Thursday, February 25, 2010

Police apologise to Finatrade

Page 25: Daily Graphic, February 25, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration has rendered an unqualified apology to the Finatrade Group of Companies and its subsidiary, Market Direct Company, for any embarrassment caused them when some officials of the company were arrested for allegedly importing 15 kilogrammes of cocaine into the country without lawful authority in December 2006.
It acknowledged that the officials were falsely accused of indulging in the unlawful importation of narcotic drugs through the Tema Port on December 20, 2006.
“The Ghana Police Service hereby makes an unqualified retraction of the false accusations made against the said group of companies, their directors and employees,” the Director of Public Affairs of the Police Service, DSP Kwesi Ofori, stated in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday.
The Managing Director of Market Direct Ltd, Mr Michael Ayache, and two clearing agents of the company, Isaac Quansah and Mohammed Salami, were arrested on December 20, 2006 on a charge of importing 15 kilogrammes of cocaine into the country .
The three spent the Christmas and New Year holidays behind bars till they were discharged by an Accra circuit court on January 12, 2007 after the prosecutor had withdrawn the charge of criminal offence against them.
DSP Ofori explained that the publicity of the false accusation had not been intended to harm or tarnish the image or reputation of the company.
He said the Police Administration had conceded the embarrassing situation in which it placed the management of Finatrade with the publication after their arrest and, “therefore, retract the said publication”.
According to him, “the service further wishes to state that any harm that the said false accusation might have done to the image and reputation of the Finatrade Group of Companies, their directors and employees is deeply regretted”.
DSP Ofori explained that the publicity associated with the arrest of the directors had been an indispensable aspect of police and civilian partnership through which the police received useful information in the performance of their statutory duties fighting drug-related crime.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

US, Ghana sign deal * To train Ghanaians in prosecution of organised crime

Page 31: Daily Graphic, February 24. 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA has secured the services of a US prosecutor to train Ghanaian prosecutors in the prosecution of organised and sophisticated crime cases in the country.
The US prosecutor, who is expected to spend six to nine months in the country, will work with Ghanaian judicial officials to investigate organised crime cases associated with narcotics and money laundering.
While in the country, the US prosecutor will also assist investigators to deal with leaders of drug trafficking organisations operating in Ghana and help secure their conviction.
At the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to seal the deal between Ghana and the United States of America in Accra yesterday, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, conceded that the state had not been successful in the prosecution of such serious and sophisticated crimes due to the lack of capacity of prosecutors to appreciate the enormity of the crimes.
She said it was in view of such challenges that the government appreciated the gesture of the US Government to support Ghanaian prosecutors and investigators in dealing with such crimes.
She said it was in line with the government’s commitment to fighting sophisticated crimes that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was to be migrated to an Economic and Organised Crime Agency.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said the bill to facilitate the migration was expected to be passed by the current session of Parliament and would expand the responsibilities of the SFO under the Economic and Organised Crime Agency.
She said the Economic and Organised Crime Agency, when established, would monitor, investigate and, on the authority of the Attorney-General, prosecute offences that involved serious financial or economic loss to the country, money laundering, human trafficking, and cyber crimes, computer-related fraud.
It would also be empowered to recover the proceeds of crime and to provide for related matters.
She announced that the board of Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Centre would also be inaugurated soon, while the Narcotics Control Board was also being refitted to harmonise the work of all the agencies to ensure co-operation and collaboration in their work.
She said joint teams would also be instituted to facilitate investigations so that all facets of cases were dealt with.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, therefore, appealed to other donor agencies to support the Attorney-General’s Department in capacity building programmes to enable state prosecutors to achieve success.
Responding to concerns about low remuneration and high turnover of prosecutors, the Minister said a committee was almost through with a package which would keep personnel at post.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Teitelbaum, who signed the MoU on behalf of the US Government, said the co-operation between the US and Ghana to stem the flow of illegal drugs would result in a safer and more secure Ghana.
He said both the US and Ghana were vigorously fighting against narcotic traffickers who were using Ghana as a transit corridor.
He noted that Ghana and the US shared a number of transnational problems and, therefore, required transnational solutions so that the two countries and the rest of the world would benefit.

