Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 30, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
ALL former government appointees who served under the Kufuor administration and are still in possession of state vehicles which are less than two years old have been given up to the end of this week to return them.
All other appointees who paid less than the value of the vehicles are also to top up their payments before they can legally take possession of them.
A Deputy Information Minister, Mr Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, who gave the directives at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said more than 50 of such vehicles, including 18 which were less than two years, were still in the possession of former appointees under the Kufuor government.
He said the government had made several approaches to the affected appointees but only a few of them had responded, adding that the Presidency, as part of its cost-cutting measures, was not in the mood to buy new vehicles, making some Ministers and Deputy Ministers using their personal vehicles.
He expressed regret that contrary to a February 23, 2005 circular, issued by the former Chief of Staff, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, that vehicles being requested to be bought by users should not be less than two years, such vehicles were not only bought but also undervalued.
Moreover, he said, the government also granted a 30-per cent rebate to the prospective buyers “even after the ridiculous values placed on the vehicles”.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa, who was supported by his colleague Deputy Minister, Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, cited that a 2008 Peugeot 607 saloon car in possession of Madam Cecilia Dapaah was valued for her at GH¢6,500, Dr Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim also had his valued at GH¢13,200 and Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, whose 2007 Peugeot saloon car was valued for him at GH¢5,450.
Fortunately, he said, most of those vehicles had not been transferred to the buyers.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa said but for the exercise mounted by the security agencies to retrieve state vehicles, a number of New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials who drove away a number of vehicles would not have returned them.
He said it appeared to the government that the NPP officials and their hangers-on were waiting for the so-called invasion of the security agencies before they returned the cars and help them to build their non-lethal arsenal of false complaints against the government.
“Indeed, the presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, only returned two official four wheel-drive vehicles that were in his possession for more than a year because he realised the security agencies were closing in on him,” he said.
He said while the government had had occasion to apologise to some personalities over the unfortunate seizure of their vehicles, those isolated cases could have been avoided, if officials of the Kufuor Administration had left the vehicles and other state properties intact.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa said for those officials whose vehicles were more than two years but were undervalued, new values calculated by the official government valuer, who was allegedly sidelined by the intended buyers during the valuation stage, “is what will apply in all cases”.
He said the government had consulted the former appointees, including some former Ministers, through their association, the Association of Former Ministers, and that a lot of correspondence had been exchanged.
According to him, through such communication, Messrs Albert Kan Dapaah, Osei Asibey Antwi and Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, had returned their vehicles.
He said the government was not pursuing those who had licensed their vehicles already but those yet to do so.
He said the government was not unaware of the expectations of Ghanaians on it and would remain focused on its core responsibility of improving their lot so that in 2012, Ghanaians would be the best judge.
“We know what our mandate is and we’ll not at all be detracted by anybody or group to forget about our promises to the people of Ghana. Irrespective of what some people say, the truth is that after careful evaluation and assembling of all the facts, it has been found that the state of the Ghanaian economy is not one to be proud of,” he added.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa said the government had not focused on debating and commenting on what he described as the lies of the NPP because it recognised that it had a more important task of halting the deterioration of the economy.
According to him, the prudent management of the economy by Prof Atta Mills had led to a slowdown in the rate of increase of inflation and the narrowing of the budget deficit of 0.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of the year as compared to the 1.7 per cent recorded for the first quarter of 2008.
On alleged breaches of the Constitution and promotion of ethnicity, Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa said it was strange on the part of the NPP to venture into such terrain and gave the assurance that the Atta Mills’s administration would neither promote nor encourage tribalism as it was evident in the composition of persons from all regions of Ghana in his government.
He said the Atta Mills administration had refrained from referring Ghanaians to the excesses of the Kufuor administration, including deliberate acts to denigrate the NDC by arresting its officials in church and preventing officials from travelling outside the country.
He said the NPP and its officials, fearing that any attempt by the government to investigate them would spell doom for a number of their leading members, had resorted to deliberate screaming through the media, thinking that would stop any such enquiries.
He said the government also found it unfortunate that Dr Kwesi Aning, a security expert, in furtherance of his political bias and attempt to embarrass the Atta Mills administration, should make claims of wanting to seek asylum.
“Quite clearly, the reasons for which he will be seeking the said asylum do not only sound funny, petty and ridiculous but can only be the imagination of a man desirous of finding fault where there’s none. And the platform on which he chose to make the claim and its linkage cannot be lost on us,” he said.
He said the government did not have any intention of pushing him to exile and advised him to report the persons allegedly threatening him to the police.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Boniface defends sale of state bungalows
Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 29, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE immediate past Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, has defended the sale of government bungalows to private individuals and appointees under the Kufuor administration, arguing that it was done through due process.
He indicated that the sale of the affected government property was advertised and a committee subsequently set up to supervise it, explaining that the bungalows were not arbitrarily or selectively given out to beneficiaries.
Reacting to a Daily Graphic publication that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government intended to review the sale of all state bungalows, Alhaji Boniface said it was only the Supreme Court that could review the sale, not any administrative decision.
Alhaji Boniface further explained that the sale of government bungalows was not initiated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration but that it began under the first NDC government of former President J. J. Rawlings.
He said the sales programme was divided into two phases, 1998 to 2003 and 2003 to 2009, saying that “they started it and we only continued with the process”.
The former minister said it was, therefore, strange for anyone in the Mills administration to paint a picture that the sale was illegal or not properly carried out.
He was at a loss as to the basis of the review, after individuals had gone through the process and paid for the property.
“They should not divert the attention of the public to irrelevant issues. If they want, we can open the Pandora’s box and leave it to Ghanaians to judge,” he stated.
Alhaji Boniface expressed surprise that the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team never invited him to appear before it to explain or provide information for the committee before putting its report together.
The former Secretary to former President Kufuor, Ambassador D. K. Osei, denied knowledge of the sale of the bungalow that he occupied to any hotel or individual.
“As I speak with you now, I am still occupying the bungalow. No one has informed me that my bungalow has been sold,” he said.
Ambassador Osei said even if it had been sold, he did not have control or authority over the sale and wondered why his name should be listed in the report and not his bungalow.
“I am still a civil servant with the Foreign Service. I have two more years two serve and I have taken a leave of absence without pay,” he said.
He said it was not fair for his name to have been mentioned in the report because he did not have authority over the bungalow, nor was he in charge of the sale.
For his part, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng said the building had been sold to him in 1995 under the Rawlings government for GH¢20,000 after he had responded to an advertisement for its sale.
He, however, said he was later informed that the sale process had suffered a hitch and he was asked to wait until further notice.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said when the building was advertised for sale by the NPP administration, he approached the ministry with the documents showing that it had already been sold to him but that the process had stalled, explaining that based on that the building was revalued for GH¢250,000 (¢2.5 billion) for him to pay.
“As we speak, I am yet to finish paying. I have all the documents covering the transaction, including the advertisement,” he said.
The Daily Graphic, in its April 28, 2009 issue, published that the government was to review the sale of all state bungalows which were carried out while officials were still in occupation.
The review of the sale was said to be in line with recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team which stated that government bungalows were not to be sold under any circumstance.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE immediate past Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, has defended the sale of government bungalows to private individuals and appointees under the Kufuor administration, arguing that it was done through due process.
He indicated that the sale of the affected government property was advertised and a committee subsequently set up to supervise it, explaining that the bungalows were not arbitrarily or selectively given out to beneficiaries.
Reacting to a Daily Graphic publication that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government intended to review the sale of all state bungalows, Alhaji Boniface said it was only the Supreme Court that could review the sale, not any administrative decision.
Alhaji Boniface further explained that the sale of government bungalows was not initiated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration but that it began under the first NDC government of former President J. J. Rawlings.
He said the sales programme was divided into two phases, 1998 to 2003 and 2003 to 2009, saying that “they started it and we only continued with the process”.
The former minister said it was, therefore, strange for anyone in the Mills administration to paint a picture that the sale was illegal or not properly carried out.
He was at a loss as to the basis of the review, after individuals had gone through the process and paid for the property.
“They should not divert the attention of the public to irrelevant issues. If they want, we can open the Pandora’s box and leave it to Ghanaians to judge,” he stated.
Alhaji Boniface expressed surprise that the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team never invited him to appear before it to explain or provide information for the committee before putting its report together.
The former Secretary to former President Kufuor, Ambassador D. K. Osei, denied knowledge of the sale of the bungalow that he occupied to any hotel or individual.
“As I speak with you now, I am still occupying the bungalow. No one has informed me that my bungalow has been sold,” he said.
Ambassador Osei said even if it had been sold, he did not have control or authority over the sale and wondered why his name should be listed in the report and not his bungalow.
“I am still a civil servant with the Foreign Service. I have two more years two serve and I have taken a leave of absence without pay,” he said.
He said it was not fair for his name to have been mentioned in the report because he did not have authority over the bungalow, nor was he in charge of the sale.
For his part, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng said the building had been sold to him in 1995 under the Rawlings government for GH¢20,000 after he had responded to an advertisement for its sale.
He, however, said he was later informed that the sale process had suffered a hitch and he was asked to wait until further notice.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said when the building was advertised for sale by the NPP administration, he approached the ministry with the documents showing that it had already been sold to him but that the process had stalled, explaining that based on that the building was revalued for GH¢250,000 (¢2.5 billion) for him to pay.
“As we speak, I am yet to finish paying. I have all the documents covering the transaction, including the advertisement,” he said.
The Daily Graphic, in its April 28, 2009 issue, published that the government was to review the sale of all state bungalows which were carried out while officials were still in occupation.
The review of the sale was said to be in line with recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team which stated that government bungalows were not to be sold under any circumstance.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
STATE BUNGALOWS NOT FOR SALE 14 cases to be reviewed
Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 28, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE government is to review the sale of all state bungalows which were done while officials were still in occupation.
The review of the sales is in line with recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team which stated that government bungalows were not to be sold under any circumstances.
The properties listed for review include No. 1 St Mungo, occupied by and sold to Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and No. 1 Liberation Road, occupied by and sold to Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
Others are Number 15 Fourth Circular Road, occupied by Capt Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd) but given out as gratis to the Sierra Leonean Embassy; No. 59 Fourth Circular Road, occupied by Mr Clement Eledi but sold to the Libyan Embassy; No. 7 Fifth Circular Road, occupied by Mr Alan Kyerematen but sold to Ogun Segun; No. 11 Fifth Circular Road, occupied by Prof C. Ameyaw-Akumfi but sold to Nick Hotel; No 31 First Circular Road, currently vacant but sold to Crystal Hill, and No. 6 Sixth Circular Road, occupied by Ambassador D. K. Osei and sold to Paradise Hotel.
The rest are No. 33 Patrice Lumumba Road, occupied by Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface but sold to Fati Seidu; No. 2 Sixth Circular Road, occupied by Prof Gyan Baffour but sold to Edmund Mills; No. 54 Osu Residential, Ringway Estates, currently vacant but proposed for sale to Poku Edusei and Ras Boateng.
A report by the committee on Government Executive Bungalows noted that the committee’s preliminary investigations showed that many of the bungalows had been sold off or demolished and transferred to non-public officials.
It noted, for instance, that out of the 69 prestige bungalows presented to the committee by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, 11 had been sold, while three had been converted into offices.
According to the committee, the phenomenon was difficult to explain, as it was beyond the comprehension of the committee.
“The executives of state who are caretakers cannot allow the bungalows they are occupying to be sold, either to themselves or to any other persons. This is in breach of Article 284 of the Constitution,” it noted.
Article 284 of the Constitution provides that “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.” (Conflict of Interest)
The committee, therefore, recommended an investigation into how the prestige bungalows were bought by Nick Hotel, Paradise Hotel, Crystal Hill, Fati Seidu, Edmund Mills and others when high-ranking Ministers of State were occupying them as sitting tenants.
It suggested the need to rationalise the principle of duty-post accommodation to avoid the situation where duty posts were sold to public officers in lieu of official bungalows.
It mentioned those converted into offices as No. 16 Third Avenue, Ridge, Regional Office of IDA, SRF; No. 68 Fifth Avenue Extension, Ridge, Office of the First Lady, and No. 50 Liberation, Ridge, African Centre for Economic Transformation.
The committee further asked the Mills administration to surcharge nine former government appointees the commercial rent and utility bills for illegally staying in government bungalows a year or more after they had resigned or had their appointments terminated by the Kufuor administration.
The affected appointees are Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Dr Geysika Agambilla, Mr Joseph Kofi Addah, Mr Kwamena Bartels, Ms Christine Churcher, Mr Majeed Haroun, Ms Gloria Akuffo, Capt Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd) and Mr Alan Kyerematen.
According to the committee, a principle should be established whereby the situation where government appointees whose appointments with government were terminated continued to occupy official government accommodation should be totally discouraged.
“For that reason, the above-listed persons who continue to illegally occupy government accommodation should be surcharged for all utilities, as well as rent calculated at commercial rate,” it noted.
It expressed regret that contrary to the principles of conduct of government business, state lodges were given out free to political appointees and family members.
It mentioned five beneficiaries of such lodges at the Cantonments area as Mrs Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, SSNIT lodges near the 37 Military Hospital for four years; Mr Kofi Kufuor, Kulpawn Lodge, two years; Nana Ama, Bosumtwi Lodge, three years; Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Sakumo Lodge, two years, and Mr Kofi Adomako, Ankobra Lodge, the duration of stay not indicated.
