Friday, April 30, 2010

3 Soldiers, others busted for extortion

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 30, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE more soldiers and two policemen have been cited among the growing ranks of men in uniform who attempt to acquire wealth by means that offend the law.
The latest case to upset the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police is one of alleged extortion in which the three soldiers (including an ex-serviceman) and a civilian were arrested today (Thursday) by officers at the Accra Regional Police Headquarters.
The two policemen and another civilian accomplice of theirs, however, managed to escape arrest.
One of the policemen on the run has been identified as Corporal Isaac Opare of the Accra Central Police Station, while the identity of the second has not been ascertained.
Those in custody are William Taylor and Bismark Boateng, both active servicemen at the Air Force Base, Iddrisu Attoh, who claimed he had resigned from the Air Force, and Agbeko Manna, the civilian.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Public Affairs Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Cyprian Zenge, said the suspects purportedly arrested and handcuffed two persons, Karim Abdulai and Nana Koranteng, a taxi driver, for allegedly smoking Indian hemp.
He said the security men allegedly informed the “suspects” that the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, had ordered their arrest for dealing in Indian hemp.
He said the security men, at that point, sought to bargain with the “suspects” for their release.
That, he explained, was after the security men had seized Nana Koranteng’s mobile phones, money and car key.
He said when the security men drove towards the Accra Regional Police Command, they did not want to go into the yard with the “suspects”, resulting in a heated argument, with Abdulai and Koranteng insisting that they be sent to the Regional Police Commander.
He said the security men attempted to abscond when some policemen approached their vehicle to find out what was happening. In the process, the soldiers and Agbeko were arrested.
To effect the operation, he said, one of the civilians hired a trotro in the morning to pick the soldiers.
He said one of the soldiers was picked up around Kantamanto, from where they went to Dansoman to pick three other persons, including another soldier.
He said the gang went back to the Central Motor Traffic and Transport Unit to pick up another policeman and from there they went to Avenor, near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, for the operation.

Music producer nabbed over cocaine

Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 30, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A SELF-proclaimed music producer was on Tuesday night arrested by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) for allegedly attempting to smuggle substances suspected to be cocaine outside the country.
Samuel Sarfo Kantanka, alias Manga, 56, claimed he would have been paid £4,000 if he had successfully delivered the 96 pellets of cocaine he claimed to have swallowed.
As of the time of filing this report, Sarfo Kantanka was still expelling the drugs he ingested.
The suspect was arrested while going through departure formalities at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on his way to London.
He, however, denied being a music producer and explained that he had used that profession to acquire a passport and facilitate his travels abroad.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Director of Operations of NACOB, Mr Dickson Akatsa, said the board’s operatives had accosted Sarfo Kantanka on suspicion that he was carrying drugs.
He said the suspect, who was travelling on a Ghanaian passport with number H1894034, was then taken through the body scanner, which showed that there were some foreign materials concealed in his body.
He said a urine test confirmed that the suspect had ingested narcotic substances.
According to him, upon interrogation, the suspect allegedly mentioned someone he identified only as Stone as the one who gave him the drugs at a guest house at Ashongman to give to a Ghanaian in London, whom he identified only as Obroni.
Mr Akatsa said Sarfo Kantanka led NACOB officials on a wild goose chase to locate Stone’s house after he had told the officials that he knew the house.
The suspect told NACOB officials that he was not a music producer but that the accolade had been given to him when he followed some bandsmen around the country between 1977 and 1979.
According to him, he also adopted that profession to help Ghanaians travel abroad under the guise of going to produce music abroad.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Maritime boundary demarcation not about oil

Page 49: Daily Graphic, April 28, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
GHANA and Cote d’Ivoire have made it clear that the task before their joint ministerial committee on the demarcation of their maritime boundary is not about oil.
The Ivorian Interior Minister, Mr Desire Tagro, made the point in Accra yesterday at the opening of a two-day inter-ministerial discussion aimed at an amicable demarcation of the two countries’ maritime boundary.
“The issue is about the demarcation of maritime boundaries and not oil fields, as has been churned out in media circles,” he said, and appealed to the media to facilitate the process, instead of sensationalising it to destroy the hard- won trust, friendship and brotherliness between the two countries.
Mr Tagro said the friendship and relationship between President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana and his Ivorian counterpart, President Laurent Gbagbo, had been qualitatively built and had to be guarded because it had become the envy of many countries.
He was hopeful that the negotiations would take place without the media stirring unnecessary passions to destroy the relations between the two countries.
The meeting is expected to develop a road map for the negotiations and also enable Ghana to respond to the Ivorian proposal submitted during the second meeting between the two countries in Ghana in February last year.
Cote d’Ivoire is also expected to respond to proposals made by Ghana, after which the two countries will set an agenda and date for the next meeting.
Ghana’s delegation is led by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Chairman of the Boundary Commission, Alhaji Collins Dauda, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, as members of the 20-member delegation.
The Ivorian side is led by Mr Tagro and it includes the country’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Mr Augustin Comoe, and the Ivorian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Auguste Emmanuel Ackah.
Addressing the opening session, Alhaji Dauda noted that the subject for the meeting was a requirement for Ghana and its coastal neighbours to negotiate their maritime boundaries in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
He made it clear that maritime boundaries were required between neighbouring states, just like land boundaries, as they established the limits within which neighbouring states might operate, exercise their jurisdiction and in which they had the right of ownership.
He noted that Ghana and its neighbours had agreed that issues relating to adjacent or opposite boundaries should continue to be discussed in a spirit of co-operation to arrive at definite maritime boundaries delimitation after their respective submissions.
He recalled that the presidents of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire had met at their level and assured each other of co-operation in the boundary delimitation process.
He said it was in the light of that that Ghana had invited Cote d’Ivoire to continue with the process of delimitation of their common maritime boundary after the government had composed a Ghana Boundary Commission to engage its neighbours to continue with the negotiations.
Alhaji Dauda said the cordial relations between the two countries would ensure that the negotiations went on successfully based on the provisions of the UNCLOS.
The Ivorian delegation, led by Mr Tagro, later in the day delivered a special message from the Ivorian Leader, President Gbagbo to President Mills at the Castle, Osu, reports Kweku Tsen.
Interacting with the media after delivering the message, Mr Tagro said President Mills and President Gbagbo were expected to meet at Yamossoukro in Cote d’Ivoire to take a detailed and dispassionate look at the boundary issue between the two countries.
He was accompanied by the Ivorian Minister of Mines, Mr Comoe; Mr Ackah, the Ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire in Ghana, and Mr Madi Buoabre, a member of the Ivorian Parliament.
Mr Tagro said an invitation to that effect had been extended to the Ghanaian President but indicated that the date for the meeting between the two countries to deal with the boundary issue was yet to be determined.
“President Gbagbo has extended an invitation to President Mills for the meeting and the Ghanaian President has to respond to the invitation for the holding of the meeting at his own convenience, considering his tight schedule,” he said.
Mr Tagro said Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire relations dated back to the first Republic under President Nkrumah and for that matter issues which arose between them should be solved amicably.
It would be recalled that President Mills recently swore in the Ghana Boundary Demarcation Commission to oversee the demarcation and delimitation of the country’s land borders and marine positions.
That was after Parliament had passed the Boundary Demarcation Bill which was sent to the House under a Certificate of Urgency by the government.
Welcoming the delegation, President Mills called for the strengthening of Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Commenting on the forthcoming elections in Cote d’Ivoire, President Mills said it was the expectation of the government and people of Ghana that the polls would pass off peacefully.
“The government and people of Ghana stand solidly behind you as you prepare to conduct your elections,” he said. “We know democracy will triumph in Cote d’Ivoire,” he added.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni and Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, respectively.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Police indicts chiefs over Fulani herdsmen