Social commentators urged to be guided by section 208 of Criminal Act

Page 30: Daily Graphic, February 24, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration has asked the general public, particularly those who use public platforms to comment on national issues, to be guided by the existence of Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act.
It said mindful of the existence of such a law, it was wrong for Ghanaians, who collectively enacted it, to launch unwarranted and unguarded attacks on the police whose mandate was only to ensure that the law was adhered to.
Reacting to public criticisms of the involvement of the police in the arrest and trial of a radio panellist in Accra, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Samuel Kwesi Ofori, the Director of Police Public Affairs, said comments by a section of the public in the aftermath of the event left much to be desired.
The panellist, Nana Darkwa Baafi, was arrested as a result of a comment he allegedly made to the effect that the burning of the residence of former President J. J. Rawlings was done by the former President himself.
DSP Ofori wondered what would have happened if the police had not responded to the calls, saying it would have resulted in the lynching of the suspect and the destruction of property on the premises of the radio station.
He explained that in line with their mandate to provide security and ensure law and order, policemen were detailed to the premises of Top Radio to restore calm upon hearing that people were massing up there.
He said that led to the arrest of the suspect, who was processed and charged with the offence of “Publication of false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public” under Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act.
DSP Ofori said the suspect was subsequently put before court and, in the wisdom of the court, it remanded him to re-appear on March 3, 2010.
“It is, therefore, unfortunate the way some politicians, social commentators, journalists and panellists on radio programmes are making all sorts of unsavoury comments about the police,” he said.
He entreated the public to appreciate the due processes involved, especially when someone had been taken to the court, and urged it to accept that as part of the due process of the law and not subject the police to condemnation.
He explained that the suspect had not been overly detained but was arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction.
DSP Ofori said the court, in its wisdom, decided to remand the suspect, a process which everyone must appreciate.
He said since the matter was before court, it was important that those who preached democracy and the rule of law allowed the law to be tested in court and not try to circumvent the institutions established for that purpose.
“Forcing the police to take it out of court is inappropriate. The court should decide whether the charges are appropriate,” he stated.
According to him, contemporary policing thrived on law and made it clear that the Ghana Police Service was in tune with the democratic aspirations of the country and its people.
He said the police would, therefore, not kow-tow to political interests or be an appendage of any political party but would remain professional in the discharge of their work.
He gave the assurance that the police would not renege on their responsibility but continue to perform their constitutionally mandated duty without fear or favour.
DSP Ofori noted that if media organisations, particularly the electronic media, did not manage their phone-in programmes and discussion segments, “it will be the media who will be a threat to democracy and not the police”.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Bogus wedding gang 'lynch pin' jailed in UK