Touching on the Peduase Lodge, the committee said substantial questions had been raised about the quality of work done so far and proposed an investigation into the project.
It said the total cost of the project, which was awarded on contract on January 2, 2006 by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and included the infrastructure upgrading of the Peduase village, was GH¢22,469,662.27.
The government further recommended the suspension of rehabilitation works on the Australia House immediately, while a technical audit be conducted to establish who really the contractors were and to retrieve all the movable property, such as equipment, furniture and television sets, removed by Super Care Group Ltd.
It noted that the Australia House, which was extensively rehabilitated in 2000, was now in very appalling conditions.
“The POP and the T&G ceiling in all the rooms have been ripped off. The wooden floor in the rooms has also been ripped off. All the furnishing items have been removed. The swimming pool is full of fungi,” it noted.
According to the committee, the conduct of work at site, starting from the engagement of contractors to the appointment of Mr Oppong Bio, a private financier, to fund the project, was done without due process.
“Sheila Sackey from the National Security Office who became the Comptroller of Household in the Office of the President gave out the contracts by word of mouth. One of the subcontractors on site, Super Care Group Ltd, an air condition servicing company, has brought in another private company, Prime Constructions Ltd, to undertake civil works valued at GH¢721,914.54. Super Care Group does not possess the requisite qualification and certification to undertake such a job. An attempt to bring in AESL belatedly was frustrated by Sheila, the Comptroller,” it said.
The committee, therefore, directed that a competent contractor be appointed to rehabilitate the Australia House immediately, which had been serving as a guest house for visiting VIPs.
It asked that Ms Sackey be recalled by the National Security Co-ordinator and investigated, which should be without prejudice to charges that might be levelled against her by a commission of inquiry.
It directed State Protocol and the Prestige Unit of the Public Works Department to assess the state of neglected and abandoned lodges in the Upper West, Volta, Central and Western regions.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE government is to review the sale of all state bungalows which were done while officials were still in occupation.
The review of the sales is in line with recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Transfer of Executive Assets of the Government Transitional Team which stated that government bungalows were not to be sold under any circumstances.
The properties listed for review include No. 1 St Mungo, occupied by and sold to Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and No. 1 Liberation Road, occupied by and sold to Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
Others are Number 15 Fourth Circular Road, occupied by Capt Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd) but given out as gratis to the Sierra Leonean Embassy; No. 59 Fourth Circular Road, occupied by Mr Clement Eledi but sold to the Libyan Embassy; No. 7 Fifth Circular Road, occupied by Mr Alan Kyerematen but sold to Ogun Segun; No. 11 Fifth Circular Road, occupied by Prof C. Ameyaw-Akumfi but sold to Nick Hotel; No 31 First Circular Road, currently vacant but sold to Crystal Hill, and No. 6 Sixth Circular Road, occupied by Ambassador D. K. Osei and sold to Paradise Hotel.
The rest are No. 33 Patrice Lumumba Road, occupied by Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface but sold to Fati Seidu; No. 2 Sixth Circular Road, occupied by Prof Gyan Baffour but sold to Edmund Mills; No. 54 Osu Residential, Ringway Estates, currently vacant but proposed for sale to Poku Edusei and Ras Boateng.
A report by the committee on Government Executive Bungalows noted that the committee’s preliminary investigations showed that many of the bungalows had been sold off or demolished and transferred to non-public officials.
It noted, for instance, that out of the 69 prestige bungalows presented to the committee by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, 11 had been sold, while three had been converted into offices.
According to the committee, the phenomenon was difficult to explain, as it was beyond the comprehension of the committee.
“The executives of state who are caretakers cannot allow the bungalows they are occupying to be sold, either to themselves or to any other persons. This is in breach of Article 284 of the Constitution,” it noted.
Article 284 of the Constitution provides that “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office.” (Conflict of Interest)
The committee, therefore, recommended an investigation into how the prestige bungalows were bought by Nick Hotel, Paradise Hotel, Crystal Hill, Fati Seidu, Edmund Mills and others when high-ranking Ministers of State were occupying them as sitting tenants.
It suggested the need to rationalise the principle of duty-post accommodation to avoid the situation where duty posts were sold to public officers in lieu of official bungalows.
It mentioned those converted into offices as No. 16 Third Avenue, Ridge, Regional Office of IDA, SRF; No. 68 Fifth Avenue Extension, Ridge, Office of the First Lady, and No. 50 Liberation, Ridge, African Centre for Economic Transformation.
The committee further asked the Mills administration to surcharge nine former government appointees the commercial rent and utility bills for illegally staying in government bungalows a year or more after they had resigned or had their appointments terminated by the Kufuor administration.
The affected appointees are Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Dr Geysika Agambilla, Mr Joseph Kofi Addah, Mr Kwamena Bartels, Ms Christine Churcher, Mr Majeed Haroun, Ms Gloria Akuffo, Capt Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd) and Mr Alan Kyerematen.
According to the committee, a principle should be established whereby the situation where government appointees whose appointments with government were terminated continued to occupy official government accommodation should be totally discouraged.
“For that reason, the above-listed persons who continue to illegally occupy government accommodation should be surcharged for all utilities, as well as rent calculated at commercial rate,” it noted.
It expressed regret that contrary to the principles of conduct of government business, state lodges were given out free to political appointees and family members.
It mentioned five beneficiaries of such lodges at the Cantonments area as Mrs Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, SSNIT lodges near the 37 Military Hospital for four years; Mr Kofi Kufuor, Kulpawn Lodge, two years; Nana Ama, Bosumtwi Lodge, three years; Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Sakumo Lodge, two years, and Mr Kofi Adomako, Ankobra Lodge, the duration of stay not indicated.
Touching on the Peduase Lodge, the committee said substantial questions had been raised about the quality of work done so far and proposed an investigation into the project.
It said the total cost of the project, which was awarded on contract on January 2, 2006 by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and included the infrastructure upgrading of the Peduase village, was GH¢22,469,662.27.
The government further recommended the suspension of rehabilitation works on the Australia House immediately, while a technical audit be conducted to establish who really the contractors were and to retrieve all the movable property, such as equipment, furniture and television sets, removed by Super Care Group Ltd.
It noted that the Australia House, which was extensively rehabilitated in 2000, was now in very appalling conditions.
“The POP and the T&G ceiling in all the rooms have been ripped off. The wooden floor in the rooms has also been ripped off. All the furnishing items have been removed. The swimming pool is full of fungi,” it noted.
According to the committee, the conduct of work at site, starting from the engagement of contractors to the appointment of Mr Oppong Bio, a private financier, to fund the project, was done without due process.
“Sheila Sackey from the National Security Office who became the Comptroller of Household in the Office of the President gave out the contracts by word of mouth. One of the subcontractors on site, Super Care Group Ltd, an air condition servicing company, has brought in another private company, Prime Constructions Ltd, to undertake civil works valued at GH¢721,914.54. Super Care Group does not possess the requisite qualification and certification to undertake such a job. An attempt to bring in AESL belatedly was frustrated by Sheila, the Comptroller,” it said.
The committee, therefore, directed that a competent contractor be appointed to rehabilitate the Australia House immediately, which had been serving as a guest house for visiting VIPs.
It asked that Ms Sackey be recalled by the National Security Co-ordinator and investigated, which should be without prejudice to charges that might be levelled against her by a commission of inquiry.
It directed State Protocol and the Prestige Unit of the Public Works Department to assess the state of neglected and abandoned lodges in the Upper West, Volta, Central and Western regions.
No fears for electricity * ECG, VRA, GridCO assure
Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 28, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE three key players in the country’s energy supply chain say they are in good position to meet the electric energy needs of the country for 2009 and beyond.
While the Volta River Authority (VRA), the main producer of electric energy in Ghana, said it would meet the national demand of 1,562 Megawatts (MW), leaving a reserve of 227 MW, the Ghana Grid Company (GridCo), for its part, said a number of activities were underway to improve upon system performance and reliability by reducing the effects of obsolete equipment or redundancies. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), for its part, said it had made huge investments in the expansion of its infrastructure to ensure adequate and reliable power supply to its customers within three to six months.
While the ECG distributes the energy produced by the VRA, GridCo is the sole transmitter, providing the lines for the distribution of the energy generated.
The chief executive officers of the VRA and GridCO, Owura Sarfo and Mr Joseph Wiafe, respectively, and the Managing Director of the ECG, Mr Jude Adu-Amankwah, announced these measures at a joint press conference in Accra yesterday on short to long-term plans to meet the country’s energy needs.
Owura Sarfo said the total national installed capacity of electric power plants was 1,916MW.
The plants, he said, were from the Akosombo Hydro Generating Station, the Kpong Hydro Generating Station, the Takoradi Thermal Plant Station (TAPCO), the Takoradi Thermal International Company (TICO), a new thermal plant, the Tema 1 Thermal Plant, and an 80MW thermal plant built by a consortium of mining companies in Ghana and handed over to the VRA for operation to support the supply base.
“Also available to support the power supply is a limited amount of power imports, currently 10MW, from CIE of Cote d’Ivoire,” he added.
Owura Sarfo said the reserve margin of 227MW available at any time could either be reserve capacity on a running generating unit or a reserve machine waiting to be connected to the system, saying that “in the event of a sudden change in the demand-supply balance, the reserve capacities on running machines are immediately called upon to correct the imbalance”.
The CEO of the VRA said the inclusion of the 200MW Sunon Asogli Plant and the implementation of a number of projects, including the Bui Plant, expansion works in Takoradi and private producer initiatives, should help address the power needs of the country and make some available for export.
For his part, Mr Wiafe said the power network was faced with overage and obsolete equipment, overloaded facilities due to inability to increase capacity to match demand, among others.
He said it was to address the effects of the state of the national power system that GridCO had installed the Automatic Frequency Load Shedding (AFLS) system to prevent total collapse of the power system.
He said it was to deal with some of the challenges that the company was constructing a number of transmission lines, including the Kumasi-Obuasi line, the Aboadze-Tema line, a third Accra Bulk Supply Point at Agyirigano, and doubling the capacity of the Mallam substation to improve power supply to Accra West.
He said all the projects, which also included the replacement of all equipment at the Volta and Akosombo switching stations and the construction of a second Bulk Supply Point in Kumasi, were scheduled to be completed between 2009 and 2011.
Mr Adu-Amankwah conceded that the ECG had not been able to expand its capacity to meet the seven and eight per cent annual energy growth rate due to lack of funds.
That, he explained, had led to a situation in which most of the network was overloaded.
He, however, said the ECG had secured a number of funding for investment in improving its infrastructure to improve power supply to its customers.
Some of the short-term investments, he said, were GH¢492,383 in Accra East, GH¢399,305 for Accra West, GH¢606,260 for Tema and GH¢529,653 for Ashanti West.
The rest are GH¢1.152 million for Ashanti East, GH¢916,865 for Western, GH¢1,392 million for Volta, GH¢483,966 for Central and GH¢362,287 for Eastern regions.
Mr Adu-Amankwah, who also outlined the medium to long-term investment plans, said the funds, which were being sourced from both donor and government of Ghana sources, were largely available.
Responding to questions on government subsidy, he said the subject was in the domain of the government and not that of the ECG.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE three key players in the country’s energy supply chain say they are in good position to meet the electric energy needs of the country for 2009 and beyond.
While the Volta River Authority (VRA), the main producer of electric energy in Ghana, said it would meet the national demand of 1,562 Megawatts (MW), leaving a reserve of 227 MW, the Ghana Grid Company (GridCo), for its part, said a number of activities were underway to improve upon system performance and reliability by reducing the effects of obsolete equipment or redundancies. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), for its part, said it had made huge investments in the expansion of its infrastructure to ensure adequate and reliable power supply to its customers within three to six months.
While the ECG distributes the energy produced by the VRA, GridCo is the sole transmitter, providing the lines for the distribution of the energy generated.
The chief executive officers of the VRA and GridCO, Owura Sarfo and Mr Joseph Wiafe, respectively, and the Managing Director of the ECG, Mr Jude Adu-Amankwah, announced these measures at a joint press conference in Accra yesterday on short to long-term plans to meet the country’s energy needs.
Owura Sarfo said the total national installed capacity of electric power plants was 1,916MW.
The plants, he said, were from the Akosombo Hydro Generating Station, the Kpong Hydro Generating Station, the Takoradi Thermal Plant Station (TAPCO), the Takoradi Thermal International Company (TICO), a new thermal plant, the Tema 1 Thermal Plant, and an 80MW thermal plant built by a consortium of mining companies in Ghana and handed over to the VRA for operation to support the supply base.
“Also available to support the power supply is a limited amount of power imports, currently 10MW, from CIE of Cote d’Ivoire,” he added.
Owura Sarfo said the reserve margin of 227MW available at any time could either be reserve capacity on a running generating unit or a reserve machine waiting to be connected to the system, saying that “in the event of a sudden change in the demand-supply balance, the reserve capacities on running machines are immediately called upon to correct the imbalance”.
The CEO of the VRA said the inclusion of the 200MW Sunon Asogli Plant and the implementation of a number of projects, including the Bui Plant, expansion works in Takoradi and private producer initiatives, should help address the power needs of the country and make some available for export.
For his part, Mr Wiafe said the power network was faced with overage and obsolete equipment, overloaded facilities due to inability to increase capacity to match demand, among others.
He said it was to address the effects of the state of the national power system that GridCO had installed the Automatic Frequency Load Shedding (AFLS) system to prevent total collapse of the power system.