Page 16: Daily Graphic, April 27, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Ghana Police Service has indicted some chiefs and landowners in the country for perpetuating the menace of Fulani herdsmen by taking monies and cows from them and allowing them to settle on their lands.
Withholding the names of the chiefs and landowners for the time being, the police said such nefarious activities were rampant in the Northern, Eastern, Volta, Brong Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West regions and the Accra plains, posing a serious threat to food security in the country.
A report compiled by the Ghana Police Service painted a scary picture of the situation and described the allocation of land to migrant herdsmen as a new gateway to prosperity for some chiefs and landowners.
With the escalating situation, the police report warned that soon, it would be difficult for those chiefs and landowners to share or surrender their control over land “to the political leaders at the national and local levels” for development purposes “without massive resistance”.
It said the Fulanis entered into settlement agreements with the traditional authorities and landowners, which allowed the nomads to use the resources of the area.
According to the report, which covered the year 2009, earnings from rent paid by migrant Fulani herdsmen constituted a major source of income to landowners in these impoverished areas.
“Chiefs prefer to give land to the migrant Fulani, especially the herdsmen, who are rich in cattle and can afford to make substantial payments as settlement fees,” it said.
Besides, the report said, chiefs who gave out land to herdsmen were able to acquire cattle and build up a sizeable cattle herd of their own within a relatively short time, stressing that “these chiefs and landowners contribute very little of their own time and effort in acquiring this livestock”.
It acknowledged that moves by governments in the past to identify and prosecute chiefs who collaborated with the migrant Fulanis set the local administration on a collision course with the chiefs.
It added that an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust characterised the relationship between the locals and Fulani herdsmen as a result of the destruction of crops and consumption of food items by cattle especially during the planting season and the immediate post-harvest period.
The report, therefore, suggested a half-yearly renewal of registration of Fulanis, based on comportment, by the Ghana Immigration Service and the police.
It also suggested that the entry and exit of the migrant Fulani herdsmen should be strictly controlled while the Fulanis were restrained from possessing weapons, but should be allowed only under appropriate certification and control.
It said municipal and district assemblies must also be told in clear terms not to use revenue mobilisation as an excuse to harbour the Fulani herdsmen in their areas of jurisdiction and close their eyes to the destruction that the Fulanisd been causing to the environment.
It said Fulanis who did not want to obey the laws of the land must be shown the exit.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Police, Immigration flush out fulani herdsmen

Page 67: Daily Graphic, April 26, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A COMBINED team of personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service at the weekend flushed out some Fulani herdsmen from the Agotime-Kpetoe-Batime area of the Volta Region.
Five of the leaders of the herdsmen are currently in custody in Ho, while more than 600 cattle were pushed/repulsed to Togo where they came from.
The leaders in custody are Mahamadu Fulani, Abdulai Mahamadu, Yaro Mahamadu, Tahiru Kole and Ibrahim Amadu.
The Food and Crops Division of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is to be contacted to assess the damage caused to farms in the area.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has subsequently directed all policemen in border towns to collaborate with their GIS counterparts to deal with the Fulani menace as the farming season is about to set in.
Mr Quaye has also warned traditional authorities to desist from negotiating with Fulani herdsmen to use their terrain, only for them to end up destroying the farms of their subjects.
The Director of Police Public Affairs, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwasi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic that the Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP David Ampah-Benin, who led the operation, had information that some traditional leaders had allowed the cattle of the Fulani herdsmen to graze on their land.
He said the cattle had destroyed large tracts of farmland in the affected area.
According to him, the swift response from the police and the GIS helped to push back the Fulanis to Togo, where they had come from.
Regrettably, he said, some opinion leaders and chiefs often failed to notify the political and security authorities of the presence of the Fulanis until farmers started to complain.
DSP Ofori said the exercise was not a hate one against Fulanis but intended to check the wanton destruction of farms and water bodies.
He said the IGP had directed the various police commands to collaborate with the local assemblies to see how to manage those Fulani herdsmen already in the country.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Robbery - Prophetess, 5 others picked up

Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 23, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
FIVE persons, including a prophetess, have been picked up in connection with the robbery of two foreign visitors at a hotel at East Cantonments last Tuesday.The police have also retrieved the Nissan Sentra which the suspected robbers snatched from its owner after their car had run into a ditch.
The passport of one of the visitors, who is a female, has also been retrieved.
Those in custody are Prophetess Mama Romeo, Joseph Annonor, a mechanic, Vida Karikari, Doris Karikari and Doris Dede Tetteh.
The Nungua District Crime Officer, ASP (Dr) Philip Akanpami, told the Daily Graphic that an informant alerted the police to a vehicle being tampered with by a mechanic at the Nungua Old Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon.
He said when the police moved to the scene, Joseph Annonor, the mechanic, indicated that he had been contracted by three young men to repair the ignition, since they had lost the ignition key.
He said the mechanic then led the police to Prophetess Romeo’s residence, where the car had allegedly been parked overnight.
ASP Akanpami said the prophetess also indicated that three young ladies, Vida, Doris and Dede, who lived close by, had pleaded with her to allow their visitors to park the car in her yard, since their house was not walled.
According to him, when the prophetess led the police to the house of the three ladies, they were informed that the ladies had left for a town on the Akuapem Ridge.
He said the police later had information on the movement of the ladies, which led to their arrest.
ASP Akanpami said the case had been referred to the Accra Regional Police Headquarters for further investigations.
The Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the two men who had invited the visitors to Ghana and who had been arrested to assist in investigations had been granted bail.
Three armed robbers, on Tuesday night, attacked and robbed two foreign visitors as they entered the reception of a hotel at East Cantonments.
The suspects later snatched a vehicle near the Ghana Free Zones offices after their white Toyota Corolla, with registration number GE 8793-09, had run into a ditch.
All the personal belongings of the foreign visitors, including laptops, digital cameras and cash, were taken from them.

Police to probe death of deputy minister's wife

Page 17: Daily Graphic, April 23, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has ordered investigations into the death of the wife of a Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, at the Police Hospital.
The woman was alleged to have died on Wednesday during child birth at the Police Hospital in Accra through negligence on the part of some medical staff.
The Director-General of Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS), DCOP Timothy Ashiley, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the IGP had been alarmed by the news and asked that it should be investigated.
He said the news came as a surprise, especially when research published recently indicated that the Police Hospital had the best maternal health standards in the country.
He explained that it was to ensure that standards and best practices were maintained at the hospital that the IGP had ordered PIPS to investigate.
DCOP Ashiley said with the exception of one more person to be talked to, a lot had been done by way of preliminary investigations and gave the assurance that by close of day today, some findings would have been made.
Some family members have expressed disquiet over the conduct of the hospital staff and demanded a post mortem before the late Mrs Fuseini was buried.

Britain confident in our economy

Page 32: Daily Graphic, April 23, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
BRITAIN has expressed confidence in the prospects of Ghana’s economic growth and development.
The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr Nicholas Westcott, said the confidence was buoyed by the number of British companies doing business in Ghana and the interest shown by more British firms to do business in the country.
Speaking at a reception to commemorate the Queen’s birthday in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Westcott noted, “Land Rover is re-launching itself on the Ghanaian market with its latest and best products next month and a few days later Virgin Atlantic will launch its first service between Heathrow and Accra, demonstrating continued British commitment to the prospects for Ghana’s economic growth and development.”
He said trade between Ghana and Britain was nearly six times the size of aid flows, amounting to $500 million a year.
He acknowledged the tremendous contributions of Tullow Oil and Vodafone in bringing technology and skills to Ghana.
“Both companies are committed not just to commercial activities but to Ghana as a country. Tullow’s corporate social responsibility programme has helped it to build links with communities in the Western Region and the Vodafone Foundation is supporting one of the most inspiring institutions, the Right to Dream Academy, for young sportsmen,” he said.
Dr Westcott said the British Department For International Development (DFID) programmed support to Ghana rose to £86 million over the past year, with much of it focused on the health and educational sectors which were key to Ghana’s future.
He said the British government had also supported private sector development, civil society, social protection for the poorest, better management of public finances and actions that reinforced democratic accountability.
According to him, the British Council continued to focus particularly on strengthening links between higher educational institutions and schools in the UK and Ghana with the view to helping young Ghanaians to develop their skills for their own benefit and that of their country.
He expressed happiness over the closer co-operation between the UK and Ghana in the fight against drugs and crime and in managing irregular migration.
The High Commissioner said Ghana and the UK were also working together to promote stability in the sub-region.
He said after working hand-in-hand with Ghana at the climate change conference to put in place the “fast start” finance initiative, the British Government was looking forward to providing funding for Ghana’s own framework for sustainable development.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said the interest of British firms to invest in Ghana attested to their confidence in the resilience and growth of the economy.
She pledged the government’s commitment to manage the economy responsibly and facilitate an enabling environment that would encourage more investments from the UK and elsewhere to boost bilateral trade.
She commended the British Government for its friendship and co-operation and for the various forms of technical assistance and aid provided for Ghana over the years.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

They are for court today

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE former Chief Executive of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, and a former Chief of Staff, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, are to appear in court to face charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the state.
The Attorney-General is expected to read out the full charges to the two men when they appear at the Commercial Court today.
The two men were officially charged when they responded to an invitation to the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) yesterday.
Sources at the CID Headquarters told the Daily Graphic that Dr Wereko-Brobby had gone there in the company of his lawyer, Mr Akoto Ampaw, while Mr Egbert Faibille accompanied Mr Mpiani.
They said the two men had indicated that whatever they had done had been in the line of their duty.
Counsel for Mr Mpiani, Mr Faibille, confirmed to the Daily Graphic soon after they had left the CID Headquarters that his client and Dr Wereko-Brobby had been officially charged.
He said they would be in court today to listen to whatever was there for them.
The government on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the commission of inquiry into the Ghana@50 celebrations and directed that the two men be prosecuted.

