Sunday, November 30, 2008

EXERCISE RESTRAINT IN VICTORY CELEBRATIONS (MIRROR, PAGE 30)

From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

The Catholic Bishop of Sunyani, the Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has urged winners in the December 7 polls to exercise restraint while celebrating their victory.
He said they should also commit themselves to the general good of all Ghanaians and not the parochial interest of their party and its members, and also avoid the attitude of the winner-takes-all.
“Likewise, losers should be gracious in accepting the outcome of the elections, trust in the prevailing democratic culture and collaborate with the victorious party for the good of the people,” he admonished.
Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Sunyani Polytechnic in the Brong Ahafo Region on the topic “Sustaining Ghana’s Democracy Now and Beyond” last Thursday, Most Rev. Gyamfi noted that for peace to be achieved during and after the elections, the electorate should know that their views did not necessarily represent others’ and that they were also entitled to their own opinions.
Most Rev. Gyamfi said whatever the results were, voters must be satisfied that they had done their duty of voting for those whom they thought would deliver the goods.
He said in elections, there was neither a victor nor a loser, since elections only indicated the degree of support for one opinion over another and, therefore, candidates should not try to get into power by all means.
The Catholic Bishop of Sunyani further exhorted defeated candidates in the polls not to feel humiliated, but should only accept that more people accepted the opposite views than those who saw their view points and there should be co-operation at the end of it all.
Most Rev. Gyamfi advised against any pronouncements and actions that did not promote peace, but rather create fear, rancour, bitterness and resentment.
He also bemoaned certain behaviours and utterances of some candidates that suggested that if they did not win power, then the winning party has rigged the election, threatening mayhem after the elections.
“The recent cases of Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, just to name a few, where elections, instead of resulting in the peace that they were meant for, had wreaked one havoc after another, which can only be described as catastrophic,” he stressed.
Most Rev. Gyamfi, therefore, advised Ghanaians to ensure that the forthcoming elections unite us as one people and bring the needed peace the nation desired for.
The Catholic Bishop of Sunyani, in his submissions, declared that “the 2008 elections will be a peaceful one, contrary to the fears and anxieties of a section of the Ghanaian people. Given the charged political atmosphere, however, all Ghanaians need to desire peace and work hard to make this peace a reality and support the work of peace with prayers”.
The Rector of the Sunyani Polytechnic, Prof. Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, noted that “Ghana and Ghanaians cannot afford to forgo the peace, unity and tolerance that have projected the country’s democracy into a shinning example and often quoted as a successful example of smooth and peaceful political change in Africa”.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah said this informed the organisation of the lecture to sensitise the general public to the importance of peace, before during and after the general election, and to be able to sustain the peace and stability that the country had so far enjoyed over the last two decades.
Representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) who also took turns to speak at the lecture, pledged their commitment to ensure peace before, during and after the general elections.
The Omanhene of Techiman Traditional Area, Oseedeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, who chaired the function, called on political leaders to focus on issues that will uplift the country in the run-up to the general election in order to defuse the political tensions that might lead to violence and destruction of property.

INCEST: FATHER JAILED 15 YEARS (MIRROR, LEAD STORY)

From Samuel Duodu, Fiapre

A farmer at Odumase, near Sunyani, saw in his 10-year-old daughter a better “wife” and therefore decided to pack off his wife from the matrimonial home.
For six months, 45-year-old Atoyah Awure, sexually abused his daughter until a good Samaritan, whom the victim went to for medication for abdominal pains, blew the lid off the issue.
Last Tuesday, the Fiapre Circuit Court in the Sunyani West District of the Brong Ahafo Region, presided over by Mr Benjamin Osei Yaw, sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour after a trial that lasted two-and-half years.
Awure, who warned the victim not to tell anyone, or else he would kill her, pleaded not guilty to all three counts of indecent assault, defilement and incest, but he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each count. The sentence is to run concurrently.
The facts of the case, as presented by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and the Regional Commander of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Police Service, Mr Kwaku Amoako, were that Awure consistently picked a quarrel with the victim’s mother and finally sent her away in May 2006, leaving the daughter behind.
He said the convict then started to sexually abuse his daughter and warned her not to tell anyone or else he would kill her.
DSP Amoako said on October 5, 2006, the victim, who could not withstand the abdominal pains, went to a key witness in the case for medication. The police had hint of the case and followed up to the victim’s school, where, in the presence of the assistant headmaster, she confirmed her ordeal.
DSP Amoako said the victim was sent to the Regional Hospital for examination and a report submitted on her read: “Vaginal discharge, hymen broken, vagina admits one finger freely, evidence of penetration”.
He told the court that on October 6, 2006, the convict was arrested and charged with the offences after investigations.
DSP Amoako told the court that the victim had since been handed over to the Department of Social Welfare for temporary custody.

MAN SHOOTS WIFE, COMMITS SUICIDE (MIRROR, PAGE 31)

From Samuel Duodu, Wenchi

A 25-year-old man who suspected his 18-year-old wife of infidelity has ended it all by shooting and killing her and himself with the same gun.
The couple, both peasant farmers living at Drobo, near Badu in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region, have since been buried after an autopsy conducted at the Wenchi Methodist Hospital.
Eugene Dakora, who suspected his wife, Mama Obuor, of flirting, ambushed her and shot at her, killing her instantly, after which he committed suicide.
The Wenchi Municipal Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prince Sam Kwame Osae told The Mirror at Wenchi that on November 11, 2008, Dakora asked his wife to accompany him to their farm to harvest maize.
He said the wife asked him to reschedule it, as she had to go to church that day. She, however, decided to visit her mother at Nsawkaw instead.
DSP Osae said Dakora, who was all along suspecting Mama of flirting, waylaid her on the way and shot at her with a double barrel gun, after which he killed himself as well.
A formal complaint was made with the police for investigations. The police, therefore, conveyed the lifeless bodies of the couple to the morgue.