He said it was to deal with some of the challenges that the company was constructing a number of transmission lines, including the Kumasi-Obuasi line, the Aboadze-Tema line, a third Accra Bulk Supply Point at Agyirigano, and doubling the capacity of the Mallam substation to improve power supply to Accra West.
He said all the projects, which also included the replacement of all equipment at the Volta and Akosombo switching stations and the construction of a second Bulk Supply Point in Kumasi, were scheduled to be completed between 2009 and 2011.
Mr Adu-Amankwah conceded that the ECG had not been able to expand its capacity to meet the seven and eight per cent annual energy growth rate due to lack of funds.
That, he explained, had led to a situation in which most of the network was overloaded.
He, however, said the ECG had secured a number of funding for investment in improving its infrastructure to improve power supply to its customers.
Some of the short-term investments, he said, were GH¢492,383 in Accra East, GH¢399,305 for Accra West, GH¢606,260 for Tema and GH¢529,653 for Ashanti West.
The rest are GH¢1.152 million for Ashanti East, GH¢916,865 for Western, GH¢1,392 million for Volta, GH¢483,966 for Central and GH¢362,287 for Eastern regions.
Mr Adu-Amankwah, who also outlined the medium to long-term investment plans, said the funds, which were being sourced from both donor and government of Ghana sources, were largely available.
Responding to questions on government subsidy, he said the subject was in the domain of the government and not that of the ECG.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New foreign service recruits resume work
Page 55: Daily Graphic, April 23, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TEN out of the 30 new foreign service recruits whose engagement as Foreign Service Officers (FSO) was suspended by the International Relations Sub-committee of the Transition Team earlier this year have resumed work.
The 20 others who allegedly did not qualify or did not apply at all but were included in the list through fraudulent means were replaced by others who qualified but were left out of the original list.
The Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, confirmed to the Daily Graphic yesterday that the suspension of the recruitment exercise was to ensure that the selection process had been fair.
He said as it turned out after the investigations, it was realised that the process was breached but the anomaly had been corrected.
He said the earlier recruitment contravened the 1992 Constitution, which frowns on discrimination, and was also in breach of the rules and regulations for appointment of persons into both the Civil Service and the Ghana Foreign Service.
Throwing more light on the issue, Alhaji Mumuni said on March 18, 2008, an interview panel set up by the Ministry for the final stage of recruitment of 30 persons to fill vacancies in the Branch A5 FSO Grade of the Ministry reported to the former sector minister the ranking of the 155 applicants based on the scores they obtained at the interview.
He said the panel recommended that the top-ranked 30 applicants should fill the advertised vacancies.
Alhaji Mumuni said the former minister on November 21, 2008, however, unilaterally and arbitrarily changed the names of the applicants to be appointed and also increased the prescribed number to be appointed from 30 to 40.
He said the former minister, on January 6, 2009, further wrote to the Head of Civil Service with another list of 12 more appointees into Branch FSO A5 Grade.
According to him, the transition team observed that by increasing the number of appointees to 40 and later sending an additional 12, the then minister ignored the budgetary constraints that persuaded the Ministry of Finance to direct that only 30 of the applicants should be recruited.
“The Minister ignored the grading of applicants submitted by the interview panel by selecting only 10 of the top ranked 30 and replacing applicants with lower-ranked ones in his list of 40 appointees,” he noted.
Alhaji Mumuni said it was also observed that eight persons in the Minister’s list of 40 appointees did not even apply for the vacancies and were neither interviewed nor ranked.
He said it was based on those findings that the team recommended to the Office of the President the review of the recruitment exercise in accordance with the principle of meritocracy and the rule of law.
That, he said, led to the suspension of the exercise.
Alhaji Mumuni said after a review of the exercise, the Ministry decided to engage the 30 top-ranked persons recommended by the interview panel to be recruited, which included the 20 persons who were left out in the first exercise.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring fair play in all its actions.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TEN out of the 30 new foreign service recruits whose engagement as Foreign Service Officers (FSO) was suspended by the International Relations Sub-committee of the Transition Team earlier this year have resumed work.
The 20 others who allegedly did not qualify or did not apply at all but were included in the list through fraudulent means were replaced by others who qualified but were left out of the original list.
The Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, confirmed to the Daily Graphic yesterday that the suspension of the recruitment exercise was to ensure that the selection process had been fair.
He said as it turned out after the investigations, it was realised that the process was breached but the anomaly had been corrected.
He said the earlier recruitment contravened the 1992 Constitution, which frowns on discrimination, and was also in breach of the rules and regulations for appointment of persons into both the Civil Service and the Ghana Foreign Service.
Throwing more light on the issue, Alhaji Mumuni said on March 18, 2008, an interview panel set up by the Ministry for the final stage of recruitment of 30 persons to fill vacancies in the Branch A5 FSO Grade of the Ministry reported to the former sector minister the ranking of the 155 applicants based on the scores they obtained at the interview.
He said the panel recommended that the top-ranked 30 applicants should fill the advertised vacancies.
Alhaji Mumuni said the former minister on November 21, 2008, however, unilaterally and arbitrarily changed the names of the applicants to be appointed and also increased the prescribed number to be appointed from 30 to 40.
He said the former minister, on January 6, 2009, further wrote to the Head of Civil Service with another list of 12 more appointees into Branch FSO A5 Grade.
According to him, the transition team observed that by increasing the number of appointees to 40 and later sending an additional 12, the then minister ignored the budgetary constraints that persuaded the Ministry of Finance to direct that only 30 of the applicants should be recruited.
“The Minister ignored the grading of applicants submitted by the interview panel by selecting only 10 of the top ranked 30 and replacing applicants with lower-ranked ones in his list of 40 appointees,” he noted.
Alhaji Mumuni said it was also observed that eight persons in the Minister’s list of 40 appointees did not even apply for the vacancies and were neither interviewed nor ranked.
He said it was based on those findings that the team recommended to the Office of the President the review of the recruitment exercise in accordance with the principle of meritocracy and the rule of law.
That, he said, led to the suspension of the exercise.
Alhaji Mumuni said after a review of the exercise, the Ministry decided to engage the 30 top-ranked persons recommended by the interview panel to be recruited, which included the 20 persons who were left out in the first exercise.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring fair play in all its actions.
Officers to sign performance contract
Page 24: Daily Graphic, April 23, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
OFFICERS at the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Prisons Service are to be included in the signing of performance contracts as part of efforts to inject professionalism and competence into the running of those agencies.
The Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that following initial stakeholder consultations on the issue with national, regional, divisional and district officers, it was decided that the contract for the officer corps of the Ghana Police Service should be extended to other security agencies under the ministry.
The Daily Graphic, in its February 27, 2009 issue, published the idea by the Interior Minister when he addressed heads of security agencies in Tamale on February 25, 2009 during a fact-finding tour of the area following clashes between supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He did not indicate when the contracts were to be introduced but hinted that he had asked the directors at the ministry to begin working out the details, saying that they would be introduced as soon as they were ready.
He was of the view that when that was done, officers who were found to be non-performing would be replaced after an annual assessment of their work.
He said the ministry had been having consultations with stakeholders on the issue and it was during one such consultations that it was suggested that the other agencies be brought on board.
Mr Avoka said it was also suggested that the issue be comprehensively dealt with together with the governing councils of the affected institutions.
He said apart from the Police Council, which was announced last week and was yet to be inaugurated, the other councils were yet to be announced.
The Interior Minister gave the assurance that the deliberations would move into full gear when those councils were fully constituted and began work.
Mr Avoka said one thing that emerged from the tour and his interactions with the people was that there were a lot of question marks on the work of the security personnel.
He noted that if the people lost confidence in the security services due to inaction and partisanship, “then the country is doomed because the people will take the law into their own hands”.
He explained that it was to ensure professionalism and neutrality in the work of the security personnel that the performance contract issue would be pursued to its fullest conclusion.
Story: Albert K. Salia
OFFICERS at the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Prisons Service are to be included in the signing of performance contracts as part of efforts to inject professionalism and competence into the running of those agencies.
The Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that following initial stakeholder consultations on the issue with national, regional, divisional and district officers, it was decided that the contract for the officer corps of the Ghana Police Service should be extended to other security agencies under the ministry.
The Daily Graphic, in its February 27, 2009 issue, published the idea by the Interior Minister when he addressed heads of security agencies in Tamale on February 25, 2009 during a fact-finding tour of the area following clashes between supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He did not indicate when the contracts were to be introduced but hinted that he had asked the directors at the ministry to begin working out the details, saying that they would be introduced as soon as they were ready.
He was of the view that when that was done, officers who were found to be non-performing would be replaced after an annual assessment of their work.
He said the ministry had been having consultations with stakeholders on the issue and it was during one such consultations that it was suggested that the other agencies be brought on board.
Mr Avoka said it was also suggested that the issue be comprehensively dealt with together with the governing councils of the affected institutions.
He said apart from the Police Council, which was announced last week and was yet to be inaugurated, the other councils were yet to be announced.
The Interior Minister gave the assurance that the deliberations would move into full gear when those councils were fully constituted and began work.
Mr Avoka said one thing that emerged from the tour and his interactions with the people was that there were a lot of question marks on the work of the security personnel.
He noted that if the people lost confidence in the security services due to inaction and partisanship, “then the country is doomed because the people will take the law into their own hands”.
He explained that it was to ensure professionalism and neutrality in the work of the security personnel that the performance contract issue would be pursued to its fullest conclusion.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
NR Minister’s action comes under criticism
Page 34: Daily Graphic, April 21, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO security analysts have described the action of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, of sacking the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour, out of a Regional Security Council meeting, as wrong and an abuse of office.
Dr Kwesi Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, and Mr Emmanuel Sowatey, a small arms expert, said even if the Regional Minister had a problem with the Police Commander, walking him out was not the best.
They wondered whether Mr Nayina had earlier complained to the Interior Minister and the acting Inspector-General of Police about any problems he (Nayina) was having with DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour.
The security experts were speaking in reaction to the dismissal of the Northern Regional Police Commander from a Regional Security Council meeting in Tamale on April 14, 2009 and his subsequent withdrawal by the Interior Minister and the IGP.
DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour was walked out of the meeting when it was discovered that he took the wind out of the sail of the Regional Minister to brief the media about some decisions taken to extend a one-month moratorium given all residents of Tamale to surrender their weapons.
Dr Aning said while the removal of the police commander could have been politically correct, it did not hold the key to the long-standing tension in the region.
He said the conduct of the Regional Minister so far clearly demonstrated his lack of understanding of the complex issues of security and suggested that Mr Nanyina be dismissed for gross incompetence in dealing with security issues in the region.
According to him, keeping the Regional Minister in office would not only make the work of the President difficult, but was also likely to escalate the tensions and unsettle the situation in the region.
He expressed regret that civil authority had been so abused that a competent police officer should be withdrawn from post.
According to him, the minister had failed and had to be sacked.
Mr Sowatey explained that the position of the Regional Police Commander on the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) was mandated by the National Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, Act 526.
Mr Sowatey said Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour’s reputation and career had been dented by the action, which would make every minister or his subordinates not to trust him in whatever position.
He wondered whether prior to the incident, Mr Nayina had complained to the Interior Minister or the Inspector-General of Police about the conduct of Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour and what their reactions were.
Mr Sowatey wondered whether the minister’s anger about the Police Commander was because he (police boss) was the first to break the news about weapons-buy-back programme or REGSEC had not taken any firm decision on it.
He said if it was not time for the news to be made public then Mr Nayina had a genuine reason to be bitter but his approach of resolving the problem was wrong.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO security analysts have described the action of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, of sacking the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour, out of a Regional Security Council meeting, as wrong and an abuse of office.
Dr Kwesi Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, and Mr Emmanuel Sowatey, a small arms expert, said even if the Regional Minister had a problem with the Police Commander, walking him out was not the best.
They wondered whether Mr Nayina had earlier complained to the Interior Minister and the acting Inspector-General of Police about any problems he (Nayina) was having with DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour.
The security experts were speaking in reaction to the dismissal of the Northern Regional Police Commander from a Regional Security Council meeting in Tamale on April 14, 2009 and his subsequent withdrawal by the Interior Minister and the IGP.
DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour was walked out of the meeting when it was discovered that he took the wind out of the sail of the Regional Minister to brief the media about some decisions taken to extend a one-month moratorium given all residents of Tamale to surrender their weapons.
Dr Aning said while the removal of the police commander could have been politically correct, it did not hold the key to the long-standing tension in the region.
He said the conduct of the Regional Minister so far clearly demonstrated his lack of understanding of the complex issues of security and suggested that Mr Nanyina be dismissed for gross incompetence in dealing with security issues in the region.
According to him, keeping the Regional Minister in office would not only make the work of the President difficult, but was also likely to escalate the tensions and unsettle the situation in the region.
He expressed regret that civil authority had been so abused that a competent police officer should be withdrawn from post.
According to him, the minister had failed and had to be sacked.
Mr Sowatey explained that the position of the Regional Police Commander on the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) was mandated by the National Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, Act 526.
Mr Sowatey said Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour’s reputation and career had been dented by the action, which would make every minister or his subordinates not to trust him in whatever position.
He wondered whether prior to the incident, Mr Nayina had complained to the Interior Minister or the Inspector-General of Police about the conduct of Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour and what their reactions were.