Major changes in police hierarchy

Page 49: Daily Graphic, April 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has announced major changes in some top positions of the Ghana Police Service as part of efforts to inject efficiency into the service.
As part of the changes, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Frank Adu-Poku, is to hand over to DCOP Prosper Kwame Agblor, who is currently on secondment with the INTERPOL Office, Abidjan.
DCOP Adu-Poku will now be responsible for Technical Services at the Police Headquarters.
The changes, which are to take immediate effect, have Commissioner of Police (COP) Joana Osei-Poku, the Director-General, Human Resource Development, swapping position with DCOP Dr Peter Alex Wiredu, the Director-General of Administration.
DCOP Gyeabour Ofosu-Mensah, currently the Director-General for Research, Planning and Technical Services, moves to Welfare, while the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Stephen Andoh-Kwofie, moves to the Central Region as the Regional Commander.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Moses Ninson, is to take over as the Eastern Regional Police Commander, with DCOP Robert Mark Azu, the second-in-command at the Western Region, moving to the Police Headquarters in Accra.
DCOP Yaagy Akuribah, the Chief Staff Officer at the Police Headquarters, is to take over as the Commandant of the Police College, with the current Commandant, ACP Nana Asare Oware Pinkro III, moving to the Western Region as the Deputy Regional Police Commander.
The Akropong Divisional Police Commander, DCOP (Ms) Mina Ayim, is to take over as the Director-General, Research and Planning, at the Police Headquarters, while ACP Kwadwo Boapeah Otchere is to take over as the Chief Staff Officer at the Police Headquarters.
Mr Quaye told the Daily Graphic that the changes were in line with his policy to strengthen and inject efficiency into some of the sectors in the hierarchy of the Police Administration.
He explained that the changes formed part of the performance re-engineering he sought to bring on board to ensure that the police employed approved and accepted practices in the delivery of services to all stakeholders.
Mr Quaye said the changes did not mean that those who were changed were inefficient but that they were needed in their new areas.
This is the second time the IGP has made changes in leadership positions of the Ghana Police Service since assuming duty almost a year ago.

Bawku - More than 80 lives lost

Page 64: Daily Graphic, April 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
MORE than 80 lives have been lost in the Bawku conflict since December 31, 2007 when the internecine conflict between the Kusasis and Mamprusis re-ignited.
Thirty people have also received gunshot wounds as a result of the conflict.
The conflict has further recorded 37 cases of arson involving 14 houses, five shops, 13 vehicles, two motorbikes and a communication centre.
So far, more than 10 people are in custody for their alleged roles in murders and attempted murders.
Seven other persons are on the wanted list of the police to assist in investigations.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Bright Oduro, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the death toll could be more because some of the deaths were not brought to the notice of the police.
He said since December 2009, 11 official deaths and 14 wounded cases had been reported to the police and explained that some of the killings were related to the conflict, while others were linked to robbery.
ACP Oduro noted that one of two persons in custody for taking part in barricading the Garu road and attacking travellers, for instance, did what he did on retaliatory grounds because the suspect, identified only as Samadu, had seven of his relatives killed in the Buabila massacre in June 2008 in which 17 women and children were hacked to death.
With regard to some of the criminal killings, he alleged that suspect Seidu Awale was behind the killing of Felix Asibi Frafra, a member of staff of the Bawku Office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), on June 1, 2009.
ACP Oduro said three other persons — Ibrahim Taller, Zab and Medirel — were wanted in connection with the robbery and murder of a businessman, Suraju Ablabila, on January 30, 2010.
He said two other persons — Muniru Gariba and Muniru Welda — were wanted in connection with the murder of Alhaji Rufai Sumani on the Bawku-Sankasi road on September 6, 2009, while Mohammadu Iddrisu, alias Bush Rambo, was wanted in connection with the attempted murder of Fuseini Moro on October 29, 2009.
The Upper East Regional Police boss said an ex-soldier, identified only as Badim, alias Tanko, alias Most killer, was wanted in connection with the murder of Karim Oga in 2008.
ACP Oduro said the police were facing a number of challenges in dealing with the killings in Bawku.
He said apart from the fact that the people were not volunteering information to assist the police, the perpetrators also took advantage of the darkness in Bawku to carry out their dastardly acts.
He noted that the perpetrators lived among the people but the people refused to identify them to the police and cited the fact that very often some of the people killed were hurriedly buried, without notifying the police.
He said the chiefs and opinion leaders did not advise the youth to stop the killings and counter attacks.
ACP Oduro said the link roads were also very bad and highly unmotorable, making it difficult for the police to move in swiftly to deal with attacks.

Two foreign visitors robbed at hotel

Page 64: Daily Graphic, April 22, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THREE armed robbers on Tuesday night attacked and robbed two foreign visitors as they entered the reception of a hotel at East Cantonments.
The suspects later snatched a vehicle near the Ghana Free Zones offices after their white Toyota Corolla, with registration number GE 8793-09, had run into a ditch.
All the personal belongings of the foreign visitors, including laptops, digital cameras and cash, were taken from them.
Two persons said to have invited the two visitors, male and female, are assisting the police in investigations.
The Cantonments District Police Commander, DSP Alex Kumangtani, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the visitors had arrived from The Netherlands about 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
He said a vehicle from the hotel where they had booked to stay picked them up from the airport.
According to him, a white Toyota Corolla with three occupants pulled up at the hotel just as the visitors were entering the reception of the hotel.
DSP Kumangtani said the three suspects followed the visitors to the reception and pulled pistols at all those there and ordered them to lie down.
He said the three armed men then snatched all the belongings of the guests and sped off in their car.
He said on reaching the junction near the GFB, the robbers’ vehicle ran into a ditch.
DSP Kumangtani said the suspects then attacked a lady who was driving past in her Nissan Sentra, with registration number GE 1914-10, and took it away.
He said the Toyota Corolla had been parked at the Cantonments Police Station.