MEN ADVISED TO UNDERGO VASCETOMY (PAGE 11)

The Brong Ahafo Regional Long Term Family Planning campaign has been launched on the premises of the regional hospital .
At the launch, Dr Daniel Asare, Medical Director of the hospital, called on women, especially wives, to encourage their husbands to adopt long term and permanent family planning methods to help improve their quality of existence.
Already, majority of women in the region are adopting the various long term family planning methods to bring about spacing in child-bearing, unwanted pregnancies while others are also using the methods to reduce child bearing, which had gone a long way to improve their health status.
Dr Asare however disclosed that for the past five years, no man or husband had come forward in the region to undertake both the long term and the permanent family planning methods at the hospital.
He therefore urged couples, particularly women, to encourage their husbands to go for family planning, especially vasectomy to help reduce their family sizes and also not to put the lives of their wives at risk through too many child- bearing.
The campaign, being undertaken by the Quality Health Partners (QHP) in collaboration with the Regional Hospital, is to sensitise couples to the need to adopt long term family planning to enhance their quality of life for themselves and their children, as well as to reduce their family sizes.
Records from the Reproductive and Child Health Unit of the Regional Health Directorate indicated that in 2005, 1,979 couples in the region undertook various long term family planning methods such as Jadel/Norplant, Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device and Tubal Ligation but none went in for vasectomy while in 2006, the figure reduced to 1,515 for the same methods with none for vasectomy.
In 2007, the number of couples who undertook the various long term methods increased to 2,148. It included one vasectomy.
Dr Asare dispelled the notion held by some couples about vasectomy that when one undertakes it, it would render them impotent forever, saying the method was even the best for men who wanted to enjoy sex but do not want to have children any longer.
He said the regional hospital had also launched a zero tolerance for maternal deaths and therefore encouraged couples to take antenatal clinics seriously to enable the hospital to achieve that feat.
Dr Asare commended the government for introducing free antenatal and maternal care in the country, which he said would go a long way to reduce the mortality rates at birth, but advised couples not to abuse that privilege by giving birth unnecessarily to affect their health status and the quality of life of their families.
In an address read on his behalf, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, encouraged couples to seriously consider the permanent methods of family planning once they had the number of children they had planned in order to prevent the incidence of “pension babies” and the potential health challenges they posed.
He praised the Sene District Health Service Directorate for performing the only Vasectomy procedure in the region so far, and expressed the hope that more men and women would embrace the long term and permanent methods .
Dr Emmanuel K. Tinkorang, the Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, who launched the campaign bemoaned the high maternal deaths recorded in the region which he attributed to the termination of unwanted pregnancies.
He therefore encouraged all couples to adopt the long term and permanent family planning methods in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Dr Tinkorang also dispelled the misconceptions associated with long term family planning, saying this was just to put fear in the people so that they would not go in for it, and urged people, especially couples, to also seek the proper information on the various family planning methods to help them adopt the one that would suit them.
Madam Victoria Owusu –Kyeremaa, the Regional Director of the Department of Women, who chaired the function, urged both men and women not to abuse the free pregnancy and maternal care policy introduced by the government so as to help reduce maternal deaths in the country.

ELECTRICIANS ADVISED TO USE QUALITY CABLES (PAGE 23)

THE Sunyani Municipal Rural Fire Co-ordinator, Mr Emmanuel C. Ansong, has advised electricians to use the right cables and fuses in their work to help prevent domestic and other electrical fires in the municipality.
According to him, most of the domestic, industrial and other electricity related fires were caused by the sub-standard cables and fuses used by some electricians when wiring houses.
Mr Ansong gave the advice at the inauguration of the Electrical Engineering Technicians Association of Ghana (EETAG) in Sunyani.
He also urged residents or prospective house owners in the municipality and elsewhere in the region to engage qualified electricians for their jobs.
The association has a 10-member executive, with Mr Joseph Kwame Woli as its President and Mr Yaw Asare-Bediako, as vice-president.
Other executive members of the association are Mr James Owusu, Secretary; Mr Enoch Frimpong, Treasurer; Mr Ginny Tetteh Ashang , Organiser and Mr Stephen Acqua as the Porter.
The aims and objectives of the association include improving the skills of members, fostering mutual love and understanding among members and catering for the welfare of members during occasions such as marriages, naming of children, sicknesses and death of a close relative.
Mr Ansong further urged the members not to force electricians to purchase cheap electrical cables and other accessories since most of the electrical fires recorded were the result of these sub-standard products.
He however, stressed the need for members of EETAG to work hand-in-hand with the Northern Electricity Department and the Ghana National Fire Service for fire-safety to be upheld.
A lecturer at the Electrical Department of the Sunyani Polytechnic, Mr Archimery Gyimah, said plans were far advanced at the polytechnic to start evening classes for artisans and other people who had practical training in electrical engineering to upgrade their knowledge and obtain certificates to help them bid for contracts.
He also challenged members of EETAG to ensure quality work.
The President of EETAG, Mr Joseph Woli, promised that the association would live up to expectation.

Friday, November 28, 2008

PRESIDENT CONSOLES NEW TECHIMAN TANKER EXPLOSION VICTIMS (PAGE 53)

President J.A. Kufuor yesterday visited Tanoso and New Techiman in the Techiman Traditional Area to console the families of the 27 people who died in the petrol tanker explosion that occurred between the two towns on Wednesday.
The President was accompanied by the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, his deputy, Nana Abraham Kwadwo Kwakye, the Techiman Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Prince Yaw Donyina, and members of the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (RESEC).
The President and his entourage, on behalf of the government, presented one carton of Schnapps, two crates of assorted drinks and GH¢10,000 to the bereaved families to assist in organising the funeral rites of the deceased.
He also presented four bottles of Schnapps to the chiefs of Tanoso and New Techiman, Nana Kwaku Kwarteng and Nana Badu Kakyire, respectively, to use in purifying the accident spot, as well as to pray for the souls of their departed ones.
President Kufuor later called on the Omanhene of the Techiman Traditional Area, Oseedeayo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, who is also the overlord of the two towns where the accident occurred, and presented a carton of schnapps and GH¢5,000 towards the funeral of those who lost their lives in the accident.
Addressing the chiefs and people of the two towns, who were clad in mourning cloths at their various palaces, he said the accident was a national disaster and, therefore, as the President of the nation, he had decided to come and sympathise with the people and the bereaved families.
He noted that the accident was horrific and a sad one, and urged the chiefs and people, as well as the bereaved families to accept his heart felt condolence and that of the government.
President Kufuor, however, urged Ghanaians, especially people from the rural areas, to desist from taking advantage of vehicles that get involved in accidents.
In his response, the Omanhene of Techiman, Nana Ameyaw, thanked President Kufuor for coming to empathise with the chiefs and people of the traditional area and the bereaved families.
The Techimanhene announced that the traditional council had set up a five-member committee to ascertain the actual number of people who lost their lives in the accident, as eyewitness accounts were not certain.
Ten out of the reported 27 deceased persons were from Tanoso, while the remaining 17 are from New Techiman. Twenty-two persons who died on the spot were buried in a mass grave on Wednesday.
As of press time, five more people were reported dead at the Regional Hospital in Sunyani and the Holy Family Hospital at Techiman, from burns they sustained, bringing the death toll to 27.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Regional Hospital earlier in the day, Dr C. Jones-Techie, the Clinical Co-ordinator at the Regional Hospital, said 17 out of the 68 injured persons were brought to the hospital.
He said two had passed away, six were in stable condition, while nine who were in critical condition had been airlifted to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