Mr Sowatey wondered whether the minister’s anger about the Police Commander was because he (police boss) was the first to break the news about weapons-buy-back programme or REGSEC had not taken any firm decision on it.
He said if it was not time for the news to be made public then Mr Nayina had a genuine reason to be bitter but his approach of resolving the problem was wrong.
Ghana against drugs and crime
Page 9: Daily Graphic, April 21, 2009
Article: Albert K. Salia
MANY, if not all seminars, workshops and conferences organised by the state, ministries, departments and agencies and private sector institutions, have yielded very little practical results.
Nice speeches have often been made and continue to be made at such fora, pledges are also made with the view to finding solutions to certain problems. But what happens after such fora?
It was with such reservation but with the benefit of doubt that I attended the Government of Ghana-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) organised “Ghana Against Drugs and Crime” conference on March 18, 2009 at the British Council.
I seriously hoped that something concrete would be done as a result of the conference. It must be recalled that the various committees that were set up to investigate various drug challenges yielded no significant results. At least the Georgina Wood Committee, the Kojo Armah Committee, the Ampewuah Committee and the Zwennes Committee would suffice here. It seemed the committees were face-saving and adhoc committees set up to assuage public sentiments or to hoodwink the public into believing that something was being done about the drug menace.
At the fora, both the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama and the Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka gave pledges to see to the amendment of the Narcotics Control Board Law, PNDC Law 236 of 1990. Those pledges are not new because during the first era of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under former President Jerry John Rawlings those same promises were made by the government to amend the law but that did not happen. The Kufuor administration followed with similar sweet promises but to date, it has not been done.
But certainly, with the Vice-President, the Interior Minister and all those who matter in law enforcement present at the conference, it is the general expectation that at long last “words lead to action and that action leads to success” as the former UN Secretary-general, Perez de Cuellar said in April 1990.
At least the lecture by Carlos Antonio Perez of the Centre for Research and Anthropology in Mexico City, on the “Mexican Experience”, should encourage President John Evans Atta Mills’ government into action.
Mr Perez had made it clear that Mexico has never been a coca - the plant whose leaves are used to produce the drug cocaine, is a powerful stimulant - producing country but had reached the present state of chaos because officialdom and Mexicans ignored the dangers of the drug menace, describing their country as only a transit country.
But today, even in their state as a transit country, an estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred in Mexico last year, six times the standard definition of a civil war. On Tuesday, March 24, 2009, the Mexican government had placed a $2 million ransom on the heads of the drug lords in his country. Should we wait for Ghana to come to that state?
This is why I believe the call by Vice-President John Mahama at the conference on Ghanaians to rally behind the government to fight the drug menace in the country must go beyond the call by the government leading the way to mobilise the entire nation to be part of the solution.
The drug problem, as it is well known, is a problem of the people and the people must be part of the solution. No doubt, the drug menace has not only eaten deep into the moral fibre of the society but also worsened organised crime among the youth. It has damaged the image of Ghana in the international community and continued to paint an ugly picture of the country in the eyes of the comity of nations. No wonder that the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa lamented recently that “the Gold Coast of Africa, one of humanity’s most beautiful assets is turning into a coke (cocaine) coast”. The embarrassing searches that high profile Ghanaians go through at international airports will tell you the seriousness of the stigma.
But if combating the menace has currently become a national security problem, then it means our strategies and commitment to dealing with the menace has been half-hearted and largely unsuccessful. The threat that the drug menace poses to Ghana’s vital democratic institutions and national security is so serious that finding an antidote to it should, therefore, transcend political parochialism.
That is because the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has made it clear that drug trafficking and the often consequent spread of drug abuse were serious threats to the regional and national security, political, economic and social development of societies and their institutions.
According to the UNODC, “drug-originated financial flows feed violence and corruption, undermine the rule of law and impede the rooting of a culture of sincere democracy built on transparent governance, and a credible criminal justice system,” it said.
Since Mr K. B. Quantson handed over the leadership of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to Colonel Isaac Akuoko in 2001, there has been four changes at the place. ACP Daniel Odai, Major General Baiden, Mr Ben Botwe and currently, ACP Robert Ayalingo, have all taken turns to run NACOB. No doubt, there has been the need for some leadership changes at the NACOB. That was because some of the appointees did not have the requisite capability of managing the complex and sensitive organisation like the NACOB at a time when the global threats of drugs is so high. But the changes themselves would not yield any positive result unless there is a complete structural overhaul. There should be consistency in the leadership direction. To make matter worse, we have some shadow Executive Secretaries, some of who were appointed by word of mouth while others had appointment letters but they never assumed office. Such frequent changes only send wrong signals to the international community that we do not seriously know what we are about.
Needless to say, the NACOB has its problems some of which are the low morale of the staff, poor salaries and appalling working conditions, the discharge suspects under questionable circumstances as well as the failure of the Attorney-General’s Office to appeal against such rulings. But that cannot and should not account for the inefficiency and incompetence of the way have been allowed to run at the NACOB.
It should be recalled that after the Georgina Committee had submitted its report, a high profile experts consultative forum, both local and international, was held at Elmina in October to 2006 to address issues relating to drug control in Ghana. A wonderful piece of work was drafted for implementation but characteristically, what happened to that beautiful document that the state and its foreign partners put so much effort and resources in?
Indeed, Dr J. B. Asare, a founding member of NACOB and currently a member of the International Narcotics Control Board, was blunt in stating at the recent Drugs Conference that Ghana did not have a drug control policy. This should be a shameful embarrassment. And yet politicians and technocrats have mounted various platforms to proclaim commitment and determination to deal with the drug menace. What was the basis of such bold statements. Were they being sincere or they were just engaged in empty political rhetoric?
For the avoidance of doubt, let me encapsulate some of the recommendations of the Report of the Experts Consultation on Narcotic Drug Control in Ghana at Elmina which was held at the instance of the Ministry of the Interior in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from October 27 to 31, 2006.
Among others on the legal framework of the NACOB, it was recommended that the status of the Narcotics Control Board be transformed to that of a Commission to enhance its status and improve on its performance, should be made independent and autonomous, have the authority to receive, investigate and prosecute any complaint of alleged drug activity or narcotic drug abuse, collaborate with appropriate bodies dealing with anti corruption and money laundering issues and be given the mandate to taking charge, supervise, control, coordinating all the responsibilities, functions and activities relating to arrest, investigation, of all offences connected with or relating to illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
The Experts also recommended specific amendments to the existing functions of the Board in the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Board Instrument 1990 (L.I. 1507). For instance, it was the view of the experts that the use of the word Narcotics in the L.I. 1507 excluded psychotropic substances and precursors and there was the need to cure it in the interpretation section. That with reference to section 1 (f) “dangers” be used instead of “evils”. That section 1 (h) of L.I. 1507 be amended to read “to perform such other functions as the President of the Republic may assign to it” Enforcement involves a. Investigations b. Arrests c. Prosecutions Investigations in the context should be given a broad meaning and which must include all processes till the end of the judicial process and thereafter. The Experts recommended that specialised courts be established in Accra and elsewhere as the Commission and the Chief Justice may determine from time to time to speed up trials of narcotics cases.
On demand-reduction, the experts recommended that the NACOB produce Drug Awareness manuals, materials for training trainers, encourage the formation of Anti-Drug Clubs at all levels of education and introduce drug testing as part of pre-licensing requisite for all drivers, random drug residue testing for sensitive areas of public and civil society, random drug policy testing for sports men and women.
The experts did a very good job. But characteristically, the document is lying waste. If so much efforts are put in place to assemble such expertise to design such beautiful documents but it is not used, it undermines our own hypocrisy of the fighting the drug menace.
Article: Albert K. Salia
MANY, if not all seminars, workshops and conferences organised by the state, ministries, departments and agencies and private sector institutions, have yielded very little practical results.
Nice speeches have often been made and continue to be made at such fora, pledges are also made with the view to finding solutions to certain problems. But what happens after such fora?
It was with such reservation but with the benefit of doubt that I attended the Government of Ghana-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) organised “Ghana Against Drugs and Crime” conference on March 18, 2009 at the British Council.
I seriously hoped that something concrete would be done as a result of the conference. It must be recalled that the various committees that were set up to investigate various drug challenges yielded no significant results. At least the Georgina Wood Committee, the Kojo Armah Committee, the Ampewuah Committee and the Zwennes Committee would suffice here. It seemed the committees were face-saving and adhoc committees set up to assuage public sentiments or to hoodwink the public into believing that something was being done about the drug menace.
At the fora, both the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama and the Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka gave pledges to see to the amendment of the Narcotics Control Board Law, PNDC Law 236 of 1990. Those pledges are not new because during the first era of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under former President Jerry John Rawlings those same promises were made by the government to amend the law but that did not happen. The Kufuor administration followed with similar sweet promises but to date, it has not been done.
But certainly, with the Vice-President, the Interior Minister and all those who matter in law enforcement present at the conference, it is the general expectation that at long last “words lead to action and that action leads to success” as the former UN Secretary-general, Perez de Cuellar said in April 1990.
At least the lecture by Carlos Antonio Perez of the Centre for Research and Anthropology in Mexico City, on the “Mexican Experience”, should encourage President John Evans Atta Mills’ government into action.
Mr Perez had made it clear that Mexico has never been a coca - the plant whose leaves are used to produce the drug cocaine, is a powerful stimulant - producing country but had reached the present state of chaos because officialdom and Mexicans ignored the dangers of the drug menace, describing their country as only a transit country.
But today, even in their state as a transit country, an estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred in Mexico last year, six times the standard definition of a civil war. On Tuesday, March 24, 2009, the Mexican government had placed a $2 million ransom on the heads of the drug lords in his country. Should we wait for Ghana to come to that state?
This is why I believe the call by Vice-President John Mahama at the conference on Ghanaians to rally behind the government to fight the drug menace in the country must go beyond the call by the government leading the way to mobilise the entire nation to be part of the solution.
The drug problem, as it is well known, is a problem of the people and the people must be part of the solution. No doubt, the drug menace has not only eaten deep into the moral fibre of the society but also worsened organised crime among the youth. It has damaged the image of Ghana in the international community and continued to paint an ugly picture of the country in the eyes of the comity of nations. No wonder that the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa lamented recently that “the Gold Coast of Africa, one of humanity’s most beautiful assets is turning into a coke (cocaine) coast”. The embarrassing searches that high profile Ghanaians go through at international airports will tell you the seriousness of the stigma.
But if combating the menace has currently become a national security problem, then it means our strategies and commitment to dealing with the menace has been half-hearted and largely unsuccessful. The threat that the drug menace poses to Ghana’s vital democratic institutions and national security is so serious that finding an antidote to it should, therefore, transcend political parochialism.
That is because the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has made it clear that drug trafficking and the often consequent spread of drug abuse were serious threats to the regional and national security, political, economic and social development of societies and their institutions.
According to the UNODC, “drug-originated financial flows feed violence and corruption, undermine the rule of law and impede the rooting of a culture of sincere democracy built on transparent governance, and a credible criminal justice system,” it said.
Since Mr K. B. Quantson handed over the leadership of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to Colonel Isaac Akuoko in 2001, there has been four changes at the place. ACP Daniel Odai, Major General Baiden, Mr Ben Botwe and currently, ACP Robert Ayalingo, have all taken turns to run NACOB. No doubt, there has been the need for some leadership changes at the NACOB. That was because some of the appointees did not have the requisite capability of managing the complex and sensitive organisation like the NACOB at a time when the global threats of drugs is so high. But the changes themselves would not yield any positive result unless there is a complete structural overhaul. There should be consistency in the leadership direction. To make matter worse, we have some shadow Executive Secretaries, some of who were appointed by word of mouth while others had appointment letters but they never assumed office. Such frequent changes only send wrong signals to the international community that we do not seriously know what we are about.
Needless to say, the NACOB has its problems some of which are the low morale of the staff, poor salaries and appalling working conditions, the discharge suspects under questionable circumstances as well as the failure of the Attorney-General’s Office to appeal against such rulings. But that cannot and should not account for the inefficiency and incompetence of the way have been allowed to run at the NACOB.
It should be recalled that after the Georgina Committee had submitted its report, a high profile experts consultative forum, both local and international, was held at Elmina in October to 2006 to address issues relating to drug control in Ghana. A wonderful piece of work was drafted for implementation but characteristically, what happened to that beautiful document that the state and its foreign partners put so much effort and resources in?
Indeed, Dr J. B. Asare, a founding member of NACOB and currently a member of the International Narcotics Control Board, was blunt in stating at the recent Drugs Conference that Ghana did not have a drug control policy. This should be a shameful embarrassment. And yet politicians and technocrats have mounted various platforms to proclaim commitment and determination to deal with the drug menace. What was the basis of such bold statements. Were they being sincere or they were just engaged in empty political rhetoric?
For the avoidance of doubt, let me encapsulate some of the recommendations of the Report of the Experts Consultation on Narcotic Drug Control in Ghana at Elmina which was held at the instance of the Ministry of the Interior in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from October 27 to 31, 2006.