Page 46: Daily Graphic, February 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 29-YEAR-OLD London-based Ghanaian has been jailed six years by the Croydon Crown Court for breaches to British immigration control, deception and ID Cards Act offences.
Described by the UK Border Agency as the “lynch pin” of a London bogus marriage ring, the convict, Victor Kugbeadzor of Brixton, is also to be deported after serving his sentence.
His conviction followed a two-year investigation by officers from the UK Border Agency.
An Assistant Director of the UK Border Agency’s Criminal and Financial Investigations Directorate, Mr Malcolm Bragg, told the Daily Graphic that Kugbeadzor was behind the organisation of at least six bogus weddings of British citizens to Ghanaian nationals, including his own, to enable the Ghanaians to obtain permission to stay in the UK.
He said Kugbeadzor married 28-year-old Kelly Bellotti at Barking Registry Office in October 2007 in order to get permission to stay in the UK.
“The marriage was a sham, with Bellotti receiving £2,000 to undertake the marriage,” he said.
Mr Bragg indicated that Bellotti was subsequently arrested in November 2008 and jailed in October 2009 along with three other British citizens who had also been involved in marriages organised by Kugbeadzor.
He said investigations led officers from the UK Border Agency’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) Unit to Devon, where Kugbeadzor was living under an assumed name.
He said Kugbeadzor was arrested in November 2009, and was jailed on February 11, 2010, after he pleaded guilty to a series of charges, including conspiracy to breach immigration control, deception and ID Cards Act offences, at Croydon Crown Court.
“This was a sophisticated and organised plot, and the sentence handed down in this case shows how seriously UKBA and the courts take these kinds of attempts to circumvent the UK’s immigration rules,” Mr Bragg said.
He said the British authorities were “determined to track down and stop this kind of abuse, and we hope today’s sentences send out a message that anyone who tries to enter into or organise a sham marriage faces arrest, prosecution, and a long time in prison”.
According to Mr Bragg, the conviction of Victor Kugbeadzor meant that nine people had now been jailed for their parts in the sham marriage ring, with sentences totalling seventeen-and-a-half years, saying that three Ghanaian nationals who benefited from the scam had already been deported.
The other persons convicted since 2008 in respect of the marriage scams are Kwabena Boadu, Frank Adjei and Henrieeta Adjei, all Ghanaian nationals, who have been deported after serving their jail terms.
The British accomplices are Lisa Curtis, Cheryl Collier, Kelley Belloti, Terry Hadley and Jay Davies.
They were each sentenced to 18 months.
Mr Bragg said the investigation into the ring, codenamed “Operation Probole”, lasted for more than two years and begun after immigration officials raised concerns about the marriage of British citizen Lisa Curtis to Ghanaian Kwabena Boadu.
He said both were arrested and documentation found at Ms Curtis’s home linked her to other suspected marriages.
“The UK continues to welcome genuine and law-abiding travellers. UKBA in Ghana, operating from within the British High Commission, works closely with local law enforcement agencies to bear down on fraudulent applications. As a result, the British High Commission’s visa issue rate has climbed from 50 per cent to 65 per cent,” he added.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Page 31: Daily Graphic, February 19, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A COLLABORATION between Ghana and her foreign partners has resulted in the busting of a Ghanaian-led international cocaine trafficking syndicate.
The Switzerland-based syndicate, led by 60-year-old Ghanaian woman, Beatrice Agama, alias Mama, and also known as Gubelmann Siddiqui, included Cynthia Tetteh, alias Cynthia Tschudin, 55, Beatrice Annor Owusu, alias Maku, 35, Samuel Darko, alias Sammy, 34, all Ghanaians and Timothy Chinedu Bethel Obasi, 45, a Nigerian and three others suspected to be Ecuadorians. They were mentioned as Rokas Vizbaras, Aurimas Bobinas and Lukas Venckus.
While Beatrice Agama, Samuel Darko and Beatrice Owusu are currently in custody in Switzerland, Cynthia Tetteh and Timothy Obasi are in custody in Ecuador.
Interestingly, Cynthia Tetteh was discharged by the High Court in Accra for her alleged mental imbalance after she was arrested on January 3, 2009, for concealing cocaine in her vagina in an attempt to smuggle the drugs to Switzerland.
Security sources described Madam Agama as the organiser, financier and chief advisor to members of the syndicate.
The sources said Cynthia was associated with Beatrice Owusu, Beatrice Gubelmann and Samuel Darko.
They said Cynthia travelled to Ecuador in September 2009 to establish liaison with Bethel Obasi.
According to the sources, Beatrice Owusu and Samuel Darko had sent Lithuanian couriers to Ecuador with Cynthia supervising the supply sent by Bethel Obasi.
They said Beatrice Owusu and Samuel Darko had both allegedly confessed to transporting drugs.
When contacted, the head of Operations of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Dickson Akatsa, confirmed the arrests to the Daily Graphic.
He said after Cynthia was discharged by the court in Accra, NACOB sent her profile to foreign partners to put her on the watchlist.
According to him, it was through the watchlist that Cynthia came to security notice in September 2009, which made NACOB’s international partners to closely monitor her movements.
Mr Akatsa said subsequent investigations led to the uncovering of other members of the syndicate.
Meanwhile, he said, 14 drug couriers were convicted to various terms of imprisonment, ranging from 10 years to 30 years, between January 1 and February 12, 2010.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Importers not happy with influx of Ivorian rice

Page 24: Daily Graphic, February 18, 2010.Story: Albert K. Salia
KEY rice importers have expressed concern about the large influx of Ivorian rice brands into the country through the borders.
The concerns had been aggravated by the fact that those bringing in the rice through the borders do not pay duties and other related taxes as compared to those using the Tema port.
According to the importers, the situation had resulted in wide price differences which made those paying 20 per cent duties and 12.5 per cent VAT, 2.5 per cent NHIL and 2.4 per cent other taxes to be losing out.
They noted that the massive inflow of the illicit rice on the markets, particularly in the Central, Western, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and lately the Greater Accra regions, was seen as a major threat to the government’s policy of encouraging the consumption of home grown rice as the smuggled rice from Cote d’Ivoire was far cheaper.
“Also the quantum of revenue lost by the government to the smugglers is huge. The people involved in this illegal border trade allegedly pay very nominal amounts at borders such as Kwame Siekrom, Gonokrom and Kofi Badukrom to bring rice into Ghana,” they alleged.
“It is estimated that 100,000 metric tonnes of rice in one kilogramme, five kilogrammes, 25 kilogrammes and 50 kilogrammes, is packaged in sacks and smuggled into the country. There is a major revenue loss to the government on this account,” they indicated.
According to the players, they were not against competition but there should be a level playing field for all of them for consumers to make their preferred choice.
They said if nothing was done within the next three to four months, there would be a major crisis as not only could the smugglers not meet the national requirements but also the genuine businesses could not survive due to continuously reducing sales.
That, they contended, could also result in loss of jobs.
They expressed hope that the government would take some concrete steps on priority basis to deal with this menace.