22 BURNT TO DEATH...As fuel tanker explodes (LEAD STORY)

DISASTER struck at Tanoso, near Techiman, yesterday when a fuel tanker from which people were siphoning petrol burst into flames, burning 22 of them beyond recognition.
More than 50 others, including onlookers, sustained various degrees of burns.
The tanker, with registration number GR 5145 Y, had fallen on its side at a cemetery between Tanoso and New Techiman on the Techiman-Kumasi trunk road and people had taken advantage of it to siphon the fuel when the incident occurred.
The deceased, whose bodies could not be identified, are said to include a military man who had gone to the scene of the accident to drive the people away.
The tanker had a double compartment, with one containing diesel and the other, petrol.
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased, who also included some schoolchildren, were said to have carried plastic containers and buckets to the scene and in the process of siphoning the fuel, the tanker exploded and caught fire.
According to Dr Ernest Ameyaw, a medical officer at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital, who was also at the scene to help collect the dead and the injured to the hospital, the injured sustained third degree burns, with some of them being in critical condition.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Techiman Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Ntim, said the tanker was from Kumasi and heading towards Techiman when it skidded off the road and fell on its side.
He said according to the tanker driver, who also sustained injuries, when he got to the accident spot an articulated truck coming from the opposite direction hit the tail end of the tanker.
The tanker, therefore, skidded off the road and fell on its side.
Supt Ntim said the military officer who was with a colleague who also sustained severe burns arrived on the scene and attempted to drive the people away but he was also caught up in the fire.
The Techiman Municipal Fire Officer, Mr Thomas Tuffour, who led a team of fire personnel from the Techiman and Offinso fire stations to fight the fire, corroborated the story.
He said the Fire Service received a distress call around 7.30 a.m. and that it took the men 30 minutes to bring the fire under control and about two hours to put it out completely.
As of press time a mass burial was being organised for the deceased at the cemetery where the incident occurred.
In a related development, a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker transporting gas to the north fell on its side just 500 metres away from where the tanker had caught fire.
The driver of the tanker was said to have left the vehicle in the care of his mate and gone to the scene of the first accident.
There were, however, no casualties.

Monday, November 24, 2008

NPP 'ONETOUCH CLUB' INAUGURATED (PAGE 5)

By Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

Brong Ahafo Regional Branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), “One Touch” club has been inaugurated in Sunyani by the National Coordinator of the club, Mr Morris Badu.
The club, which has Mrs Dorothy Ama Amponsah as its Regional Chairperson, is to canvass for more votes for the NPP Presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the Brong Ahafo Region, to ensure a first round victory for him and the party in the December 7 polls.
Other executive members of the club are Mr Philemon Sabi, Secretary, Mr Osei Kwadwo, Organizer, Mr Franklin Ofori, Deputy Organizer, Madam Akosuaa Addae, Treasurer and Madam Dorcas Nana Owusuaa, Women Organizer.
Speaking at a rally held at the Victoria Park in Sunyani on Sunday to inaugurate the club, Nana Obiri Boahen, Minister of State at the Ministry of Interior, gave the assurance that the government was prepared to go all out, to ensure peaceful elections on December 7.
Hand over
He also stated that the government would hand over power peacefully, to the political party that would emerge as the winner in the December 7, polls.
Nana Boahen however, cautioned that the government would not tolerate those who will foment trouble on the voting day and after, saying that the government and for that matter the security agencies were already aware of those who were bent on fomenting trouble and were prepared to deal decisively with those elements if they made such attempt.
He further debunked the assertion and allegations by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the NPP government had put in place elaborate plans to rig the December 7, elections, saying, “It is not true that the NPP wants to rig the election.”
Nana Boahen urged the NPP supporters to be law abiding, respectful and obedient on the voting day and eschew all acts that could affect the electoral process.
He also encouraged them to channel all their energies into the campaign to ensure an overwhelming first round victory for the party in the polls.
Nana Boahen added that from all indications, the NPP was poised to win the December 7 general elections but it was the responsibility of every party member, to intensify their campaigns to ensure a first round victory for the party.
Support
Mr J.H. Mensah, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the sitting NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, said the NDC was scared of the overwhelming support that the NPP was enjoying from Ghanaians, as a result of the pro-poor policies and programmes introduced by the government coupled with the massive infrastructural development, that was why it was using false alibis that the NPP was going to rig the elections.
He urged supporters of the NPP to turn out early on the election day, comport themselves and cast their votes peacefully to ensure a first round victory for the party, saying, they should also exercise restraint on that day even in the face of extreme provocation from their opponents in order to ensure peaceful polls.
The National Coordinator of the NPP ‘One Touch’ club, Mr Morris Badu urged members of the club not to engage opponents of the party in any argument but to tolerate them and ensure that they win them over to their fold to help the club realise its objective of ensuring a first round victory for the party in the December 7 polls.
Good intentions
The Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) and the Regional National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) Coordinator, Messrs Kwame Twumasi Awuah and Kwasi Annan Frimpong respectively, who took turns to address the gathering urged Ghanaians to vote massively for the NPP and its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, since he had good intentions for the country and the welfare of every Ghanaian at heart.
They also urged the electorate to look at the good works of the NPP government under President Kufuor, which had pursued human centred policies and programmes such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), the free school feeding programme and the fee-free basic education and vote for the NPP.
“These are the legacies of the NPP under President Kufuor, which Nana Akufo-Addo will continue and also make Senior High School education free and extend the school feeding programme to cover all basic schools in the country,” Mr Awuah added.