Among others on the legal framework of the NACOB, it was recommended that the status of the Narcotics Control Board be transformed to that of a Commission to enhance its status and improve on its performance, should be made independent and autonomous, have the authority to receive, investigate and prosecute any complaint of alleged drug activity or narcotic drug abuse, collaborate with appropriate bodies dealing with anti corruption and money laundering issues and be given the mandate to taking charge, supervise, control, coordinating all the responsibilities, functions and activities relating to arrest, investigation, of all offences connected with or relating to illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
The Experts also recommended specific amendments to the existing functions of the Board in the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Board Instrument 1990 (L.I. 1507). For instance, it was the view of the experts that the use of the word Narcotics in the L.I. 1507 excluded psychotropic substances and precursors and there was the need to cure it in the interpretation section. That with reference to section 1 (f) “dangers” be used instead of “evils”. That section 1 (h) of L.I. 1507 be amended to read “to perform such other functions as the President of the Republic may assign to it” Enforcement involves a. Investigations b. Arrests c. Prosecutions Investigations in the context should be given a broad meaning and which must include all processes till the end of the judicial process and thereafter. The Experts recommended that specialised courts be established in Accra and elsewhere as the Commission and the Chief Justice may determine from time to time to speed up trials of narcotics cases.
On demand-reduction, the experts recommended that the NACOB produce Drug Awareness manuals, materials for training trainers, encourage the formation of Anti-Drug Clubs at all levels of education and introduce drug testing as part of pre-licensing requisite for all drivers, random drug residue testing for sensitive areas of public and civil society, random drug policy testing for sports men and women.
The experts did a very good job. But characteristically, the document is lying waste. If so much efforts are put in place to assemble such expertise to design such beautiful documents but it is not used, it undermines our own hypocrisy of the fighting the drug menace.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Cop in cocaine case passes away
Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 17, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
ONE of the three policemen who was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for facilitating the escape of a cocaine fugitive, died yesterday morning at the Nsawam Government Hospital.
Lance Corporal Peter Bondurin was found guilty of receiving an unspecified amount in US dollars from Sheriff Asem Dakeh, alias The Limping Man, and allowing him to flee with 2,280 kilogrammes of cocaine.
He was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday at about 8:30 am but was treated and discharged.
However, according to the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, DSP Gloria Fati, Bondurin was rushed back to the hospital between 3:30pm and 4pm the same day but passed away yesterday morning.
Bondurin and his two other colleagues, Sergeant David Nyarko and Detective Corporal Dwamena Yabson, were on December 21, 2007, sentenced to a total of 75 years, imprisonment with hard labour by the Accra Fast Track High Court for facilitating the escape of Dakeh.
They were convicted on two counts of extortion and corruption by a public officer after the court held that the prosecution had led evidence beyond reasonable doubt to prove their guilt.
A third accused person, Detective Sergeant Samuel Yaw Amoah, who was said to have collected the money from Sheriff and in turn shared it with the convicts and some fishermen and is currently on the run, was described by the presiding judge “as a disgrace to the police service”.
The presiding judge, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah, who was then a Court of Appeal judge, with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, held that, “Amoah escaped as a result of the negligence of the police. The image of the police has been tarnished and it is unfortunate the police allowed him to escape.”
Story: Albert K. Salia
ONE of the three policemen who was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for facilitating the escape of a cocaine fugitive, died yesterday morning at the Nsawam Government Hospital.
Lance Corporal Peter Bondurin was found guilty of receiving an unspecified amount in US dollars from Sheriff Asem Dakeh, alias The Limping Man, and allowing him to flee with 2,280 kilogrammes of cocaine.
He was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday at about 8:30 am but was treated and discharged.
However, according to the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, DSP Gloria Fati, Bondurin was rushed back to the hospital between 3:30pm and 4pm the same day but passed away yesterday morning.
Bondurin and his two other colleagues, Sergeant David Nyarko and Detective Corporal Dwamena Yabson, were on December 21, 2007, sentenced to a total of 75 years, imprisonment with hard labour by the Accra Fast Track High Court for facilitating the escape of Dakeh.
They were convicted on two counts of extortion and corruption by a public officer after the court held that the prosecution had led evidence beyond reasonable doubt to prove their guilt.
A third accused person, Detective Sergeant Samuel Yaw Amoah, who was said to have collected the money from Sheriff and in turn shared it with the convicts and some fishermen and is currently on the run, was described by the presiding judge “as a disgrace to the police service”.
The presiding judge, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah, who was then a Court of Appeal judge, with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, held that, “Amoah escaped as a result of the negligence of the police. The image of the police has been tarnished and it is unfortunate the police allowed him to escape.”
The Power of cocaine
Page 9: Daily Graphic, September 28, 2006.
Article: Albert K. Salia
“Traffickers care very little about the sanctions of the criminal justice system. Going to jail is just part of the cost of doing business. It’s a nuisance, not a deterrent” - Kurt Schmoke, one-time Mayor of Baltimore.
MANY Ghanaians are waiting with baited breath for the findings of the Georgina Wood Committee to see whether some officers of the security agencies would be nailed or exonerated.
Indeed, the media expose on the work of the committee had been to discuss the role and complexity of some of these security officials particularly Mr Benjamin Ndego of the Narcotics Control Board, Mr P. K. Acheampong, the Inspector-General of Police, Messrs Kofi Boakye and Patrick Ampewuah and Edward Tabiri, all top police officers.
Until a committee was set up to investigate the loss of five kilogrammes and later the Georgina Wood Committee, hardly was there any meaningful media attention on narcotic issues, which some of us considered as a worry. This was due to the fact that our beloved country was gradually becoming a consuming of hard drugs, especially cocaine and heroin.
The question Ghanaians should be answers to is that what happens after the Attorney-General has advised the government appropriately on the findings and recommendations of the Georgina Wood Committee Report? This is because it still appears to me that many Ghanaians do not appreciate the enormity of the problem facing Ghana.
Although Alhaji Issah Abass, Tagor, Yaw Kessie and the rest have allegedly been described as the drug barons of this country, I dare say that it is only the novice who would assume that these are indeed, the real barons. The closest these people are to the drug trade would just be three or two steps away from the real barons.
Drug barons are never in the middle of transactions. Their agents do. Drug barons allow their money and their agents to work for them. This is to eliminate any traces of suspicion towards them. Period.
I am not suggesting that I know who the real barons are. I am only sharing some knowledge that I have acquired on the drug operations in the last nine to 10 years from my coverage of the issues and also reading from books and information shared with me by knowledgeable people on the drug trade.
The accusations of police complexity in the cocaine scandal to some us is no news at all. There had been times that the Daily Graphic had carried reports of such officers messing themselves up in cocaine deals. As a I write this piece, two policemen who travelled to the United Kingdom on holidays last year are languishing in jail because of this cocaine business while a senior officer is also on interdiction because of his meddling in cocaine money (bribery case).
Operations of the Barons
For those who have read Rensselaer Lee’s book, “The White Labyrinth: Cocaine and Political Power”, what is going on in our dear land should not be surprising.
According to him, the most important component of cocaine organisations is a system of protection and intelligence. The Mafia pays the police/military not to raid laboratories, not to make arrests and to block investigations. It pays attorneys not to prosecute, judges not to convict and penal officials to release those traffickers who in spite of everything, do manage to land in jail.
The Mafia consequently need an intelligence network to supplement the protection network and to provide advance warning of planned anti-drug operations such as raids, customs searches and arrests. The network includes informants strategically placed in police organisations, the military and key government ministries such as Justice, Interior or Foreign Relations.
Lee makes the point that “sometimes cocaine traffickers occupy positions of trust and responsibility within the law enforcement bureaucracy”, citing Reynald R. Lopez of Peru, himself a drug trafficker but was an adviser to the Director of Peruvian Intelligence of Police (PIP).
According to Lee; “The police take bribes not to make arrests and seizures. When the police do make successful busts, the confiscated drugs are often resold on the illicit market”.
If these are the real challenges facing the fight against illicit drug trafficking, then Ghanaians must also show keen interest in who occupy our various top security positions. Thus, if for instance, any security officer was to be removed for his alleged complexity in the drug trade, how would the appointing authority know that the people being considered to replace the removed officers were themselves not deeply involved in any underworld operation and forestall the appointment of such an officer to the high position? Traffickers’ most major concern is the security of their business and themselves. Thus, they acquire state-of-the-art radio equipment, scramblers and coding devices and computerised navigation. With the help of corrupt security personnel, they ensure that their operations are protected and so are they themselves.
It is important that Ghanaians appreciate the enormity of the problem facing the country and rise up above partisan interests, since if concerted efforts were not made to rid the nation of the drug canker, then this country is finished!!
Indeed, cocaine traffickers earn friends and supporters within the society by spending money within the society. Lee notes that “in some cases, traffickers have acquired a kind of Robin Hood image by donating vast sums to local development projects by simply giving money and gifts to the poor”.
The Medellin Civico newspaper, founded by Hernan Gavira Berrio, an uncle of Escobar and partly funded by the baron himself, described Escobar as a “gospel of generosity, who was dedicated to redeeming the forgotten class of Antioquia”.
If one recollects the incident at the premises of the Circuit Court when Prince Tsibu Darko was sent there, in which some sympathisers attacked the media in particular, Lee was not wrong in stating that the Robin Hood image of the drug dealers represents an important part of the protection shield as it raises the political costs to governments of arresting these “outlaws”. The traffickers represent a “new illegitimate bourgeoisie”.
Engagement in private welfare activities such as housing projects, sewer repair, medical services, roads and schools are key areas that attract the attention of drug traffickers. For example, Pablo Escobar built between 450 and 500 two-bedroom cement-block houses at a slum in Medellin, Carlos Lehder organised and funded a major earthquake relief effort in the city of Popayan with another baron, Roberto, paving streets, restoring churches and offering scholarships to needy students.
Drug dealers work hard at image building, trying with some success, to pass themselves off as patriotic, progressive and public-spirited citizens. Their charitable and public works reach areas the government cannot reach, earning them popular following. Some dealers champion their image-building agenda by owning publications, radio stations or sponsor media activities. For instance, Carlos Lehder’s Quindio Libre and the Medellin Civico, was owned by the Escobar family.
Ghanaians would have to appreciate some of these challenges and rise up against such influences. In fact, it is to my journalists that I would plead that they remain truly professional and not allow anyone of the underworld to use us clandestinely. For what I know, the underworld operators try to befriend you either through remote contacts or through personal contacts and when they realise you have been won over, then they may begin to open up to you to show you their real businesses. If one does not take care, he or she would be impotent by the largesse of his ‘trusted’ friend and, therefore, would be unable to expose him. Indeed, those who try to be bold, the drug traffickers use largely blackmail to hit back at you. In that case, you are not only silenced but disgraced as well such that no matter what you put out, no right-thinking person would believe you. For those who doubt it, try and watch the film, “The Godfather”, and appreciate how the traffickers operate in the underworld and how journalists are not only won but are successfully put on the payroll of the barons.
When that happens, the journalists fail or refuse to see anything bad about the baron and when an expose is made of the baron, such journalists rise to the defence of the baron. Maybe, Ghana Television can devote some airtime to show “The Godfather” to serve as an eye-opener to all Ghanaians. Maybe then, Ghanaians would appreciate the call by the “Iron Lady”, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, to resist any individuals or group of persons who through such illegal activities threaten the peace, security and the very existence of the nation.
The greatest obstacle to a successful crackdown on drugs, however, stem from political rather than economic concerns. Powerful constituencies have developed around the various phases of the cocaine traffic and these constituencies have amassed enough money and power to effect major changes in any political landscape. Indeed, drug dealers are known to be funding not only candidates for senatorial positions but political parties and presidential candidates just to compromise the leadership, no matter who won an election. Then they move to pay off politicians in office, law enforcement officials, judges and the military and the maintenance of an informant network in government agencies.
Recently, two people who were facing trial in a drug case were acquitted ad discharged under circumstances that could hardly be explained. Although officials of the Attorney-General’s office indicated they were going to appeal, they never did. It was reported that some journalists who were in court never reported on the acquittal and discharge of the suspects, who were charged for importation and possession of drugs.
Drug traffickers also seek to contribute to political campaigns, public relations and image building, sponsorship of candidates and political movements and running for political office.
It is important to note that traffickers also seek to acquire what in the business of the drug trafficking is dubbed critical services. These cover lawyers, accountants, bank employees, investment counsellors and the like. These are considered critical because they constitute the guiding and shielding guard for the success of their transactions.
Such has been the extraordinary power of the Mafia that Lee acknowledges that they have penetrated and corrupted every important national institution: Police forces, military establishments, legislatures, key government ministries, the judiciary, the churches and the news media. As Parejo said, “Here in Columbia, we see well-known traffickers walking around as if they owned the place.”
This is what Ghanaians must help the nation avoid. For, if we fail to resist the oppressors rule as Justice Wood said, then we should not blame anybody for our future woes.
NB: This article was first published in the Thursday, September 28, 2006, edition of the Daily Graphic in the wake of the cocaine scandals that rocked Ghana’s security services.
Article: Albert K. Salia
“Traffickers care very little about the sanctions of the criminal justice system. Going to jail is just part of the cost of doing business. It’s a nuisance, not a deterrent” - Kurt Schmoke, one-time Mayor of Baltimore.
MANY Ghanaians are waiting with baited breath for the findings of the Georgina Wood Committee to see whether some officers of the security agencies would be nailed or exonerated.
Indeed, the media expose on the work of the committee had been to discuss the role and complexity of some of these security officials particularly Mr Benjamin Ndego of the Narcotics Control Board, Mr P. K. Acheampong, the Inspector-General of Police, Messrs Kofi Boakye and Patrick Ampewuah and Edward Tabiri, all top police officers.