Pentecost's new dress code causes stir

Front Page: Daily Graphic, February 17, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE fundamental changes announced by the Church of Pentecost have irritated some conservatives in the church and earned applause from others.
One of the key changes announced in a communiqué by the apostles, prophets and evangelists of the church is the one that allows female members, as well as visitors, to dress freely but decently and modestly to church.
The communiqué, which was issued at the end of the church’s annual prayer meeting, also granted women the option of not covering their hair and opened its services to dreadlocks Rastafarians and women in trousers.
It explained that there was no Biblical foundation for the use of head covering, which it said had been a source of embarrassment to female visitors as a requirement for salvation and should, therefore, not be imposed on church members or visitors.
Among those who have objected to the reforms is the Presiding Elder of the Bethel Assembly of the Church of Pentecost at Nii Boi Town, Elder Amos Amankwah.
He said the church had always depended on the direction of the Holy Spirit over such issues after a year-long prayer session.
“I will advise it to take its time, since allowing such practices will have dire consequences for the church,” he said.
A member of the church, Mr Ebenezer Boadi, also disagreed with the leaders on the new directives, saying they were not the best and very “un-pentecostal”.
He said it was that Church of Pentecost culture which differentiated members of the church from those of other churches and entreated the leadership to reconsider that position.
Mr Boadi said the infiltration of immoral practices into the church was even affecting the choice of its leaders and warned that if it was not checked, “it will destroy our church”.
He said it was now common practice to appoint persons as elders of the church because of their wealth when such persons did not know much about the church, its teachings and the Bible.
According to him, it was not the dropping of head covers or trousers that would entice new members into the church.
Another member, Mrs Comfort Baidoo, however, welcomed the new directives, saying that “it is better late than never”.
She commended the leadership of the church for that bold move and indicated that it was the beginning of a great reformation in the church.
In their communiqué, the leaders said the decision to abolish some of the age-long church traditions was to retain the church’s growing youth and adult membership, as well as open its doors to people of different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to have unhindered access to the total Gospel in its churches world-wide, especially when the practice defied theological and hermeneutic agreement.
It also directed that female visitors in decent trousers, as well as Rastafarians or persons in dreadlocks, be accepted in fellowship in the spirit of Christian love, while couples or families desiring to sit together at church be allowed to sit under the feet of Jesus to learn.
The communiqué, which was signed by its Chairman, Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, said after fully examining 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 on the issue of women head covering, it became obvious that what Paul wanted to put across was not clear.
It said a critical examination of the historical records, such as circulars of successive chairmen of the church from 1953 to 2007, revealed that the forefathers of the church, particularly the Founder, Rev James McKeown, did not discourage or encourage the covering of the head by women but that he had rather admonished the church, through a circular of August 7, 1967, that the leaders should not meddle in the private affairs of church members by prescribing dress codes for them and taught that church members dress decently and modestly.
It noted that the practice of head covering might have crept into the church’s practices from the fact that it was traditionally required of women in Ghana to cover their head before speaking to their kings and that might have led foundational women of the church to insist on appearing before the Lord, the King of kings, with their head covered.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Police round up criminal gangs