CISP INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR CULTURAL GRANT (NSEMPA, PAGE 20)

By Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

THE Cultural Initiative Support Programme (CISP) has launched its second call for proposals from applicants to bid for a share of GH¢300 in grants in Accra recently.
The 2million Euros aid grant from the European Union is to support the cultural sector over a three-year period.
Speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop for 40 administrators of cultural institutions across the country in Sunyani last Friday, Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, the CISP Co-ordinator noted that the current call for proposals was aimed at attracting individuals and organisations whose primary occupation was in the arts and culture field.
The training workshop, which is the second in a series for cultural administrators, was organised by CISP under the auspices of National Commission on Cultural (NCC) with funding from the European Union (EU), is also aimed at equipping the participants to go and train others in their various institutions and organisations.
Participants
The participants who were drawn from all the 10 regions of the country, were taken through topics such as Developing a Corporate Mission, Developing a Project Proposal for Financial Assistance for a Cultural Programme/activity, Introduction of Techniques in Report Writing for Cultural Programmes and Activities, Developing, Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Cultural Programmes, Management Practice, Explanation and Definition of Accounts.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng explained that the grants were provided for the following categories, which included cultural heritage, performing arts, fine art and craft, film and audio-visual art and language and literary arts.
According to him, there was no minimum amount, but the maximum that one could apply for under the facility was GH¢16,000.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng stated that during the first grant cycle, 50 applicants were successful out of a total of 1,600 applications received, saying that the evidence from the first call for proposals suggested that most people filled the forms hastily without thinking about what they proposed to do with the money, while others thought wrongly that this was a kind of micro-credit scheme to support their businesses in a general way.
He therefore urged the participants to acquaint themselves with the application processes for the grant in order to help other people to have access to the funds.

Grants
Mr Gyan-Apenteng also used the occasion to dispel the notions held by people that the fund was there for certain people, hence the small number of grants provided under the first call for proposals saying, the “CISP does a lot more than provide funds and this kind of training that we are opening today, testifies to the diverse nature of this organisation.”
He however gave the assurance that the amount for the second call for proposals had been doubled and hoped that there would be an improvement in the number of grant recipients this time around.
Mr Gyan-Appenteng said the deadline for the call was December 15, 2008 and urged individuals and organisations who wished to apply for the grant, to collect application forms from the CISP Office in Accra or from any Regional or District Centres for National Culture, adding that the forms were free.
Mr Walsman Azaanab, the Director of the Brong Ahafo Regional Centre for National Culture in his welcome address, paid glowing tribute to the administrators and financiers of the grant for the CISP, saying the programme had come at an opportune time to help build the capacities of players in the culture industry of the country.

OBEY ELECTORAL LAWS ...Supt Solomon Ntim (NSEMPA, PAGE 4)

By Samuel Duodu, Techiman

THE Techiman Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Solomon K. Ntim has reminded the various political parties contesting the December 7, general election that, it was illegal to campaign after 6p.m. as stipulated in the country’s electoral laws.
He has therefore cautioned that the police will no longer offer any form of protection to any political party that violated the law and campaigned during that period.
Supt Ntim gave the reminder at a meeting of the Municipal Election Security Task, to devise strategies to handle security during, before and after next month's general election in the Techiman South and North constituencies in the Techiman municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The objective of the meeting was to harmonise the role and operations of all the security agencies that made up the district and regional task force, to adopt a common approach to tackle difficult situations.
It was attended by Heads of Security agencies, representatives from the municipal assembly and the media.
Supt Ntim also appealed to the parties to stop personal attacks and concentrate on issues as well as how they will solve the problems confronting the country.
The Municipal Police Commander also called on the citizenry especially the youth, to cooperate with security personnel and electoral officers, to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections this year.
He said the police administration would deploy about 500 personnel to the municipality to help maintain law and order.
Speaking on the ‘role of the electorate and political parties,’ the Municipal Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Simon Ogah urged all political leaders to conduct themselves responsibly by respecting the laws of the land, adding that the relative peace that the nation was enjoying must be maintained during and after the elections so that Ghanaians can continue to carry out their daily activities.
Mr Ogah appealed to the parties to do away with suspicions and speculations that the election could be rigged.
He pointed out that the stakes in this year's elections, showed that the country was not in the mood to tolerate any electoral malpractices and offences during the elections and therefore advised the citizenry to be law abiding and come out in their numbers to vote on Election Day.
On his part, the Techiman Municipal Electoral Officer Mr Kwabena Asante refuted allegations by leaders and supporters of some political parties that the body was planning to rig the Election.
Mr Asante urged Ghanaians to assist in building a good reputation for the EC and the country, instead of doing things that couldundermine the electoral process.
He announced that three additional poling stations have been created at Gyarko Junior High School (JSH), Islamic Primary A and Godbless to minimise the long queues at some polling stations during the elections.
Mr Asante said Techiman now has 173 polling stations with 102 for Techiman South and 71 for Techiman North constituencies.

VEEP COMMENDS PEOPLE OF NKORANZA (SPREAD)

THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has commended the chiefs and people of Nkoranza in the Brong Ahafo Region for being the first community in the country to initiate the mutual health insurance scheme which had made it possible for the government to adopt and replicate the scheme nation-wide.
“By adopting this scheme, health service delivery has become affordable and accessible, thereby relieving ordinary people from the inhuman cash-and-carry system of the not-too-distant past,” he stressed.
Alhaji Mahama made the commendation at a grand durbar of the chiefs and people of Nkoranza to raise funds for the establishment of the Nkoranza campus of the Anglican University of Science and Technology and also to climax their annual Munufiekese Festival at Nkoranza over the weekend.
The Anglican University, initiated by the Anglican Church in Ghana, will start formal admission of students between September and October 2009. The Nkoranza campus of the university will offer Agriculture Science programmes to help develop the agricultural sector in Nkoranza and the nation as a whole.
Vice-President Mahama noted that the increase in food production over the last few years was the result of the sustained peace and stability prevailing in the traditional area and the country, as well as the pragmatic agricultural programmes and policies pursued by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to ensure food security.
He stated that the Nkoranza Traditional Area had many different ethnic groups living and farming together, on which he congratulated the chiefs and all the ethnic groups and urged them to continue to live together in peace, particularly before, during and after the elections.
“Do not allow anybody to exploit your ethnic diversities for cheap political advantage. You are all living witnesses to the progress, stability and peace which you have been enjoying under President Kufuor. It is only under the NPP that you can continue to live in peace and unity. I, therefore, urge you to return the NPP to power by voting for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on December 7,” he urged the people.
Vice-President Mahama said the NPP, under President Kufuor, had recognised the hard work of the people of the traditional area and the strategic position of Nkoranzaman and that was why it upgraded the Kintampo District to a municipality, while it created three more districts to bring government and development to the doorstep of the ordinary people in the traditional area.
“One hallmark of the NPP administration is the equitable distribution of development projects throughout the country, irrespective of one’s political affiliation or ethnic origins. Thus over the last eight years Nkoranzaman has seen unprecedented and tangible development throughout the area, which has enhanced the quality of life of the people here,” he stated.
In the road sector, Vice-President Mahama said the Nkoranza-Ejura road that had been abandoned over the years was now a first-class road, while the Nkoranza-Sekyedumase-Aframso road which was virtually impassable was now motorable.
He added that the government had also started work on the Nkoranza-Jema road and said it would be completed soon, while a contract had been awarded for the paving and tarring of Nkoranza town roads, saying the contractors would commence work before the end of the year.
In the energy sector, Alhaji Mahama said Nkoranzaman had had its fair share of rural electrification projects, with about 75 per cent of towns and villages enjoying uninterrupted power supply, while work on the remaining communities was on course.
The Omanhene of the Nkoranza Traditional Area, Okatakyie Kudom Agyeman IV, earlier in his welcoming address, had given a brief history of how the Anglican Church started in Nkoranza in the 1920s.
He said when the traditional council heard about the proposed Anglican University, he personally led his elders to the University Council to get it to establish a campus at Nkoranza, which would become operational within the shortest possible time, and, therefore, urged all and sundry to contribute their widow’s mite towards the establishment of the university campus in Nkoranza, adding that education was the key to the development of every society.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, for his part, commended the traditional council for pushing for the establishment of the university campus and urged the youth in the area to take advantage of it to educate themselves in order to contribute their quota towards the development of the area.
The Omanhene of Seikwa, Nana Kwaku Dwumah Ankoanna, who represented the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, paid glowing tribute to the Nkoranzahene for his foresight and urged the people to support the traditional council to bring the establishment of the university campus to fruition.
The Rector of the Sunyani Polytechnic, Prof Kwesi Nsiah-Gyabaah, who chaired the function, stressed the importance of science and technology education to the socio-economic development of the nation.
The Vice-President, on behalf of the government, pledged GH¢5,000 towards the establishment of the university campus in Nkoranza, while the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister and the Regional House of Chiefs representative, on behalf of the Regional Co-ordinating Council and the house, pledged GH¢1,000 and GH¢100, respectively.
Later in an interview, the President of the Anglican University of Science and Technology Council, Prof Mariam Ewurama Addy, disclosed that since the university was science and technology based, there was the need to build laboratories and other facilities before it took off.
She gave the assurance that the university would begin admitting its first batch of students between September and October 2009.
Currently the Brong Ahafo Region can boast five new tertiary institutions, apart from the Sunyani Polytechnic.
They are the Anglican University of Science and Technology which is yet to take off, the Catholic University College of Ghana at Fiapre, the Methodist University Agriculture Campus at Wenchi, the Valley View University Campus at Techiman and the Faculty of Forestry Resource Technology campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, also at Fiapre.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

CULTURAL ADMINISTRATORS TO GO SCHOOL (MIRROR, PAGE 40)

From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani.

Forty administrators of cultural institutions across the country have attended a five-day training workshop in Sunyani to sharpen their skills and update their knowledge on how to effectively manage their institutions.
The training-of-trainers workshop, which was the second in a series, was organised by the Cultural Initiatives Support Programme (CISP) under the National Commission on Culture (NCC), with funding from the European Union (EU).
Participants, who were drawn from all the 10 regions of the country, were taken through topics such as developing a corporate mission, developing a project proposal for financial assistance for a cultural programme/activity, introduction to techniques in report writing for cultural programmes and activities, developing, monitoring and evaluating framework for cultural programmes, management practice, explanation and definition of accounts.
In an address to open the workshop, Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, the Co-ordinator of CISP, said the grant received from the EU under the CISP was to support the cultural sector, saying that one of the expected results of the programme was the enhancement of skills training across the cultural terrain.
He said similar training workshops would be organised for journalists and scriptwriters, adding that apart from the training programmes, the CISP grant was also to provide funds for individuals and organisations to undertake other projects and activities.
He disclosed that a second call for proposals inviting individuals and organisations to apply for the funds in the small grants category had been launched, adding that the application forms were available at all the regional and some district offices of the Centre for National Culture.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng stated that during the first grant cycle, 50 applicants were successful out of the 1,600 applications received, saying that the evidence from the first call for proposals suggested that most people filled the forms hastily, without thinking about what they proposed to do with the money, while others thought wrongly that it was a kind of micro-credit scheme to support their businesses in a general way.
He dispelled the notion that the fund was meant for certain people and gave the assurance that the amount for the second call for proposals had been doubled.
He expressed the hope that there would be an improvement in the number of recipients this time around.
The Director of the Brong Ahafo Regional Centre for National Culture, Mr Walsman Azaanab, in his welcoming address, commended the CISP, saying the programme had come at an opportune time to help build the capacities of players in the cultural industry.

MASON REMANDED FOR STEALING (MIRROR, PAGE 40)

From Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

A 50-year-old mason, who posed as a policeman detailed to provide escort for the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) buses that ply Sunyani to Accra in the night, has been remanded in prison for impersonation and stealing.
Yeboah Collins of Odumase, the district capital of the newly created Sunyani West District in the Brong Ahafo Region, allegedly stole a parcel sent to Ms Beatrice Konamah, a hairdresser, from the GPRTU office in Sunyani. He will reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah, on November 27, 2008.
Presenting the facts at the Sunyani Magistrate’s Court ‘B’, Chief Inspector Grace Coffie said on October 10, 2008, Beatrice, a resident of Nkwabeng, a suburb of the Sunyani Municipality and the complainant, went to the GPRTU office in Sunyani to pick up a parcel sent to her by her sister from Accra.
Chief Inspector Coffie said the ticket seller at the station told the complainant that the one who was supposed to give her the parcel containing five pairs of jeans, half piece of cloth, a wig and an amount of GH¢25, had gone out.
The prosecutor said while she was waiting, Collins approached her and offered to help her get the parcel after he had introduced himself as a policeman who had been detailed to escort the buses to Accra in the night to check highway robbery.
Chief Inspector Coffie said Collins then took the registration number and other details of the bus conveying the parcel from Beatrice. He then went for the parcel from the GPRTU office and thereafter bolted.
After waiting for some time, the prosecutor said Beatrice went back to the GPRTU office to check and was told Collins had picked the parcel. All efforts by the complainant to trace Collins proved futile.
Chief Inspector Coffie said on October 15, 2008 Beatrice spotted Collins in town and raised an alarm. He was arrested and sent to the police station.
The prosecutor said at the police station Collins was identified by the ticket seller and the Secretary of the GPRTU as the one who came for the parcel. After further investigations he was charged with the offences and put before court.

