong said the police had intensified their investigations and indicated that the Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) would visit the burial sites of the deceased children to unravel the mystery surrounding their deaths.
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