Page 31: Daily Graphic, February 16, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police at the weekend busted three suspected criminal gangs in various parts of the country.
Eight suspects were rounded up in the exercise at Kpando in the Volta Region and Haatso and Kotobabi in Accra.
Three suspects were arrested in Kpando last Friday for allegedly dealing in the illegal manufacture of pistols and supplying them to armed robbers, while three others were arrested at the Tentacles Hotel in Accra where they had gone to rob someone of a laptop.
Two others were arrested for allegedly attempting to snatch a taxi from its driver at Haatso.
A number of items, including locally made pistols, toy pistols, kitchen knives, machetes, mobile phones and two laptops, were retrieved from the suspects after their arrest.
Those arrested in the Kpando exercise were Daniel Asamany, 40, the manufacturer, and his two apprentices, Francis Abotsi, 25, and Victor Asuo, 34, while those arrested in the attempted hotel robbery were Isaac Arthur, 23; Frederick Harrison, 22, and Francis Osei Appiah, 20.
The others — Abraham Sarpong, 24, and Kwabena Fosu, 21 — were arrested in the attempted car-snatching incident at Haatso.
Briefing newsmen in Accra yesterday on the three exercises, the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, assisted by her deputy, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said Isaac, Frederick and Francis, who robbed their victim of his laptop, had gone to the hotel about 2 a.m. on Sunday, February 14, 2010 with two toy pistols, kitchen knives, ropes and body spray to attack their victim.
She said at the time of the incident, there was a programme taking place at the hotel and, unknown to the suspects, the police had monitored their movements and discussions when they got to the hotel.
According to her, when the suspects wanted to flee after taking the laptop from their victim, the police fired warning shots, which made Isaac to stop.
DCOP Atinga said Francis then attempted to jump over the wall of the hotel but he was threatened that he would be shot at if he dared.
She said the three suspects immediately lay down and that facilitated their arrest.
With regard to the car-snatching incident, DCOP Atinga said the suspects, Fosu and Sarpong, hid two machetes on their body before hiring the taxi, with registration number GT 3938-09, from Agbogba to Haatso.
She said some minutes away from where they hired the taxi, the suspects came across a police/military checkpoint where they were asked to alight for a search on them.
DCOP Atinga said it was during the search that the machetes were retrieved from the suspects, adding that a third suspect, who was identified by the suspects only as Boamah, managed to escape.
She appealed to taxi drivers to be careful with the persons who hired them in the night, especially when the prospective hirers made mouth-watering offers.
Touching on the illegal gun manufacturers, ACP Yohuno said it had come to the notice of the police that the illegal gun manufacturers were fuelling robbery cases in the country.
He said the police had, accordingly, extended their fight against robbery to gun manufacturers, noting that it was in one of such exercises that the police had a tip off about the activities of Asamany and his apprentices.
ACP Yohuno said the three were arrested after they had been caught offering four pistols for sale at GH¢300 each.
He said Asamany allegedly admitted manufacturing the guns after his arrest.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

’Separate Survey Dept from National Lands Commission’

Page 46: Daily Graphic, February 15, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE staff of the Survey Department have petitioned the President to separate the department from the new National Lands Commission, which is an amalgamation of four agencies.
They were of the view that if the department was not removed from the merger, its main mandate of surveying and mapping would be killed under the current Lands Commission.
In the petition, the workers said they envisaged “a lack of direction and transparency at the policy level with respect to survey and mapping in the country and that will be detrimental to the overall development of the nation as a whole”.
They contended that several memoranda sent to Parliament prior to the enactment of Act 767 went unheeded.
According to them, their fears were confirmed when appointments to the three top positions of the new Lands Commissions went to land economists and not a single land surveyor.
“Your Excellency, permit us to inform you that the above appointees are all land economists from the old lands commission whose training and background are the same as against the land surveyor from Survey Department whose training and job functions are entirely different in nature,” they noted.
Under Act 767, four land sector agencies — the Survey Department, Lands Commission, Land Valuation Board and the Land Title Registry — were merged into one National Lands Commission as part of efforts to improve land administration in the country.
According to the workers, preparation of site plans was not the core duties of the department, stressing that “the very fibre of development in every nation is hinged on a vibrant survey and mapping component”.
They contended that the role of the surveyor was so significant that the Surveyor-General in Nigeria was of Cabinet status.
According to them, the old Lands Commission, Land Valuation Board, Land Title Registry and Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands, had a common ancestry in the former Lands Department, which was itself created out of the Survey Department during the colonial period.
They said there was a common link between all the other land sector agencies while the “Survey Department by virtue of its mandate and functions virtually has very little in common with all the other land sector agencies”.
“If the Survey Department is put under the new Lands Commission, whose core functions are mainly on land administration, the department stands the risk of being inactive, since the other functions other than the preparation of cadastral plans could be relegated to the background.
“The Survey Department should remain as the National Mapping Organisation and should remain autonomous,” they demanded.
They said the membership of the Lands Commission as it existed now did not include people with the scientific and technical knowledge and competence to formulate policy and give directions in the performance of the functions of the Survey Department both at the national and regional levels.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Foreign Ministry to issue bio-passports