Until a committee was set up to investigate the loss of five kilogrammes and later the Georgina Wood Committee, hardly was there any meaningful media attention on narcotic issues, which some of us considered as a worry. This was due to the fact that our beloved country was gradually becoming a consuming of hard drugs, especially cocaine and heroin.
The question Ghanaians should be answers to is that what happens after the Attorney-General has advised the government appropriately on the findings and recommendations of the Georgina Wood Committee Report? This is because it still appears to me that many Ghanaians do not appreciate the enormity of the problem facing Ghana.
Although Alhaji Issah Abass, Tagor, Yaw Kessie and the rest have allegedly been described as the drug barons of this country, I dare say that it is only the novice who would assume that these are indeed, the real barons. The closest these people are to the drug trade would just be three or two steps away from the real barons.
Drug barons are never in the middle of transactions. Their agents do. Drug barons allow their money and their agents to work for them. This is to eliminate any traces of suspicion towards them. Period.
I am not suggesting that I know who the real barons are. I am only sharing some knowledge that I have acquired on the drug operations in the last nine to 10 years from my coverage of the issues and also reading from books and information shared with me by knowledgeable people on the drug trade.
The accusations of police complexity in the cocaine scandal to some us is no news at all. There had been times that the Daily Graphic had carried reports of such officers messing themselves up in cocaine deals. As a I write this piece, two policemen who travelled to the United Kingdom on holidays last year are languishing in jail because of this cocaine business while a senior officer is also on interdiction because of his meddling in cocaine money (bribery case).
Operations of the Barons
For those who have read Rensselaer Lee’s book, “The White Labyrinth: Cocaine and Political Power”, what is going on in our dear land should not be surprising.
According to him, the most important component of cocaine organisations is a system of protection and intelligence. The Mafia pays the police/military not to raid laboratories, not to make arrests and to block investigations. It pays attorneys not to prosecute, judges not to convict and penal officials to release those traffickers who in spite of everything, do manage to land in jail.
The Mafia consequently need an intelligence network to supplement the protection network and to provide advance warning of planned anti-drug operations such as raids, customs searches and arrests. The network includes informants strategically placed in police organisations, the military and key government ministries such as Justice, Interior or Foreign Relations.
Lee makes the point that “sometimes cocaine traffickers occupy positions of trust and responsibility within the law enforcement bureaucracy”, citing Reynald R. Lopez of Peru, himself a drug trafficker but was an adviser to the Director of Peruvian Intelligence of Police (PIP).
According to Lee; “The police take bribes not to make arrests and seizures. When the police do make successful busts, the confiscated drugs are often resold on the illicit market”.
If these are the real challenges facing the fight against illicit drug trafficking, then Ghanaians must also show keen interest in who occupy our various top security positions. Thus, if for instance, any security officer was to be removed for his alleged complexity in the drug trade, how would the appointing authority know that the people being considered to replace the removed officers were themselves not deeply involved in any underworld operation and forestall the appointment of such an officer to the high position? Traffickers’ most major concern is the security of their business and themselves. Thus, they acquire state-of-the-art radio equipment, scramblers and coding devices and computerised navigation. With the help of corrupt security personnel, they ensure that their operations are protected and so are they themselves.
It is important that Ghanaians appreciate the enormity of the problem facing the country and rise up above partisan interests, since if concerted efforts were not made to rid the nation of the drug canker, then this country is finished!!
Indeed, cocaine traffickers earn friends and supporters within the society by spending money within the society. Lee notes that “in some cases, traffickers have acquired a kind of Robin Hood image by donating vast sums to local development projects by simply giving money and gifts to the poor”.
The Medellin Civico newspaper, founded by Hernan Gavira Berrio, an uncle of Escobar and partly funded by the baron himself, described Escobar as a “gospel of generosity, who was dedicated to redeeming the forgotten class of Antioquia”.
If one recollects the incident at the premises of the Circuit Court when Prince Tsibu Darko was sent there, in which some sympathisers attacked the media in particular, Lee was not wrong in stating that the Robin Hood image of the drug dealers represents an important part of the protection shield as it raises the political costs to governments of arresting these “outlaws”. The traffickers represent a “new illegitimate bourgeoisie”.
Engagement in private welfare activities such as housing projects, sewer repair, medical services, roads and schools are key areas that attract the attention of drug traffickers. For example, Pablo Escobar built between 450 and 500 two-bedroom cement-block houses at a slum in Medellin, Carlos Lehder organised and funded a major earthquake relief effort in the city of Popayan with another baron, Roberto, paving streets, restoring churches and offering scholarships to needy students.
Drug dealers work hard at image building, trying with some success, to pass themselves off as patriotic, progressive and public-spirited citizens. Their charitable and public works reach areas the government cannot reach, earning them popular following. Some dealers champion their image-building agenda by owning publications, radio stations or sponsor media activities. For instance, Carlos Lehder’s Quindio Libre and the Medellin Civico, was owned by the Escobar family.
Ghanaians would have to appreciate some of these challenges and rise up against such influences. In fact, it is to my journalists that I would plead that they remain truly professional and not allow anyone of the underworld to use us clandestinely. For what I know, the underworld operators try to befriend you either through remote contacts or through personal contacts and when they realise you have been won over, then they may begin to open up to you to show you their real businesses. If one does not take care, he or she would be impotent by the largesse of his ‘trusted’ friend and, therefore, would be unable to expose him. Indeed, those who try to be bold, the drug traffickers use largely blackmail to hit back at you. In that case, you are not only silenced but disgraced as well such that no matter what you put out, no right-thinking person would believe you. For those who doubt it, try and watch the film, “The Godfather”, and appreciate how the traffickers operate in the underworld and how journalists are not only won but are successfully put on the payroll of the barons.
When that happens, the journalists fail or refuse to see anything bad about the baron and when an expose is made of the baron, such journalists rise to the defence of the baron. Maybe, Ghana Television can devote some airtime to show “The Godfather” to serve as an eye-opener to all Ghanaians. Maybe then, Ghanaians would appreciate the call by the “Iron Lady”, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, to resist any individuals or group of persons who through such illegal activities threaten the peace, security and the very existence of the nation.
The greatest obstacle to a successful crackdown on drugs, however, stem from political rather than economic concerns. Powerful constituencies have developed around the various phases of the cocaine traffic and these constituencies have amassed enough money and power to effect major changes in any political landscape. Indeed, drug dealers are known to be funding not only candidates for senatorial positions but political parties and presidential candidates just to compromise the leadership, no matter who won an election. Then they move to pay off politicians in office, law enforcement officials, judges and the military and the maintenance of an informant network in government agencies.
Recently, two people who were facing trial in a drug case were acquitted ad discharged under circumstances that could hardly be explained. Although officials of the Attorney-General’s office indicated they were going to appeal, they never did. It was reported that some journalists who were in court never reported on the acquittal and discharge of the suspects, who were charged for importation and possession of drugs.
Drug traffickers also seek to contribute to political campaigns, public relations and image building, sponsorship of candidates and political movements and running for political office.
It is important to note that traffickers also seek to acquire what in the business of the drug trafficking is dubbed critical services. These cover lawyers, accountants, bank employees, investment counsellors and the like. These are considered critical because they constitute the guiding and shielding guard for the success of their transactions.
Such has been the extraordinary power of the Mafia that Lee acknowledges that they have penetrated and corrupted every important national institution: Police forces, military establishments, legislatures, key government ministries, the judiciary, the churches and the news media. As Parejo said, “Here in Columbia, we see well-known traffickers walking around as if they owned the place.”
This is what Ghanaians must help the nation avoid. For, if we fail to resist the oppressors rule as Justice Wood said, then we should not blame anybody for our future woes.
NB: This article was first published in the Thursday, September 28, 2006, edition of the Daily Graphic in the wake of the cocaine scandals that rocked Ghana’s security services.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Police quiz suspect's dad * Over documents of vehicle
Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 16, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
Warrant Officer Kusi Boachie, the father of one of the three suspected armed robbers who were arrested for an attempted robbery on Good Friday, has been interrogated by the Nima Police and referred to the military authorities for further investigations.
The soldier was granted police enquiry bail on Tuesday after investigations had revealed that he did not have documents covering the Toyota Carina which the suspected armed robbers were using at the time of their arrest.
It was also established that the vehicle had come under surveillance from the intelligence community when it was realised that two registration numbers, GR 9162 Q and GR 9152 Q, had been alternatively used for the vehicle since last year.
Furthermore, the registration numbers were found to belong to two other vehicles, a Ford Sierra and a Mitsubishi Lancer saloon car.
While the GR 9162 Q number plate was for the Ford Sierra registered in the name of Gladys Konadu of P. O. Box 19180, Accra-North, who bought it from Mr George Dwomoh, the GR 9152 Q number plate was registered in the name of Mr Isaac Anane of P. O Box CT 20, Accra and house number 134/3, Osu, for the Lancer saloon car.
The Nima Police last Friday picked the three suspected armed robbers near a filling station on the La-Teshie road about 5 p.m. and two pistols, one of which was found to be a toy, as well as ammunition, were retrieved from them.
Two of the suspects, Kwame Mpianim, 18, and Aaron Kusi Boachie, 26, alias Kofi Bolga, were said to be the sons of soldiers at the Sergeant Quarters at the Burma Camp. The other suspect is Benjamin Danso, 34.
They have all been remanded by the court.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, and the District Commander, ASP Aduhene Benieh, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that following the arrest of the three, the police contacted the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to verify the status of the vehicle, a Toyota Carina.
ACP Awuni said it was in the course of the verification that the two registration numbers belonging to two different vehicles came up.
He said when WOI Boachie came to claim ownership of the vehicle after he had alleged that he had sent his son, Aaron, to change the plugs of the car, the police asked him to provide documents covering the vehicle.
At that point, he said WOI Boachie told the police that the vehicle belonged to his uncle who did not complete payment for the car before the owner died.
ACP Awuni said after the publication of the story and the pictures of the suspects in the Daily Graphic, a report issued by the intelligence service in January this year about the vehicle was referred to the police to assist in their investigations.
He said so far two different groups of people had also shown up to accuse the suspects of having robbed them last year.
Story: Albert K. Salia
Warrant Officer Kusi Boachie, the father of one of the three suspected armed robbers who were arrested for an attempted robbery on Good Friday, has been interrogated by the Nima Police and referred to the military authorities for further investigations.
The soldier was granted police enquiry bail on Tuesday after investigations had revealed that he did not have documents covering the Toyota Carina which the suspected armed robbers were using at the time of their arrest.
It was also established that the vehicle had come under surveillance from the intelligence community when it was realised that two registration numbers, GR 9162 Q and GR 9152 Q, had been alternatively used for the vehicle since last year.
Furthermore, the registration numbers were found to belong to two other vehicles, a Ford Sierra and a Mitsubishi Lancer saloon car.
While the GR 9162 Q number plate was for the Ford Sierra registered in the name of Gladys Konadu of P. O. Box 19180, Accra-North, who bought it from Mr George Dwomoh, the GR 9152 Q number plate was registered in the name of Mr Isaac Anane of P. O Box CT 20, Accra and house number 134/3, Osu, for the Lancer saloon car.
The Nima Police last Friday picked the three suspected armed robbers near a filling station on the La-Teshie road about 5 p.m. and two pistols, one of which was found to be a toy, as well as ammunition, were retrieved from them.
Two of the suspects, Kwame Mpianim, 18, and Aaron Kusi Boachie, 26, alias Kofi Bolga, were said to be the sons of soldiers at the Sergeant Quarters at the Burma Camp. The other suspect is Benjamin Danso, 34.
They have all been remanded by the court.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, and the District Commander, ASP Aduhene Benieh, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that following the arrest of the three, the police contacted the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to verify the status of the vehicle, a Toyota Carina.
ACP Awuni said it was in the course of the verification that the two registration numbers belonging to two different vehicles came up.
He said when WOI Boachie came to claim ownership of the vehicle after he had alleged that he had sent his son, Aaron, to change the plugs of the car, the police asked him to provide documents covering the vehicle.
At that point, he said WOI Boachie told the police that the vehicle belonged to his uncle who did not complete payment for the car before the owner died.
ACP Awuni said after the publication of the story and the pictures of the suspects in the Daily Graphic, a report issued by the intelligence service in January this year about the vehicle was referred to the police to assist in their investigations.
He said so far two different groups of people had also shown up to accuse the suspects of having robbed them last year.
GOOD SHOW * Experts say Prez Mills's first 100 days in office has been impressive
Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 16, 2009
Story: Albert K. Salia, Caroline Boateng & Kofi Yeboah
ON the occasion of his 100th day in office today, President John Atta Mills has earned high marks from a number of governance experts and industry players who have hailed his stewardship in governance, the economy and security but raised issues with sanitation and the case of suspects being held without remand.
The experts include the Head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Aning; a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Dr Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atuah, and a waste management consultant, Captain F. B. Amoh-Twum (retd).
On security, Dr Aning commended the Mills administration for taking positive steps to address the narcotics menace and lauded the appointment of ACP Robert Ayalingo as the Head of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) as most appropriate.
He said public pronouncements made by the President, the Vice-President, as well as the Minister of the Interior, on government’s abhorrence of the narcotics problem were good assurances in dealing with the situation.
Dr Aning, however, urged the government to move beyond rhetoric and provide adequate operational support for NACOB, particularly by upgrading it into an independent body with investigative and prosecutorial powers in order to make it more efficient.