2,500 fail to settle MASLOC loan

Page 30: Daily Graphic, April 21, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
More than 2,500 persons who took loans amounting to GH¢1.4 million from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) in the Eastern Region have failed to settle their indebtedness.
About GH¢1.8 million was disbursed to more than 3,400 beneficiaries between 2007 and 2008.
A total of GH¢300,000 has so far been retrieved from about 500 of the defaulting clients since November last year.
The beneficiaries had between six months and one year to resettle their indebtedness.
The Eastern Regional Manager of MASLOC, Mr Dominic Baah-Ayim, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that 119 of such defaulters were facing court action to enable the office to retrieve various sums of money from them.
He explained that the court action was the last resort being used to get defaulters to repay their indebtedness so that applicants on the waiting list could be served.
According to him, the office often sent text messages, made phone calls to defaulters and also summoned them before opinion leaders to impress upon them to pay.
Mr Baah-Ayim said it was only after those moves had failed that the office resorted to a court action to retrieve its funds.
He indicated that the office had been able to retrieve GH¢20,000 from four of its recalcitrant beneficiaries in the Eastern Region through court action.
He said some of the beneficiaries after collecting the money, often abandoned their business intentions thinking that it was freebie from government.
He cited the case of a 56-year-old poultry farmer at Suhyen-Koforidua, Kojo Anim, who allegedly accessed GH¢2,000 from MASLOC with the view to expanding his poultry business but absconded to Kumasi after selling off the birds on the farm and abandoned the project.
He said after several visits to the suspect’s project site at Suhyen near Koforidua to locate him proved futile, MASLOC quickly summoned his two guarantors to the office for a combined search effort.
“In a long and tortuous search, it was revealed that the beneficiary had abandoned his project at Suhyen-Koforidua and now domiciled at Bremen near Kumasi where he had deleted all contact details,” he added.
Mr Baah-Ayim said a joint effort of the Kumasi Police and the MASLOC recovery team tracked him down with an abscond warrant on March 25, 2010 for his refusal to pay MASLOC facility taken as far back as February, 28 2008.
In another vein, he said, a leader of the Betom Hope Movement in Koforidua, Comfort Agyapong, whose group was granted GH¢6,250 as microcredit loan, had also been arrested for extorting money from her group members on the pretext of paying the MASLOC loan.
Mr Baah-Ayim said to forestall recurrence, the management had also begun a nationwide public education for its prospective clients on how to effectively utilise the loans.
He explained that the training was essential to create the platform for prospective beneficiaries to learn business-like approach to handling money for productivity.
According to him, the training formed part of efforts to correct the erroneous impression about the operations of MASLOC that the loans granted to beneficiaries were "free money" or "government's gift" to party functionaries.
MASLOC, he explained, was expected to promote the emergence, development and growth of a sustainable and decentralised micro-financial sector with grass-roots participation in ownership, management and control.

Police nabbed nine in swoop

Pages 16/17: Daily Graphic, April 20, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
NINE suspected criminals have been rounded up in two separate operations by the Accra Regional Police.
Five of the suspects were arrested hours after they had attacked a guest house at Nyanyano, near Kasoa last Sunday night, during which all the stolen items were retrieved.
They are Sunday Eze, 40, Kelvin Asabre, 32, Kofi Adamba, 31, Samuel Cudjoe, 30, and Mohammed Saani, 30.
Interestingly, Eze, Asabre and Adamba were all granted bail by an Accra High Court in February, this year for robbery. Asabre, until his release, had been on remand for eight years for robbery.
In the second operation, four others — Ibrahim Seidu, 45; Kofi Nyarko, alias Michael, 24; Adams Ibrahim, 19, and Jones Kumah, alias Alan Cash — were arrested in Accra and Kumasi for their alleged involvement in the snatching of cars.
Six of the snatched cars including a RAV 4 have all been retrieved by the police.
At a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, and her deputy, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the police received a distressed call at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, 2010 that some suspected robbers had attacked a guest house at Nyanyano.
She said the swift response by the police to the scene led to the arrest of Sunday Eze while fleeing the scene of the robbery.
According to her, Eze led the police to arrest Asabre from whom the police retrieved $900, £190 and GH¢770 at North Industrial Area.
DCOP Atinga said Kelvin also led the police to arrest Saani, Adamba and Cudjoe, from whom 20 Ghanaian passports, 11 wristwatches and 12 mobile phones were recovered from their hideout.
She said checks at the registry of the police indicated that Kelvin, who was arrested in connection with robbery, was granted bail by an Accra High Court on February 10, this year while Asabre, who had been on remand for eight years, as well as Eze, who was also arrested in connection with robbery, were both granted bail by an Accra High Court in February this year.
As to why Asabre was on remand for eight years, DCOP Atinga said there could be a multiplicity of factors including long adjournments due to unavailability of prosecution witnesses.
With regard to the car snatching incidents, ACP Yohuno said at about 11:30 p.m. on April 4, 2010, Kofi Nyarko and Adam Ibrahim chartered a taxi at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Abeka La Paz.
He said on the way, the two attempted to strangle the driver, but another taxi driver who was driving behind them saw the incident and shouted for help.
ACP Yohuno said some neighbours came out of their houses to help apprehend the suspects.
According to him, when Nyarko and Ibrahim were sent to the police, they allegedly confessed to snatching four cars and sending them to one Jones Kumah in Kumasi for re-spraying and re-numbering for sale.
ACP Yohuno said the two men also confessed that a taxi they were taking to Kumasi was abandoned at Bunso after it developed a fault and indicated that the car was later retrieved from Suhum.
He said with the help of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Kumah was arrested on April 14, 2010 and four cars retrieved from him.
He said Ibrahim Seidu was arrested at Adenta Housing Down at about 10:30 p.m. on March 29, 2010, barely two hours after the police had received a distress call that a Toyota RAV 4 had been seized from its owner at the Hydraform Estates.