Page 49: Daily Graphic, February 11, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Passport Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration is to take full control of the issuance of biometric passports to Ghanaians.
While effecting the migration from manual passports to the use of biometric ones, however, the Passport Office may use the services of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) of the Interior Ministry only if need be.
This follows the resolution of the impasse between the Passport Office and the GIS at a meeting with a Deputy Chief of Staff, Ms Valerie Sawyerr, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
After the amicable resolution of the issue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, is reported to have stated that the March 23, 2010 date to commence the exercise would certainly be complied with.
He was reported to have stated in response to the demands of the GIS to take control of the issuance of the biometric passports that that could only be if the law was amended.
Sources at the meeting told the Daily Graphic that the meeting turned out to be a briefing session for Alhaji Mumuni, who further stated that the status quo in the issuance of passports was inconsistent with the new system.
Alhaji Mumuni, the sources indicated, explained that the essence of technology was to dispense with labour intensive activities and it was the fact of being declared redundant in the new system that had generated “Much ado about nothing”.
Subsequently, the Passport Office has allocated the ground floor of the former Foreign Affairs Ministry which was gutted by fire as the Passport Application Centre for Accra.
Alhaji Mumuni was reported to have said that the company doing the installation would act with dispatch to install the equipment and move quickly to install equipment at the other centres in the country.
The sources said the minister was emphatic that the new system was to achieve efficiency and value for money for Ghanaians.
They said the Deputy Director of the GIS, Mr Michael Gyamfi, led a team of officials to represent the GIS at the meeting.
The Daily Graphic reported in its February 9, 2010 edition that the GIS and the Passport Office were embroiled in a dispute over which of the two institutions had the mandate to issue biometric passports in the country, a development which threatened to delay Ghana’s migration from manual passports to the use of biometric ones by April this year.
Spokespersons for both the GIS and the Passport Office told the Daily Graphic that the new date of March 23, 2010 which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had set for the migration to be effected would not materialise unless the impasse had been amicably resolved.
Part of the revenue to be generated from the exercise is to be retained by the issuing authority as an internally generated fund and some sources have pointed to that incentive as one of the reasons why both the GIS and the Passport Office are so embroiled.
And with no clear position on who was in charge, the two institutions had acquired new offices in Kumasi to be used as the Passport Application Centre, as they had done in Accra.

Permanent posting cause of corruption in MTTU

Page 44: Daily Graphic, February 11, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A FORMER National Security Co-ordinator, Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, has noted that corruption has become endemic at the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service because of the practice of permanent posting to the unit.
“Obviously, the place is seen as a lucrative posting and it is common knowledge that some policemen and women actively lobby their way to get there in order to make money for themselves and those who posted them to the unit,” he said.
Commenting on the recent arrest of some officials of the Accra Central MTTU for extorting money from drivers, Mr Quantson, who is also a retired Commissioner of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), said posting to the MTTU on a permanent basis should be stopped and discouraged.
He said there had been instances when personnel were posted to the MTTU as constables or corporals and retired as chief superintendents or higher.
He said police personnel should be posted there for a specified period and then sent out to perform other police duties as part of a fundamental review of the unit to ensure discipline and stem the tide of corruption there.
“If this is done progressively, it can minimise this open tendency to extort money on the roads,” he noted.
Mr Quantson expressed regret that previous Police Administrations had found it extremely difficult to undertake any reforms at the MTTU.
He, therefore, called on the current Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, to muster courage and the will to effect the needed reforms at the MTTU countrywide.
“The MTTU should not be a permanent duty post for any police officer or for all police officers,” he added.
Mr Quantson, who is also a former Director of the Bureau of National Investigations, said the immediate response of the IGP to the complaint typified that sort of healthy and productive bonding between the people and the police “and this is highly commendable”.
According to him, the public saw something going wrong and they reacted responsibly by reporting to the police, noting that the police also responded promptly in arresting those involved in the criminal act.
“This is something that should be encouraged because it is the only way to ensure not only police accountability but also public responsibility,” he stated.
Mr Quantson noted that that was not the first time that such a situation had arisen, pointing out that “there have been instances in the last 25 years or more when action has been taken against rogue policemen for always disgracing the service by collecting these bribes”.
He said what happened was not an isolated case, as there had been complaints of extortion on roads and highways all over the country.
Mr Quaye ordered the arrest of four officials of the Accra Central MTTU on January 27, 2010 for allegedly extorting money from motorists around the Achimota Overhead Bridge.
An amount of GH¢196 was retrieved from them when they were searched on the spot by the arresting team from the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) Bureau.
Those arrested were Inspector Joseph Karikari, Sergeant Anthony Nyarko and Lance Corporals George Rockson and Daniel Yemoh.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Accra Police Command makes moves to decongest cells