He also stressed the need for the government to increase budgetary allocation for NACOB and review the country’s anti-drug legal regime.
On the Ghana Police Service, Dr Aning reiterated the need for the President to appoint a civilian as the IGP to “clean the dirt within the service”.
He said although the President promised to re-open investigations into the murder of the Ya-Na in 2002, it should not be done out of context, in view of the sensitive nature of the issue.
He said critical to the Ya-Na case were other unresolved chieftaincy disputes and the increasing spate of human trafficking that needed to be addressed, pointing out that “all these and the drug menace are underpinned by the fact that we still lack a financial intelligence unit to give teeth to our anti-money laundering law”.
Dr Aning said the greatest challenge confronting the Mills administration was how to deal with small arms and light weapons, since their circulation fuelled conflicts.
“All Ghana's conflicts are fuelled by these guns. More worrying is the provision of licences for companies to import these weapons into Ghana,” he stated.
On the rule of law and human rights, Dr Appiagyei-Atuah rated Prof Mills’s performance as “generally positive”.
According to him, there had not been any serious violation of the rule of law and human rights during his 100 days in office, adding that media freedom was still being accorded high respect.
He said President Mills’s commitment to expand the beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and the establishment of the National Council on Disability, for instance, lent credence to his commitment to address human rights issues.
He, however, expressed concern over suspects who were remanded in prison for long periods without trial, describing the situation as a serious abuse of the rights of those concerned.
Dr Appiagyei-Atuah, therefore, suggested that judges be made to visit the prisons to appreciate the problem better and find a more appropriate way of dealing with the situation.
On the international front, he stressed the need for Ghana to endeavour to sign all international treaties it was yet to sign and also ratify those it had already signed to underline its commitment and responsibility to address human rights issues.
President Mills scored very high marks on management issues, particularly the transition process, from the script of the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof Yaw Agyeman Badu, who gave the President a score of A-.
He said the score was based on the short period of transition within which the new administration had had to assume office.
He said despite the short transition period, the government assumed office with minimum disruptions and had, within its first 100 days, been able to nominate ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives and also constituted the Council of State and boards of state-owned institutions.
For Prof Badu, the most important point in the first 100 days was the tone set by President Mills in his public utterances.
He said once the President, in his public utterances, set the tone for a lean, frugal and efficient government, the right tone had been set for ministers and other appointees to follow.
The second most important thing that characterised the new government’s first 100 days, he said, was its indication to continue building on the democratic governance institutions and process of the past.
He said that was indicative of Ghana having reached a stage in its history where governance institutions and processes would not be destroyed but built on by successive governments.
“We will no longer reinvent the wheel but build on our existing structures to make them work,” he said.
Prof Badu also pointed at some lapses in the first 100 days of the President’s administration, such as the reported seizure of some vehicles from former government appointees and the agitation over the use of a government building by the immediate past President and described them as teething pains of a transition process which did not have the benefit of laid down structures, processes and institutions that had been tested and tried with time.
He said with time, such lapses would not be experienced when Ghanaians perfected the art of transiting from one democratically elected government to another.
Sanitation was an issue that had also played out significantly in the run up to the elections, with the NDC declaring that in its first 100 days in office it would take bold and comprehensive measures to deal with the appalling filth in our communities.
However, a waste management expert with Waste Recycling Ghana Limited, Capt F. B. Amoh-Twum (retd), believes that that has simply not been achieved.
He remarked that although the government might be demonstrating the political will to get rid of filth in the country, the strategy had not been effective and no new strategies or measures had been introduced to deal with the appalling filth.
Captain Amoh-Twum acknowledged, though, that the new administration had embarked on broad-based consultations to find a way out and said that was commendable.
“However, things have not been concretised and that is worrying. We need to redefine our waste management philosophy,” he emphasised.
He said the country needed to maximise economic benefits from waste, stressing that “that is key to addressing the waste management woes confronting the country”.
Story: Albert K. Salia, Caroline Boateng & Kofi Yeboah
ON the occasion of his 100th day in office today, President John Atta Mills has earned high marks from a number of governance experts and industry players who have hailed his stewardship in governance, the economy and security but raised issues with sanitation and the case of suspects being held without remand.
The experts include the Head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Aning; a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Dr Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atuah, and a waste management consultant, Captain F. B. Amoh-Twum (retd).
On security, Dr Aning commended the Mills administration for taking positive steps to address the narcotics menace and lauded the appointment of ACP Robert Ayalingo as the Head of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) as most appropriate.
He said public pronouncements made by the President, the Vice-President, as well as the Minister of the Interior, on government’s abhorrence of the narcotics problem were good assurances in dealing with the situation.
Dr Aning, however, urged the government to move beyond rhetoric and provide adequate operational support for NACOB, particularly by upgrading it into an independent body with investigative and prosecutorial powers in order to make it more efficient.
He also stressed the need for the government to increase budgetary allocation for NACOB and review the country’s anti-drug legal regime.
On the Ghana Police Service, Dr Aning reiterated the need for the President to appoint a civilian as the IGP to “clean the dirt within the service”.
He said although the President promised to re-open investigations into the murder of the Ya-Na in 2002, it should not be done out of context, in view of the sensitive nature of the issue.
He said critical to the Ya-Na case were other unresolved chieftaincy disputes and the increasing spate of human trafficking that needed to be addressed, pointing out that “all these and the drug menace are underpinned by the fact that we still lack a financial intelligence unit to give teeth to our anti-money laundering law”.
Dr Aning said the greatest challenge confronting the Mills administration was how to deal with small arms and light weapons, since their circulation fuelled conflicts.
“All Ghana's conflicts are fuelled by these guns. More worrying is the provision of licences for companies to import these weapons into Ghana,” he stated.
On the rule of law and human rights, Dr Appiagyei-Atuah rated Prof Mills’s performance as “generally positive”.
According to him, there had not been any serious violation of the rule of law and human rights during his 100 days in office, adding that media freedom was still being accorded high respect.
He said President Mills’s commitment to expand the beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and the establishment of the National Council on Disability, for instance, lent credence to his commitment to address human rights issues.
He, however, expressed concern over suspects who were remanded in prison for long periods without trial, describing the situation as a serious abuse of the rights of those concerned.
Dr Appiagyei-Atuah, therefore, suggested that judges be made to visit the prisons to appreciate the problem better and find a more appropriate way of dealing with the situation.
On the international front, he stressed the need for Ghana to endeavour to sign all international treaties it was yet to sign and also ratify those it had already signed to underline its commitment and responsibility to address human rights issues.
President Mills scored very high marks on management issues, particularly the transition process, from the script of the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof Yaw Agyeman Badu, who gave the President a score of A-.
He said the score was based on the short period of transition within which the new administration had had to assume office.
He said despite the short transition period, the government assumed office with minimum disruptions and had, within its first 100 days, been able to nominate ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives and also constituted the Council of State and boards of state-owned institutions.
For Prof Badu, the most important point in the first 100 days was the tone set by President Mills in his public utterances.
He said once the President, in his public utterances, set the tone for a lean, frugal and efficient government, the right tone had been set for ministers and other appointees to follow.
The second most important thing that characterised the new government’s first 100 days, he said, was its indication to continue building on the democratic governance institutions and process of the past.
He said that was indicative of Ghana having reached a stage in its history where governance institutions and processes would not be destroyed but built on by successive governments.
“We will no longer reinvent the wheel but build on our existing structures to make them work,” he said.
Prof Badu also pointed at some lapses in the first 100 days of the President’s administration, such as the reported seizure of some vehicles from former government appointees and the agitation over the use of a government building by the immediate past President and described them as teething pains of a transition process which did not have the benefit of laid down structures, processes and institutions that had been tested and tried with time.
He said with time, such lapses would not be experienced when Ghanaians perfected the art of transiting from one democratically elected government to another.
Sanitation was an issue that had also played out significantly in the run up to the elections, with the NDC declaring that in its first 100 days in office it would take bold and comprehensive measures to deal with the appalling filth in our communities.
However, a waste management expert with Waste Recycling Ghana Limited, Capt F. B. Amoh-Twum (retd), believes that that has simply not been achieved.
He remarked that although the government might be demonstrating the political will to get rid of filth in the country, the strategy had not been effective and no new strategies or measures had been introduced to deal with the appalling filth.
Captain Amoh-Twum acknowledged, though, that the new administration had embarked on broad-based consultations to find a way out and said that was commendable.
“However, things have not been concretised and that is worrying. We need to redefine our waste management philosophy,” he emphasised.
He said the country needed to maximise economic benefits from waste, stressing that “that is key to addressing the waste management woes confronting the country”.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Police foil plan of 3 suspected robbers
Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 14, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN attempt by three suspected armed robbers to hit at their planned targets was thwarted by the Nima Police last Friday moments before the robbers could strike.
Two of the suspects, Kwame Mpianim, 18, and Aaron Kusi-Boakye, 26, were said to be the sons of soldiers at the Sergeant Quarters at the Burma Camp. The other suspect is Benjamin Danso, 34.
Upon a tip-off, the three were arrested near a filling station on the La-Teshie road about 5 p.m. and two pistols, one of which was found to be a toy, as well as ammunition, were retrieved from them.
They told the police after their arrest that they had been waiting for someone to provide them money to refuel their saloon car, with registration number GR 9162 Q.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, told the Daily Graphic that an unidentified person had called the Nima Police on Friday to alert them to the three men in a waiting vehicle on the La-Teshie road.
According to him, the caller suspected that the three men could be armed robbers trailing someone to attack.
ACP Awuni said he immediately alerted personnel of the Nima Police Patrol Unit who moved in swiftly to the place.
He said when the three men were questioned, they claimed that they had run out of fuel and were waiting for a friend to come and give them money to refuel the vehicle.
He said it was after the pistols and ammunition had been found on the robbers that they were sent to the police station where they were being held for illegal possession of weapons.
The divisional commander said soon after the three young men had been shown on television, some complainants showed up at the Nima Police Station alleging that they had been robbed by the suspects in November last year.
He said the Nima Police would hand them over to the Regional Police Command to continue with any robbery investigations against them.
In a related development, a 40-year-old carpenter, Emmanuel Agbeko, has also been arrested for attempting to use the payslip of a teacher to secure GH¢1,240 loan from a credit union.
An accomplice of Agbeko’s, Samuel Lartey, who is an employee of the Keta branch of the Ghana Education Service, is on the run.
ACP Awuni told the Daily Graphic that Lartey allegedly prepared a GNAT ID card and also secured the payslip of a teacher for Agbeko to process the loan application form.
He said when Agbeko presented the application form, together with the ID card, for processing by the financial institution, it was detected that the picture on the ID card did not match that of the accounts holder.
He said an official of the institution immediately notified the police, who effected Agbeko’s arrest.
ACP Awuni said Agbeko claimed that he was to collect the loan and pass it on to Lartey.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN attempt by three suspected armed robbers to hit at their planned targets was thwarted by the Nima Police last Friday moments before the robbers could strike.
Two of the suspects, Kwame Mpianim, 18, and Aaron Kusi-Boakye, 26, were said to be the sons of soldiers at the Sergeant Quarters at the Burma Camp. The other suspect is Benjamin Danso, 34.
Upon a tip-off, the three were arrested near a filling station on the La-Teshie road about 5 p.m. and two pistols, one of which was found to be a toy, as well as ammunition, were retrieved from them.
They told the police after their arrest that they had been waiting for someone to provide them money to refuel their saloon car, with registration number GR 9162 Q.
The Nima Divisional Police Commander, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, told the Daily Graphic that an unidentified person had called the Nima Police on Friday to alert them to the three men in a waiting vehicle on the La-Teshie road.
According to him, the caller suspected that the three men could be armed robbers trailing someone to attack.
ACP Awuni said he immediately alerted personnel of the Nima Police Patrol Unit who moved in swiftly to the place.
He said when the three men were questioned, they claimed that they had run out of fuel and were waiting for a friend to come and give them money to refuel the vehicle.
He said it was after the pistols and ammunition had been found on the robbers that they were sent to the police station where they were being held for illegal possession of weapons.
The divisional commander said soon after the three young men had been shown on television, some complainants showed up at the Nima Police Station alleging that they had been robbed by the suspects in November last year.
He said the Nima Police would hand them over to the Regional Police Command to continue with any robbery investigations against them.
In a related development, a 40-year-old carpenter, Emmanuel Agbeko, has also been arrested for attempting to use the payslip of a teacher to secure GH¢1,240 loan from a credit union.
An accomplice of Agbeko’s, Samuel Lartey, who is an employee of the Keta branch of the Ghana Education Service, is on the run.
ACP Awuni told the Daily Graphic that Lartey allegedly prepared a GNAT ID card and also secured the payslip of a teacher for Agbeko to process the loan application form.
He said when Agbeko presented the application form, together with the ID card, for processing by the financial institution, it was detected that the picture on the ID card did not match that of the accounts holder.
He said an official of the institution immediately notified the police, who effected Agbeko’s arrest.
ACP Awuni said Agbeko claimed that he was to collect the loan and pass it on to Lartey.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Man, 23, swindles 4 students
Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 8, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
FOUR prospective students seeking admission to the University of Ghana, Legon, were said to have lost GH¢5,400 to a suspected swindler who is now being held by the police.