Friday, November 21, 2008

ELECTORAL COMMISSION MUST BE FAIR IN JUDGEMENT (PAGE 16)

The Brong Ahafo Regional Peace Advisory Council has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to be fair in its judgement of all matters concerning the December 7 polls in order to safeguard the integrity of the elections.
The council also urged the EC to exercise a high degree of integrity in the release of election results to eliminate suspicion and rumours associated with delays.
Nana Adjei Ababio, the Regional Peace Promotion Officer, made the call in his welcome address at a day’s stakeholders forum organised by the council in Sunyani on Tuesday to get the commitment of all stakeholders in the electoral process, especially political parties, to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls on December 7.
The forum was on the theme “Towards Peaceful Election for the Peace and Development of Ghana”.
Nana Ababio appealed to all political parties to respect and abide by the commitments made in the Code of Conduct and extend full co-operation to election officers in the performance of their legal duties in order to ensure peaceful and orderly elections.
“We wish finally to reiterate the fact that Ghana’s decision to adopt multi-party democracy has not made us enemies of one another. Therefore, this year’s elections, like all previous ones, should not be associated with hatred, enmity, rancour, ill-will and acts of hooliganism or violence”, he stressed.
Nana Ababio on behalf of the council, appealed to the security personnel who would be assigned during the elections to be proactive, and act expeditiously in the event of any breaches of the law during or after the elections.
“We on the Peace Council believe that peace is critical to the attainment of the development goals of any society. That is why the Peace Council is calling on all Ghanaians to redouble our efforts in ensuring that the December 7 polls are held in a very peaceful environment”, he added.
Representatives of four political parties contesting the December polls, namely, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) who spoke in the order of their party’s positions on the ballot paper, pledged their commitment to peaceful, free and fair elections on December 7.
They also called on the media to be circumspect in their reports in the run-up to the elections and desist from announcing uncertified results which could create confusion.
Dr R. Agyenim-Boateng, who represented the NPP, said the party had no plans of rigging the elections as it was being alleged, and added that the NPP would also accept the results that would be declared by the EC after the elections as the party’s contribution towards ensuring peace.
Mr Joseph Ghartey of the PNC on behalf of his party, said the PNC was always committed to peace and would play its part to ensure that there was no violence during and after the elections for the country to continue to enjoy peace and stability which are prerequisites for development.
For his part, Mr Kwasi Oppong Ababio, who represented the NDC, called for a level playing field for all the political parties and called for total independence of the EC, saying the EC should be given absolutely a free hand to conduct the elections so that the results declared by the commission would be accepted by all.
Mr John Mbiniih of the DFP said their party since the start of the electioneering had always preached peace and therefore called on all political parties to impress on the youth to denounce violence before, during and after the elections.
A representative of the Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Seth Charles Oteng, pledged the readiness of the security agencies to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections come December 7. He also assured the public of its vigilance adding that the police would deal ruthlessly with those bent on fomenting trouble on the voting day.
Osahene Kwaku Aterkyi, the President of the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs and Omanhene of Kukuom Traditional Area, and Mr Ferdinand Obeng, Vice Chairman of the Regional Peace Advisory Council who co-chaired the function reiterated the call on the EC to do all it could to conduct transparent, free and fair elections in order to preserve the integrity of the electoral process.

Monday, November 17, 2008

VOTE MASSIVELY FOR ME — COLLINS DAUDA (GRAPHIC NSEMPA, PAGE 5)

By Samuel Duodu, Acherensua.

THE incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Asutifi South, Alhaji Collins Dauda, has urged his constituents to vote massively for him in the December 7 polls to continue to serve them in humility.
He has also pledged that when retained as the MP for the Asutifi South Constituency he would continue to fight for more developmental projects for the area as he had done for the past four years in parliament.
Alhaji Dauda who has been retained as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the December 7 election said this when he addressed thousands of his supporters at a rally at Acherensua in the Asutifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
According to him, MPs do initiate projects, but the overall development of the towns and villages in the constituency was the responsibility of the district Assembly and the central government.
He stated further that MPs only received about one per cent of the District Assembly’s Common Fund (DACF) sent to the district assemblies for development projects and, therefore, there was not much that an MP could do with their shared, to provide development projects for all communities in his constituency.
Alhaji Dauda therefore urged his constituents to ignore the impressions being created by his opponents that the total development of the constituency was the responsibility of the MP of the area and as such he had not done much in terms of the overall development of the constituency.
He explained that MP’s share of the Common Fund could not be used to meet all the development needs of all the towns and villages in the constituency but he could lobby for development projects and initiate some in a few communities in the constituency.
The incumbent MP for Asutifi South, therefore, urged the electorate to vote massively for him and the party’s presidential candidate, Prof John Evans Atta-Mills, to execute its human-centered policies to alleviate the current economic hardships they found themselves in as a result of the bad policies and programmes that had been pursued by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by President Kufuor.
Alhaji Dauda stated that poles for the electrification and the street lighting project in some of the towns in the constituency including Nkasiem was provided by him. He had also initiated and completed other development projects to bring relief to the people.
He called on the people to rather demand more development projects from the assemblies and the NPP government which had failed to live up to such expectations.
Alhaji Dauda, therefore, dared the Asutifi District Assembly and come out clearly to tell the people how it had utilised the DACF and other internally generated funds, to provide development in the constituency leading to an improvement in the standard of living of the people.

UPDATE KNOWLEDGE ON ELECTORAL LAW (GRAPHIC NSEMPA, PAGE 5)

By Samuel Duodu, Fiapre.