One person arrested over Danladi's murder

Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 17, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE police in Bawku have arrested one person in connection with the shooting of a 53-year-old man at Mishiga near Bawku on Thursday night.
The deceased, Abdulai Awudu Danladi, was allegedly shot at about 8pm while having dinner with his wife, who also sustained gunshot wounds.
Danladi is said to be the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polling station chairman at Mishiga.
The Bawku Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Kwaku Buadu Peprah, could, however, not readily disclose the name of the suspect arrested because he was not immediately in the office and was not up to date with investigations conducted as of the time the Daily Graphic spoke to him on phone.
Danladi’s wife is responding to treatment at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
Chief Supt. Peprah said the police would get to the bottom of the matter and apprehend the culprits who were behind the shooting.
Questions are being raised about how the assailants could carry out their deadly mission amid tight security in place at Bawku and its environs particularly when a 4:00pm-6:00am curfew had been imposed.

Huge challenges at Passport Office

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 15, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
BARELY three weeks into the launch of Ghana’s biometric passport, the Passport Office is facing major difficulties in coping with the large number of applicants seeking to acquire the new passport.
Although it is still within the time-frame for setting up passport application centres in seven areas, the centre at the Passport Office, which was initially set up to handle diplomatic, service and other dignitary passport processing, is currently the only operational one.
The main Accra centre is due to come on stream next week, to be followed by that of Sunyani the week after. Other areas earmarked to have the initial centres are Kumasi, Tamale, Ho and Sekondi/Takoradi.
Under the arrangement, the centres are to receive and process applications, after which they will be submitted to the Passport Office for vetting and issuance.
When the Daily Graphic visited the centre yesterday, anxious applicants had gathered both outside and inside the premises in a disorderly manner, with some security men taking advantage of the situation with the view to assisting people to acquire the passports.
It came to light that there were some applicants who had valid passports but had gone to change them for biometric ones.
Apart from the data capturing which slowed the process, people with valid machine readable passports had also joined the fray to have the new passports.
The Deputy Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Mr Chris Kpodo, who was on a surprise visit to the centre, in the company of the sector Minister, Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni, had to order a policeman in uniform out of the place when the policeman claimed he was there to visit a friend.
Touched by the anxiety and agony of the applicants, Alhaji Mumuni directed the Passport Office to provide tents and seats for them.
He described the situation on the ground as worrying and disturbing and urged the directors of the office to review and respond effectively to the challenges.
He was hopeful that when the Accra main centre came on stream, it would reduce the pressure on both officials and applicants and the challenges in the system.
He urged those with valid passports to continue to use them until they expired, since they could still use them until November 2015.
The Director of Passports, Ms Afua Benneh, described the challenges as teething problems associated with the start of every project and gave the assurance that the security system would also be quickly reviewed to sanitise the system.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Marine Police Unit to be re-established

Page 32: Daily Graphic, April 14, 2010.
Police Marine Unit (security agencies)
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration is to re-establish the Marine Police Unit to provide security at the various oil sites and deal resolutely with crimes associated with the oil and gas industry.
The unit is also to enable the police to position themselves to deal with crimes such as diversion, bunkering, sabotage, arson, piracy and hostage-taking, as well as smuggling of weapons, narcotic drugs and other contraband items at 304 landing sites in 185 villages along the coastline.
The unit will also support the Railways and Ports Unit of police, whose work is concentrated at the Tema and Takoradi ports.
The Police Administration is also collaborating with other security agencies to fashion a holistic framework of a security network aimed at giving maximum protection to both the offshore and onshore infrastructural facilities, equipment, oil and gas resources, as well the human resources that would be deployed on the platforms, rigs, sites and the surrounding environments.
Speaking at the beginning of a four-day capacity building workshop for the core personnel of the unit, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, said the training would provide the personnel with knowledge and skills relevant to policing in the oil and gas industry.
Mr Quaye said whilst many had high hopes of economic breakthroughs emerging from the oil industry, others were very sceptical and pointed fingers to the possible adverse ramification arising from the upcoming industry.
“Undoubtedly, these fears, trepidation and anxieties are the products of careful observations made from the rather unpleasant experiences of the situations in other African countries,” he noted.
Given the operational dynamics and complexities of the modern oil and gas industry and the wealth of experiences and daunting challenges of countries such as Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya, Mr Quaye said it was urgent for Ghana to develop and build the requisite human resource capacities in preparation for the commencement of business activities associated with the oil industry.
He said the decision to re-establish the Marine Police Unit was part of some pre-emptive measures adopted after a careful situation analysis of some security threats envisaged that were likely to be encountered with a booming offshore oil and gas industry.
Mr Quaye said Ghana’s portion of the Gulf of Guinea would become an extremely busy area with its attendant conflicting interests due to the tremendous increase in the number of sea-going vessels.
He noted that the local fisher folk, whose environment would be adversely affected, would be aggrieved, a situation which could precipitate possible open confrontations.
The IGP said the multiplicity of businesses and influx of wealthy expatriates would have its potential conflicts of business and socio-cultural interests, complex financial transactions and an increased fraudulent undertakings, which would become fertile grounds for business rivalries and associated vindictive and retaliatory crimes.
He said the Police Administration also anticipated that the high demand for land by so-called business investors in the oil find area would trigger off land disputes and conflicts between clans and families.
According to him, the fallout of those developments would create operational challenges for the maintenance of law and order.
Mr Quaye, however, gave the assurance that the Ghana Police Service was up to the task as it already had a well-established Railways and Ports Unit with its dominant operational activities centred at the Tema and Takoradi ports.
He said a Divisional Police Command with the necessary infrastructure and human resources in the Half Assini area was to be created to deal with the anticipated tasks and challenges ahead.
The head of Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre, Dr Kwesi Aning, who is a resource person, commended the Police Administration for its foresight in establishing the various units to deal with the challenges associated with the oil find.