Ernest Obeng, 23, who claimed to be a degree student of the School of Communication Studies of the university, was arrested when one of his victims suspected foul play when he received from the suspect a purported admission letter signed by Nana Essilfie Conduah offering her admission to read BSc Administration.
The Head of the Police Panthers Unit, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Francis Somian, told newsmen yesterday that documents printed from the website of the University of Ghana were also retrieved from the suspect.
He said one of the victims, who paid GH¢1,350 to Obeng informed her brother that she suspected Obeng might have defrauded her because the admission letter was not on the letterhead of the University of Ghana.
He said based on the complaint, the victim's brother notified the police with the purported admission letter, adding that
when the suspect was arrested, he allegedly confessed to collecting the money from the victim to help her to gain admission.
The suspect, he said, however, informed the police that the girl had been putting so much pressure on him, hence the decision to print out an admission letter with the documents from the University of Ghana as proof that she had gained admission.
DSP Somian said the victim, who also knew of other female students who had approached the suspect for assistance, immediately notified them about the development.
He said when the other victims came to identify the suspect in police custody, Obeng admitted collecting the money from them.
He said the suspect, however, claimed he had refunded GH¢1,350 to the first victim, while he was yet to refund GH¢1,410, GH¢1,840 and GH¢800 to the remaining three victims, one of whom was said to be the sister-in-law of the suspect's brother.
The suspect told the police, in the presence of newsmen, that the victims sought his assistance to fill the admission forms on the University of Ghana website and also help them to gain admission.
When asked if he was aware that the School of Communication Studies did not run undergraduate programmes, Obeng insisted that it ran an undergraduate course.
Surprisingly, he had informed one of his victims that he was studying Law at the University of Ghana.
As to who the head of the School of Communication Studies was, Obeng said he did not know.
He said he was doing a top-up course at the School of Communication Studies, having completed a diploma course at the Africa University College of Communication (AUCC).
DSP Somian advised prospective students seeking admission to the universities to endeavour to go through the right procedures and avoid short-cuts, since they could be defrauded.
Investigations continue.
Story: Albert K. Salia
FOUR prospective students seeking admission to the University of Ghana, Legon, were said to have lost GH¢5,400 to a suspected swindler who is now being held by the police.
Ernest Obeng, 23, who claimed to be a degree student of the School of Communication Studies of the university, was arrested when one of his victims suspected foul play when he received from the suspect a purported admission letter signed by Nana Essilfie Conduah offering her admission to read BSc Administration.
The Head of the Police Panthers Unit, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Francis Somian, told newsmen yesterday that documents printed from the website of the University of Ghana were also retrieved from the suspect.
He said one of the victims, who paid GH¢1,350 to Obeng informed her brother that she suspected Obeng might have defrauded her because the admission letter was not on the letterhead of the University of Ghana.
He said based on the complaint, the victim's brother notified the police with the purported admission letter, adding that
when the suspect was arrested, he allegedly confessed to collecting the money from the victim to help her to gain admission.
The suspect, he said, however, informed the police that the girl had been putting so much pressure on him, hence the decision to print out an admission letter with the documents from the University of Ghana as proof that she had gained admission.
DSP Somian said the victim, who also knew of other female students who had approached the suspect for assistance, immediately notified them about the development.
He said when the other victims came to identify the suspect in police custody, Obeng admitted collecting the money from them.
He said the suspect, however, claimed he had refunded GH¢1,350 to the first victim, while he was yet to refund GH¢1,410, GH¢1,840 and GH¢800 to the remaining three victims, one of whom was said to be the sister-in-law of the suspect's brother.
The suspect told the police, in the presence of newsmen, that the victims sought his assistance to fill the admission forms on the University of Ghana website and also help them to gain admission.
When asked if he was aware that the School of Communication Studies did not run undergraduate programmes, Obeng insisted that it ran an undergraduate course.
Surprisingly, he had informed one of his victims that he was studying Law at the University of Ghana.
As to who the head of the School of Communication Studies was, Obeng said he did not know.
He said he was doing a top-up course at the School of Communication Studies, having completed a diploma course at the Africa University College of Communication (AUCC).
DSP Somian advised prospective students seeking admission to the universities to endeavour to go through the right procedures and avoid short-cuts, since they could be defrauded.
Investigations continue.
Kumado questions dissolution of boards
Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 7, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A SENIOR lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Kumado, has questioned the legality of the government’s decision to dissolve some boards of public corporations and withdraw some government nominees before the expiry of their terms.
He also wondered whether the government or the President had the right to dissolve boards or withdraw government nominees without any legal justification.
“Is the change in the persons who constitute the government, by itself alone, a sufficient legal basis for the dissolution or withdrawal if the terms of the members of the boards or the nominees have not expired?” he asked in a letter to the Daily Graphic.
According to him, the issue was no “laughing matter”, since Ghanaians had, since January 7, 1993, pledged to put themselves under the rule of law, have a government of laws and put behind them a government of men and women.
Professor Kumado referred to a comment by a former Chairman of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Mr K. G. Osei-Bonsu, at the bank’s annual general meeting that he and a number of his colleague directors were retiring because of the announcement by the government and noted that the country’s boards and public corporations had been established by statutes.
He said the GCB had been incorporated under the Companies Code, with its own regulations, with the instrument prescribing the qualifications for directorship.
The instruments, he said, “also prescribed when vacancies occur. The directors have fixed terms under the laws, with or without renewal options, and have appointing authorities”.
He argued that it was stated nowhere in the instruments that directors’ terms could be curtailed just because a new President had taken office, pointing out, “I have extended my research to cover articles 57, 58, 195 and 297 of the 1992 Constitution and drawn a blank.”
Prof Kumado also expressed regret that the public pronouncement referred to seemed to be taking effect, with directors of boards and public corporations accepting that they had been removed from office, “though no just cause or legal justification has been given”.
He, therefore, wondered how constitutionalism and the rule of law could take root and prevail “when we are still ready to succumb to government by the fiat of men and women”.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A SENIOR lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Kumado, has questioned the legality of the government’s decision to dissolve some boards of public corporations and withdraw some government nominees before the expiry of their terms.
He also wondered whether the government or the President had the right to dissolve boards or withdraw government nominees without any legal justification.
“Is the change in the persons who constitute the government, by itself alone, a sufficient legal basis for the dissolution or withdrawal if the terms of the members of the boards or the nominees have not expired?” he asked in a letter to the Daily Graphic.
According to him, the issue was no “laughing matter”, since Ghanaians had, since January 7, 1993, pledged to put themselves under the rule of law, have a government of laws and put behind them a government of men and women.
Professor Kumado referred to a comment by a former Chairman of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Mr K. G. Osei-Bonsu, at the bank’s annual general meeting that he and a number of his colleague directors were retiring because of the announcement by the government and noted that the country’s boards and public corporations had been established by statutes.
He said the GCB had been incorporated under the Companies Code, with its own regulations, with the instrument prescribing the qualifications for directorship.
The instruments, he said, “also prescribed when vacancies occur. The directors have fixed terms under the laws, with or without renewal options, and have appointing authorities”.
He argued that it was stated nowhere in the instruments that directors’ terms could be curtailed just because a new President had taken office, pointing out, “I have extended my research to cover articles 57, 58, 195 and 297 of the 1992 Constitution and drawn a blank.”
Prof Kumado also expressed regret that the public pronouncement referred to seemed to be taking effect, with directors of boards and public corporations accepting that they had been removed from office, “though no just cause or legal justification has been given”.
He, therefore, wondered how constitutionalism and the rule of law could take root and prevail “when we are still ready to succumb to government by the fiat of men and women”.
Security services urged to live above partisan politics
Page 16: Daily Graphic, March 31, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka, and the National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, have challenged the security services to live above partisan politics in the discharge of their duties.
The two noted that the politicisation of security institutions had undermined the professionalism, competence and independence of those institutions, a development which they said was not good for Ghana’s democratic development.
They, therefore, urged the institutions, particularly their leadership, to resist political overtures in the discharge of their duties.
They were addressing the Headquarters Advisory Management Board (HEMAB) and Regional Commanders of the Ghana Police Service in Accra last week.
The two were blunt in urging the security services, particularly the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), to discharge their duties responsibly, since President J.E.A. Mills’s government would not influence their work.
Mr Avoka urged them to let the law take its course, saying, “Nobody should be allowed to hide under the cloak of politics to commit crime and go scot-free.”
He said the Police Service had witnessed a lot of political victimisation, resulting in transfers, often to distant places, “not to render good services but to punish them” and called for stop to that practice.
“A lot of political victimisation has taken place. People have been transferred capriciously and at short notice because of their perceived political colour or for holding different views,” he said.
The minister also expressed concern over the delays in service enquiries and interdiction of personnel, which he attributed to maladministration.
He said some service enquiries had taken up to five years, some personnel had been on interdiction for periods ranging from five to 10 years, while there had been injustices in the selection of personnel for peacekeeping duties and promotions made, “not on merit but on other considerations”.
Mr Avoka called on the leadership of the Police Service to address those challenges because they affected morale among the personnel.
“Professionalism in the discharge of our duties encompasses discipline, integrity, sound discretion, honesty and punctuality. You can show professionalism in the discharge of your duties by avoiding delays in the handling of and dealing with correspondence and reports, avoiding misuse of official vehicles and staying away from acts which amount to bribery and corruption,” he said.
The minister reiterated the need for police personnel to treat both suspects and complainants with civility and noted with regret that although the inscription “every caller is a potential ally” was written in front of police stations, the personnel treat complainants, suspects and visitors with disdain.
He also urged them to help address the problem of conflicts, the narcotics menace and crime in general in the country.
For his part, Brig-Gen Nunoo-Mensah said the Police Service and the GAF were now engulfed in serious image problems which must be redeemed.
He noted that the security services had become so politicised that the mention of the name of an officer for consideration for appointment was met with the response, “He is not one of us.”
He said such politicisation tended to affect the operations, efficiency and competence of the security services, adding that the net effect of such politicisation was that each time a President or government made way for a new one, the cream of professional security personnel would also have to leave.
“It does not help us as an institution and a country,” he said, and urged the personnel to do away with partisan politics and be professional in the discharge of their work.
According to him, politicians must take most of the blame for the politicisation of the security services, since some of the personnel did not find it easy resisting political pressure.
“We must help build institutions based on efficiency and competence,” he said.
He said President Mills did not believe in the politicisation of the security services and would demonstrate that for other politicians to follow.
In a welcoming address, the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mrs Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, said the meeting was to review and appraise the performance of the Police Service in 2008 and strategise for this year.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Interior Minister, Mr Cletus Avoka, and the National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, have challenged the security services to live above partisan politics in the discharge of their duties.
The two noted that the politicisation of security institutions had undermined the professionalism, competence and independence of those institutions, a development which they said was not good for Ghana’s democratic development.
They, therefore, urged the institutions, particularly their leadership, to resist political overtures in the discharge of their duties.
They were addressing the Headquarters Advisory Management Board (HEMAB) and Regional Commanders of the Ghana Police Service in Accra last week.
The two were blunt in urging the security services, particularly the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), to discharge their duties responsibly, since President J.E.A. Mills’s government would not influence their work.
Mr Avoka urged them to let the law take its course, saying, “Nobody should be allowed to hide under the cloak of politics to commit crime and go scot-free.”
He said the Police Service had witnessed a lot of political victimisation, resulting in transfers, often to distant places, “not to render good services but to punish them” and called for stop to that practice.
“A lot of political victimisation has taken place. People have been transferred capriciously and at short notice because of their perceived political colour or for holding different views,” he said.
The minister also expressed concern over the delays in service enquiries and interdiction of personnel, which he attributed to maladministration.
He said some service enquiries had taken up to five years, some personnel had been on interdiction for periods ranging from five to 10 years, while there had been injustices in the selection of personnel for peacekeeping duties and promotions made, “not on merit but on other considerations”.
Mr Avoka called on the leadership of the Police Service to address those challenges because they affected morale among the personnel.
“Professionalism in the discharge of our duties encompasses discipline, integrity, sound discretion, honesty and punctuality. You can show professionalism in the discharge of your duties by avoiding delays in the handling of and dealing with correspondence and reports, avoiding misuse of official vehicles and staying away from acts which amount to bribery and corruption,” he said.
The minister reiterated the need for police personnel to treat both suspects and complainants with civility and noted with regret that although the inscription “every caller is a potential ally” was written in front of police stations, the personnel treat complainants, suspects and visitors with disdain.
He also urged them to help address the problem of conflicts, the narcotics menace and crime in general in the country.
For his part, Brig-Gen Nunoo-Mensah said the Police Service and the GAF were now engulfed in serious image problems which must be redeemed.
He noted that the security services had become so politicised that the mention of the name of an officer for consideration for appointment was met with the response, “He is not one of us.”
He said such politicisation tended to affect the operations, efficiency and competence of the security services, adding that the net effect of such politicisation was that each time a President or government made way for a new one, the cream of professional security personnel would also have to leave.
“It does not help us as an institution and a country,” he said, and urged the personnel to do away with partisan politics and be professional in the discharge of their work.
According to him, politicians must take most of the blame for the politicisation of the security services, since some of the personnel did not find it easy resisting political pressure.
“We must help build institutions based on efficiency and competence,” he said.
He said President Mills did not believe in the politicisation of the security services and would demonstrate that for other politicians to follow.
In a welcoming address, the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mrs Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, said the meeting was to review and appraise the performance of the Police Service in 2008 and strategise for this year.
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