THE Electoral Commission’s Director responsible for the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Amba Eyiaba I, has urged media practitioners to update their knowledge on the electoral laws and processes, to enable them educate the electorate, and ensure peaceful, free and fair polls on December 7.
She observed that the media had a crucial role to play in ensuring a free and fair election and, therefore, entreated journalists to avoid speculation and the announcement of unconfirmed results, when the polls came to a close on that day.
“As a matter of fact, all media practitioners covering the polls should always cross-check and check their information with the Electoral Commission (EC), before going public and by so doing we would ensure peaceful polls,” she stressed.
Nana Eyiaba, who is also the Krontihemaa of the Oguaa Traditional Area in the Central Region and a former Board Member of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), said this at a day’s capacity building workshop organised by the EC on election reporting for media practitioners in the Brong Ahafo Region, at Fiapre in the Sunyani West District on Tuesday.
According to the Commission Member, it did not take only the EC to ensure a free and fair election, but the responsibility of all stakeholders in the electoral process, especially the media by providing accurate information about the electoral process.
Nana Eyiaba, therefore, appealed to media practitioners to be circumspect in their reportage saying, “Be fair-minded in your reportage of candidates and political parties and be proactive in bringing the electorate useful and timely information to enable them to make informed decisions.”
She gave the assurance that the EC had put in place adequate mechanisms to take care of every problem that might arise leading to transparency and fairness to all in the election.
Responding to a question as to whether media practitioners would be allowed to vote on the special voting day, December 2, earmarked by the EC for security personnel and other essential staff, Nana Eyiaba said as at now the special dispensation was for security personnel who would be deployed to maintain law and order at the various polling stations.
She, however, said media personnel who would be covering the election,through their various organisations could apply to find out whether the EC would allow such journalists to vote on that special day. She said as at now, there were no plans by the EC for media practitioners to vote on the special day.
Mr Samuel Ntow, a Deputy Director, Research and Monitoring at the EC Headquarters in Accra, called on political parties contesting the December 7 election to select their polling agents from the communities where they know the electorate, to ensure a peaceful process.
He reiterated the assurance that the EC had in place, an inbuilt mechanism that would check any problem that would arise in the wake of the December 7, polls and urged the media to be circumspect in their reportage on the election day in order to ensure a peaceful polls.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

ENACT BYE LAW TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 40)

ASSEMBLY Members in communities affected by mining in the country have been urged to use the powers conferred on them by the Local Government Act 462 to enact bye-laws for the protection of the environment.
Mr Abdulai Darimani, an Environmental Programme Officer of the Third World Network, Africa (TWN, Africa), a policy research organisation, who made the call, also stressed the need for the introduction of special levies to improve their assemblies’ revenues.
He said such bye-laws for the protection of the environment would help minimise the impact of mining on the communities and help complement the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which does not have district offices in most of the mining communities.
Mr Darimani was speaking at a two-day capacity building workshop for elected Assembly members in Asutifi and Tano North District Assemblies in the Brong Ahafo Region at Kenyasi.
The workshop was organised by Livelihood and Environment Ghana (LEG), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in conjunction with TWN, Africa.
Sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the workshop was aimed at equipping Assembly members from the two districts to monitor environmental issues and pass bye-laws on specific uses of assemblies’ share of royalty.
Currently, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) operates in Kenyasi in the Asutifi District, while exploration and feasibility studies are ongoing in the Tano North District by the same company in the region.
Mr Darimani further entreated Assembly members in mining communities to initiate discussions on guidelines for the utilisation of royalties received by their assemblies from mining companies.
He said the advice had become imperative since it was alleged that such revenue mostly went into the recurrent expenditure instead of the development purposes to help improve the lot of the people in the communities.
Touching on the stabilising clause, a legal provision in the Mining Law (Act 703 of 2006), Mr Darimani said the provision allowed mining companies to pay royalties at a minimum of three per cent over a period in an agreement entered into by the government and the mining companies, which was irreversible until the life-span of the agreement.
He stated that the only way to ensure communities affected by mining could benefit from mining was “to go behind the law to introduce special levies within their mandate to improve their share of revenue received by their assemblies from mining”.
The Executive Director of LEG, Mr Richard Adjei-Poku, said it was a fact that mining activities, especially surface mining, had negative impact on affected communities.
They included the destruction of the environment, displacement of people and their families, social conflicts and human rights violations, destruction of community sources of livelihood with very inadequate compensation and take-over of land and causing severe food security problems and poverty.
He, however, observed that in spite of the aforementioned effects, mining also provided some significant contributions to the national economy, adding that currently, Ghana was the second leading gold producing country in Africa after South Africa and ranked 10th in the world.
Mr Adjei-Poku said the mining sector was consistently the country’s highest gross foreign exchange earner from 1999, explaining that it had contributed about 12 per cent of the country’s total corporate tax earnings, 34 per cent of total exports and 11 to 12 per cent of government revenue.
Besides, Mr Adjei-Poku said, mining employed about 15,000 people in the large scale mining industry and over 500,000 people were also engaged in small-scale mining.
The Communications Manager of NGGL, Mr Stephen Baffoe, stressed the important role mining had played in the development process of communities.
He pledged that Newmont would continue to engage all stakeholders in their areas of operation to ensure that the communities benefited from its activities.
Mr Baffoe revealed that Newmont was a signatory to the international campaigns for transparency in the mining industry and had therefore signed on to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
Mr Baffoe said as much as Assembly members wanted to demand accountability and transparency, they should demonstrate that in their dealings with the people as well.

NEW AIRSTRIP UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT TECHIMAN (PAGE 40)

THE Techiman Traditional Council and the Techiman Municipal Assembly are constructing an airstrip in Techiman.
The 24-square kilometre airstrip, estimated at GH¢1,000,000 and scheduled for completion in three months time, is to enhance commercial activities and boost tourism.
It is also to facilitate emergency response for people in critical condition referred to Accra and elsewhere for intensive medical care by way of transporting them easily and faster to prevent deaths.
The land for the construction of the airstrip has already been surveyed by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which has given its approval for the necessary works to be done for the airstrip to start operation.
This came to light when a two-man delegation from the National Security Council Secretariat, led by Mr Ebenezer N. Hanson and Group Captain A.N. Nkansah (retd), called on the members of the Techiman Airstrip Project to know at first-hand the preparations made so far and to inspect the site for the airstrip to ensure safety and security.
Briefing the delegation on the project at the Techimanhene’s palace, Nana Asare Baffour Twibrenpong II, the Adontenhene of Techiman Traditional Area and chairman of the project, said an amount of Gh¢20,000 had so far been used to clear the site for the necessary works to begin.
He stated that plans had been made to turn the airstrip into a complete airport in the future.
Nana Twibrenpong said the idea for constructing the airstrip was necessitated by the demise of the late paramount chief of Techiman, Odotobrebi Takyi Ameyaw II, about five years ago.
He said it was impossible to rush the Omanhene, who was suffering from cardiac arrest, to the 37 Military Hospital for medical attention due to the lack of airstrip, resulting in his death on the way while being sent to Accra by road.
According to him, if there were a facility for air transport in Techiman, the life of the late chief could have been saved.
Nana Twibrenpong stated that Techiman, being a commercial hub for the sub-region, and attracting almost all the financial institutions in the country, needed air transport facilities to save traders who travelled long distances by road to transact business from armed robbery attacks, as well as promote tourism in the area.
He said the traditional council had also initiated the construction of a 100-unit police barracks at Techiman to enable the Ghana Police Service to post more personnel to the municipality to combat crime in the area.
The chief stated that the police barracks project was at the sub-structure stage, and therefore appealed to the delegation to impress upon the relevant agencies to assist the council to complete it.
Touching on the recent shooting incident at Tuobodom in the Techiman Municipality, which resulted in the injury of six people in the convoy of the Techimanhene, Nana Twibrenpong said the perpetrators had been identified but no arrest had so far been made.
He, therefore, appealed to the National Security Secretariat to, as a matter of urgency, to intervene to bring all the culprits involved in the incident to book in order to restore peace to the area.
Mr Hanson, on behalf of the National Security Co-ordinator, commended the traditional council and the assembly for their foresight.
He said since all the necessary requirements had been met, they should continue with the construction of the airstrip.
Mr Hanson assured the Techiman Traditional Council that their appeal would be sent to the appropriate quarters for redress.
The delegation later inspected the land earmarked for the airstrip and the police barracks project.
Among the chiefs present at the meeting were Nana Appenteng Gyeabour, Hansuahene and Baamuhene of the Techiman Traditional Area and Nana Owusu Agyare II, Akwamuhene, both of whom are members of the airstrip project committee.