Monday, April 12, 2010

2 Suspected armed robbers lynched

Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 12, 2010.
Story: Albert Salia
Two suspected armed robbers were allegedly lynched by a mob at Sakaman in Accra yesterday morning.
They have been identified as Gideon Dodzi and the other only as Madina. Their bodies have been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary.
Two others, however, managed to escape. A bag containing provisions which they allegedly stole from a shop, a cutter and a spanner suspected to have been used to break into the shop were retrieved from the scene of the robbery at Sakaman.
The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Rose Bio Atinga, told newsmen yesterday that the owner of the shop (name withheld), while on his way to the mosque to pray at 4.55 a.m., saw men in front of his store at Sakaman and asked them to leave the place
She said on the owner’s return from the mosque, he saw that the two men had been lynched, while his store had been broken into, with a “Ghana Must Go” bag loaded with provisions from the shop lying close to the lynched men.
DCOP Atinga said the shop owner reported the matter to the Odorkor Police at 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
She said investigations had so far revealed that the four robbers were all residents of Abuja on the Graphic Road and pledged the commitment of the police to apprehend the two escapees.
The Regional Police Commander, however, appealed to the public not to take the law into their own hands when they arrested criminals.

Pastor gunned down * Wife also shot

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 9, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Founder and Leader of the Jehovah Shalom Church, popularly known as Canaan, at Gomoa Achiase, Pastor Kweku Bentum, was last Wednesday night gunned down by unknown assailants in a sordid act of anarchy that appears to be engulfing the Ghanaian society.
As if killing the pastor was not enough for the perpetrators, his wife, Mrs Margaret Bentum, who responded to a distress call from her husband, was also shot by the assailants and she is currently on admission at the Agona Swedru Government Hospital.
Five persons, suspected to be behind Pastor Bentum’s murder, have been arrested by the Gomoa Achiase Police.
A sixth person, who is believed to be the principal architect of the act, Peter Abatole, is currently on the run.
Those arrested are Adams Kassena Nakani, an in-law of Abatole’s, Abukari Adams, Francis Arhin, Cosmos Baah Yirenkyi and a woman identified by the police only as Adjoba.
The police have also retrieved the gun suspected to have been used in the pastor’s murder.
The Agona Swedru Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Owusu Donyinah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that Pastor Bentum was due to give evidence against Peter Abatole in court today, Friday, April 9, 2010 in a case in which Abatole had been charged for stealing.
He said Abatole had been arrested on April 2, 2010 for stealing sheep.
According to him, the court granted Abatole bail on April 5, 2010 to appear again on April 9, 2010 and Pastor Bentum was to give evidence for the prosecution.
Chief Supt Donyinah said Pastor Bentum was almost at the entrance of his house when he was shot last Wednesday night.
He said the pastor screamed for help and when his wife rushed out of the house to go to his aid, she was also shot.
He said the pastor died on the spot, while his wife was rushed to hospital for treatment.
Chief Supt Donyinah said the five persons were arrested on suspicion that they might be involved in the murder.
According to him, Nakani allegedly told the police that he had been out hunting at the time of the incident and could not have been involved.
He said when Nakani was asked to produce his gun, he denied owning one and admitted ownership of the gun only after it had been retrieved from his house after a search.
Chief Supt Donyinah said the police had mounted a search for Abatole and appealed to members of the public, especially those within the area, to provide the police with any information that might lead to Abatole’s arrest.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Suspected armed robber arrested

Page 3: Daily Graphic, April 7, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A suspected armed robber who has been on the police wanted list for the past eight months has finally been arrested.
The suspect, Mawuli Dogbe, 35, is said to have been a member of an armed robbery gang led by one George Aryeetey, who was arrested on July 22, 2009.
Also known as Shorti, the suspect was arrested at the Valco Flats Market, where he claimed he was waiting for a friend, on April 4, 2010.
Shorti reportedly told the police during interrogation that he had only gone on five robbery expeditions with Aryeetey.
Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christian Tetteh Yahuno, said although the police arrested the kingpin of the robbery gang, it decided to continue to search for all the other members of the gang.
He said the police had been successful in arresting a number of gang members who were led by Aryeetey but explained that gang leaders often organised different groups for various operations.
He explained that the fight against armed robbery and other criminal activities was not limited to known members only.
ACP Yahuno said Shorti claimed that he had been on five different robbery expeditions with Aryeetey and other persons but could only remember the names of Stanley, Aryeetey and Emma, a Nigerian.
He said the suspect could only mention Adjiringano as one of the five areas they operated but could not list the others, with the excuse that he had not known Accra and its suburbs very well.

Police to clamp down on lawlessness

Page 12: Daily Graphic, April 5, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Police Administration has directed all police commands in the country to clamp down on any acts of lawlessness and indiscipline.
It has, therefore, warned individuals and social, religious and political groupings to refrain from activities that tend to breach the Public Order Act and the peace in the country.
In an interview, the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Kwesi Ofori, said the police would deal firmly and decisively with any person or group of persons who would take the law into their own hands to cause any disturbances, irrespective of their status or social and political affiliation.
He reminded members of the public that the Public Order Act, Act 491 enjoined individuals and group of persons intending to embark on any public event such as demonstrations and rallies to inform the police at least five clear days before the event.
“People who disregard this provision do so at their own risk, as the police will not hesitate to clamp down on them in full force,” he warned.
DSP Ofori said the necessary measures had been put in place to ensure that the country continued to enjoy peace and security at all times.
He said information on alleged breach of the law that had come to the notice of the police was being investigated for appropriate action.
He described as unfortunate a statement attributed to the Yendi District Police Command that it could not arrest any of the youth threatening to kill the Yendi Metropolitan Chief Executive because the issue was too political for the police to dabble in and that no one had made a formal complaint to it.
He explained that “crime is crime” and the police had nothing to fear when handling criminal issues.
“In matters of lawlessness and threat to security, the police have nothing to with politics. It is about life and death and that is what we have been employed and trained to deal with. Criminality has no political party, religion, ethnic or any background,” he said.
Some NDC youth in Yendi last Saturday threatened to kill the Yendi MCE after accusing him of incompetence and lack of vision in championing the cause of the party and the government and creating division among the NDC rank and file in the area.
In the face of widespread condemnation, the irate youth had remained intransigent, justifying their behaviour by arguing that they resorted to violence only after the government failed to heed their persistent calls for the MCE to be sacked.
The Yendi District Police Commander, DSP Patrick Blepoe, told Joy News on Tuesday that his hands were tied because the issue was more political than criminal.
“This is a party affair involving the regional minister, who is the Chairman of the Regional Security Committee, so if we have not been instructed to carry out any arrest, we cannot act,” he said.
A security expert, Mr Emmanuel Sowatey, reacting to the position of the police on the matter, said it was a reflection of the fear security personnel entertained when it came to enforcing the law regarding members of political parties in power.
Mr Sowatey said in the security services, “the decisions you take, even if professionally right, may go a long way in affecting your prospects in terms of promotion and where you are sent to serve”.
The fears expressed by the police, according to him, were well grounded because they had seen many cases in which their colleagues who tried to be assertive and independent-minded got victimised.
“Political interference is one deadly element that affects conflicts across the nation and until such a time that we put state security above regime security, we are going to continue to have that problem,” he stated.
Mr Sowatey, however, noted that the situation was worrying because to strengthen institutions of state within the country’s fledging democracy, security personnel must live above fear and intimidation, no matter where threats were coming from.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