Page 48: Daily Graphic, February 10, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A CELLS audit has begun at the Accra Regional Police Command, with a view to decongesting cells in the metropolis following the death of two suspects at the Ashaiman Police Station.
The Regional Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, and her deputy, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, are leading the exercise, which also includes the region’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
The two inmates who died at the Ashaiman Police cells on Monday were said to have died from suffocation and excessive heat in the cells.
Four others, who collapsed in the cell as a result of the heat and, therefore, became unconscious, were admitted at the Tema General Hospital.
The cells at the Accra Central Police Station are meant for 30 suspects but more than that number are often held there due to the presence of remand prisoners.
ACP Yohuno told the Daily Graphic that the team was looking at those involved in minor cases and could be granted bail.
He said those who had been remanded in prison custody would also be sent to the appropriate prisons.
According to him, the team was also looking at those who had not been taken to court for a long time, adding, “We want to find out why they had not been sent to court.”
ACP Yohuno said the exercise had started at the Accra Central cells and would continue from the Striking Force cells and the Ministries Police cells until all the police cells in the region had been audited.
He said police cells were a temporary place for holding suspects for initial investigations in reported cases.
So far, he said, investigations indicated that most of the people in custody were remand prisoners who were returned to the cells after complaining of various ailments at the Nsawam Medium Prison.
He said it had been realised that most of the remand prisoners were not comfortable in the prisons and preferred police cells.
ACP Yohuno sad remand prisoners often complained of sickness three days after being taken to prison custody and had to be returned to the police for medical care.
He expressed the hope that medical facilities at the prisons would be improved to take care of the health needs of remand prisoners.

Innovative Finance Ltd supports fihsmongers

Page 25: Daily Graphic, February 10, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
INNOVATIVE Finance Limited, a micro-finance organisation, yesterday launched a programme to support fishmongers at the Adabraka market with energy-saving ovens.
The programme, which forms part of Innovative Finance Ltd’s one year anniversary, was in collaboration with Energy4everyone Foundation of Canada.
The Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Finance Ltd, Ms Shiela Azuntaba, said the choice of the Adabraka market was because the company wanted to give back to the community in which it was located.
She said the two organisations would extend their activities to Chorkor and James Town, both in the Greater Accra Region, and to Tamale in the Northern Region after the success of the pilot programme at Adabraka.
A representative of Energy4everyone Foundation, Mr Jamie Gordon, said the mission of the organisation was to improve access to modern energy to those communities that needed it.
That, he said, the organisation did by delivering sustainable, reliable and affordable energy technology through which it empowered communities.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Interior and Foreign Affairs in ... PASSPORTS TUG-OF-WAR

Front Page: Daily Graphic, February 9, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and the Passport Office are embroiled in a dispute over which of the two institutions has the mandate to issue biometric passports in the country.
The controversy threatens to delay Ghana’s migration from manual passports to the use of biometric ones by April this year.
Spokespersons for both the GIS and the Passport Office told the Daily Graphic that the new date of March 23, 2010 which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had set for the migration to be effected would not materialise unless the impasse had been amicably resolved.
Part of the revenue to be generated from the exercise is to be retained by the issuing authority as an internally generated fund and some sources have pointed to that incentive as one of the reasons why both the GIS and the Passport Office are so embroiled.
And with no clear position on who is in charge, the two institutions have acquired new offices in Kumasi to be used as the Passport Application Centre.
The Daily Graphic has, however, learnt that the matter is currently at the Presidency, as earlier attempts to settle it at the stakeholders, the ministerial and National Security levels failed to arrive at a solution.
Under the prevailing law, NRC Decree 155, the Passport Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has the power and authority to issue passports. However, the GIS, under the Interior Ministry, is the body which receives and vets application forms before their onward submission to the Passport Office.
The Passport Office intends to do away with that function of the GIS in the issuance of the biometric passports and towards that end the office has proposed to the government to recruit 85 data entry clerks for the purpose of manning the application centres.
The Passport Office further adds that its decision to take absolute control of the processing and issuance of biometric passports has been informed by complaints from applicants that they often encounter delays in the processing of their forms.
In its defence, the GIS argued that since it was the body that dealt with the administration of passports after their issuance, it must continue to receive and vet applications until such time that the law was amended to give the issuance of passports to the GIS.
It is the case of the GIS that the world over it is the duty of the Home Affairs Ministry, through its immigration authorities, to receive and vet passport applications and issue passports.
While acknowledging the fact that the current law gave the mandate to the Passport Office, the GIS said it was asked to use its offices throughout the country to receive and vet application forms before their onward submission to the Passport Office.
“As I speak with you now, some district and regional offices, particularly the Greater Accra offices, of the GIS do nothing apart from passport processing. So what will happen to the offices and the staff?” it asked
It said it handled all passport matters after issuance and so it made sense that that outfit should be made to handle everything about passports.
According to the GIS, it had an automated system in place at its headquarters where all data captured could be sent for easy accessibility.
It contended that in cases of terrorism and security, it had been the GIS that had been called in to handle the situation.
It said it had established goodwill with the donor community which could come in handy with the acquisition of more computers and facilities to expand the application centres countrywide.
Under the original schedule of implementation, in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) directive that all countries must migrate onto biometric passports by April 2010, Ghana should have launched its programme in July 2009.
However, the turf war between the two organisations has continuously delayed the implementation.
Equipment procured for installation at the application centres has been lying idle at the offices of the company which won the bid to produce the passport booklets.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Biometric passports put on hold