"Use Easter to start afresh"

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 1, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
LEADERS of three prominent churches in the country have called on Ghanaians to use the Easter season to bury their differences and begin a new life of a united people with a common destiny.
They said the vices of selfishness, disobedience, anger, evil desire, greed, corruption, as well as disrespect and intolerance, must be buried together with Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
According to them, a new life of love, unity, patience, forgiveness, reconciliation and justice should permeate the lives of Ghanaians with the resurrection of Christ.
The religious leaders — the Most Rev Dr Emmanuel Asante, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana; Rev Dr Fred Deegbe, the Head Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church and General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, and the Rt Rev Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana — made the calls in Easter messages to Ghanaians.
The Most Rev Dr Asante called on Ghanaians to use the Easter activities to bury their weaknesses and negative tendencies.
He said from the Christian perspective, Good Friday afforded Christians the opportunity to die with Christ, explaining that past sins, negativity and weaknesses among Christians were buried and went down to the grave as Christ was buried.
He said Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, therefore, afforded believers to start afresh in all aspects of their lives.
“For the nation, Easter should afford us the opportunity to leave behind us those negativities of the past and grab the opportunity God has given us to forge ahead in all aspects of our politico-socio-economic lives anew,” he stated.
“Yesterday is gone and a new day has dawned. Let us forget past acrimony and open a new leaf and forge ahead as a people blessed with this nation, Ghana, and abundant resources. These blessings, including the discovery of oil, should unite us to agree to disagree to work with one another in the newness of the life that has become ours through the Easter experience,” the Most Rev Dr Asante added.
For his part, Rev Dr Deegbe called on Ghanaians to use the occasion to reconcile themselves with God and their neighbours.
He said the reconciliation should unite Ghanaians more strongly for the betterment of the country and noted that if Christians put the message of reconciliation, unity and sacrifice into practice, it would move Ghana ahead.
“In this memorable season, the time Christians mark the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we should reconcile ourselves to God and to our neighbours and remain united as a people,” he said.
Rev Dr Deegbe called on law enforcement agencies to use the occasion to do their work diligently to maintain peace, law and order in society.
At a news conference to deliver his Easter message, the Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso urged Ghanaians to exhibit the attitude of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, unity, justice, as well as hope, reports Matilda Attram.
He said Easter was a time for Christians to reflect and renew their lives and relationship with the Creator.
“This means throwing away the old life of selfishness and disobedience to God. It may mean confessing a theft, giving up some negative behaviour — be it anger, evil desire, greed or saying sorry to someone,” he said.
The Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso, whose message was on the theme, “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Gives Hope”, explained that Easter was a period which reminded Christians of the need to remain hopeful in God, pointing out that the resurrection of Christ gave new hope for a new life in everything they did.
He described life without Christ as one full of crises, failure, darkness, fear, sin and death which one could not endure.
Reacting to recent societal problems and challenges, he stressed the need for Ghanaians to pray for God’s intervention.
"We live in challenging times, a period when one has to live by faith and not by sight. Through all changing scenes of life, therefore, in trouble and in joy, I urge you all to hold on to your faith, continue to believe just as you did and the Lord shall strengthen your faith," he stated.
The Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso advised all to refrain from immoral activities during the season and rather be motivated to observe the season with faith and confidence that joy in Christ was everlasting.

Court remands music teacher

Page 31: Daily Graphic, April 1, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN Accra circuit court has remanded Gideon Nana Ofei Dodoo, a music teacher of the Great Lamptey Mills Institute, into police custody for further investigations into his alleged defilement of a nine-year-old pupil of the institute.
His plea was not taken and the court, presided over by Mrs Georgina Mensah Datsa, remanded him into custody until April 6, 2010.
The suspect had gone into hiding since March 19, 2010 when the police started looking for him, after a complaint had been lodged that he had allegedly defiled a pupil of the institute in November 2009.
He was, however, arrested on March 25, 2010 and the case was accordingly referred to the Accra Regional office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.
The Head of DOVVSU, DSP Owusua Kyeremeh, said the suspect was scheduled to re-appear on April 6, 2010, by which time the police would have conducted more investigations into the matter.
Police sources said a medical report had confirmed that the victim’s private part had been dangerously tampered with.
Dodoo was alleged to have defiled the victim in November 2009 but warned her not to inform anyone about it.
The victim claimed that Dodoo told her she would die if she informed anyone about it, as a result of which she said she had to endure the abuse in a toilet where Dodoo always had carnal knowledge of her.
The girl claimed Dodoo would usually ask her to wait for everyone to leave or when the school was very quiet before taking her into the toilet to defile her.
The victim’s mother, however, detected changes in the girl and, upon interrogation, she informed her mother that it was the music teacher who had been sexually abusing her.
The victim’s mother reported the matter to the police on March 19, 2010 and also indicated in her complaint that when she went to the school, the authorities allegedly wanted to “settle” her to keep the matter silent.