Page 48: Daily Graphic, February 5, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Passports Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration says its plan to begin the issuance of biometric passports to Ghanaians has been put on hold until the heavy backlog of passports applications currently at the office has been cleared.
It has, therefore, set March 23, this year as the new date to begin the sale of new forms for the biometric passports which should have begun yesterday (Wednesday).
The period will also be used to replace all hand written passports being held by Ghanaians abroad with appropriate booklets.
Under the schedule for the introduction of the biometric passports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, was to release the new forms from January 25, 2010 while the launch was to take place yesterday, February 3, 2010.
Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, the sector Minister, however told the Daily Graphic today that the date for the sale of the forms had to be changed to co-incide with the launch date to avoid the situation where applicants would have to wait till the launch.
Already the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) has taken delivery of the application forms and 750,000 biometric passport booklets ready for the launch
Alhaji Mumuni said the postponement of the launch date was also to ensure the maturity of the Legislative Instrument currently before Parliament for the new fees to be charged.
He explained further that it also became obvious that the launching of the biometric passports was going to create problems for the issuing authority since quite a number of applications were still in their possession.
He said until the biometric passports were launched on March 23, 2010, persons who urgently require passports to travel could apply for the present generation of passports.
Reacting to concerns of the quality of the biometric passports, Alhaji Mumuni said, a lot of checks had been done on it and explained that the design was approved by a stakeholders committee made up of representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, National Security, Bureau of National Investigations, the police, Ghana Immigration Service and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
He said the committee had since 2006, been meeting on every Wednesday to discuss issues concerning the project.
Alhaji Mumuni said the company printing the biometric passport booklets was not new to the business as it currently prints those of Liberia since 2007.
He said the Attorney-General’s Department had also given the company a clean bill of health after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated it for a series of allegations.
According to the Minister, the government cannot abrogate the contract because the government had already paid out £5 million pounds of the entire project cost to the company.
He referred the Daily Graphic to an advertisement in the March 3, 2007 edition of the Ghanaian Times which solicited for comments on the award of the contract to the company in line with the award of the contract.
He said it was after no adverse comments were submitted that the government signed the contract.
Alhaji Mumuni said the company had also kept to its timetable and referred the Daily Graphic to a letter written by the company on March 28, 2008, complaining about the delay in the implementation schedule.
Part of the letter read: You may note from the attached implementation schedule that Buck Press have kept to the timetable and are presently at Week 20 - installation, testing and training. However, in not selecting the sites, the ministry is still at Week three (3). It is our hope that the ministry would work seriously to select the passport application sites within the next few days”.
Alhaji Mumuni said the company had since installed the Central Operations Production (COP) centre for the issuance of the passports while the equipment for the six application centres were all ready to be installed.
He said the contract sum also included installation of both hardware and software at the application centres and a five year maintenance, support and spares services.
The biometric passport will incorporate features such as a watermark paper, holographic foil, invisible and visible features and digital photographs such as the Supreme Court, Parliament House and the adinkra symbols and, therefore, make it difficult to forge and prevent multiple acquisition.
Alhaji Mumuni said Ghana’s missions in London, Rome, Berlin and Washington have been identified to also issue the biometric passports until a time that it was extended to more missions.
The Daily Graphic in its December 30, 2009, edition published that new forms for the issuance of biometric passports would be available to Ghanaian applicants from January 25, 2010 when the old forms will be withdrawn.