APPRENTICE JAILED 10 YEARS FOR DEFILEMENT (PAGE 27, MIRROR)

From Samuel Duodu, Fiapre

Events of December 28, 2007 will forever remind a couple at Penkwase, a suburb of the Sunyani Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region, not to allow any of their children to enter any co-tenant’s room.
Their two and half-year-old daughter was on that day indecently assaulted in a co-tenant’s room when she followed a sister of the rapist into their room. However, the long arm of the law caught up with Kwadwo Kunakeh, the culprit, and he has been sentenced to 10 years jail term in hard labour.
Kunakeh, a 22-year-old apprentice mechanic, pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecent assault and defilement when the case went on trial in January, this year at the Fiapre Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Benjamin Osei Yaw.
He was cautioned and discharged on the first count of indecent assault but sentenced on the charge of defilement.
Presenting the facts of the case in court, the Regional Commander of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwaku Amoako, said on December 28, last year, at about 12:30 p.m., the victim was in the house with her mother when she saw the elder sister of the convict entering the house and she (victim) followed her into their room where the convict also sleeps.
DSP Amoako told the court that some few minutes later the victim’s mother saw the convict’s sister coming from a different direction without the victim and so she started calling her (victim) to check on her whereabouts.
He said the small girl’s mother saw her child coming out of the convict’s room and eating fried yam.
The prosecutor said the mother questioned her as to what she was doing in the room and she started pointing at her private part and mentioning the convict’s name.
DSP Amoako said this prompted the mother to examine her child and in the course of it, she saw a whitish, starchy fluid on her.
The girl’s father reported the incident to the police and the convict was arrested.
DSP Amoako said the victim’s parents were issued with a form to go to the regional hospital for a medical examination. A report submitted on the victim that same day indicated “hymen lacerated, abrasions and live spermatozoa”, confirming the defilement.

GAME AND WILDLIFE RECRUITS PASS OUT (MIRROR PAGE 25)

From Samuel Duodu,
Bui Camp.

Thirty newly recruited officers of the Game and Wildlife Division of the Forestry Services Commission have passed out after a three-week training course at the Bui Camp in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Director of Operations of the Wildlife Division, Mr Alex Akuovia, addressing them, pointed out that construction of the Bui Dam posed a big challenge to the Bui Game Reserve, hence the need to increase the workforce and equip the workers with competent skills to protect the reserve.
Mr Akuovia appealed to the chiefs and people of nearby communities to collaborate with the management of the Bui National Park to protect the plant and animal species.
Mr Cletus Nateg of the Forestry Services Division appealed to the trainees to work hard to protect and preserve the park.
Present at the ceremony were Mr Abeku Essel, the Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of the Wildlife Division, and Mr Anthony Daibeli of the Buaben Fiema Forest Reserve.

TONE DOWN CAMPAIGN MESSAGES — ODENEHO BAFFOUR 11 (PAGE 13)

The Omanhene of Nsawkaw Traditional Area, Odeneho Kutu Ayim Baffour II, has urged politicians to tone down their campaign messages, which have the potential to threaten the peace and stability of the nation in the run-up to the December polls.
He advised politicians to rather dwell on issues that would promote national unity and social cohesion as well as bring development and lead to an improvement in the living standards of Ghanaians.
He pointed out that Ghana had been an oasis of peace and stability in the sub-region and a model for multiparty democracy and therefore nothing should be done to derail the process.
Nana Baffour said this at his ‘outdooring’ ceremony following his enstoolment as the Paramount Chief of Nsawkaw Traditional Area in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
Nana Baffour succeeded his late uncle Odeneho Twum Barimah Ameyaw II who died four years ago.
He used the occasion to impress on the youth in the area to desist from any acts that would lead to violence before, during and after the December 7 polls and shun politicians who want to use them to foment trouble.
He also urged media practitioners not to allow themselves to be used as tools to fan conflicts, whether ethnic, political, religious or any other form which could retard the smooth development of communities or could lead to the destruction of life and property.
Touching on the issues of rampant bush fires and the cutting down of trees in the forest reserves in the area, Nana Baffour urged his elders and the people to help fight such practices that had led to a change in rainfall patterns and the drying up of rivers and streams in the area.
On education, the Nsawkaw Omanhene appealed to the government to assist the traditional council to establish a community senior high school in the area to befit its status as the capital of the newly created Tain District.
He urged the people, especially the youth, to shun lifestyles that could fuel the spread of the deadly HIV/AIDS disease in the area and appealed to all religious leaders to join hands with ‘nananom’ in their fight against the spread of the disease.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tain, Madam Farizana Bintu Ibrahim, in her address pledged that the government through the district assembly would continue with the development agenda for the area.
She said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by President Kufuor deserved commendation, since it was the government that carved the district out of the Wenchi Municipality and brought about the construction of the Bui Hydroelectric project that had remained on the drawing board close to 100 years, thus creating jobs for the youth in the area.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

GHASS CALLS FOR EARLY RELEASE OF FUNDS (PAGE 34)

THE Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has called on the government to expedite action on the release of all outstanding arrears of scholarships and grants from the last academic year, as well as subsequent ones. This it noted would help ensure the smooth running of schools and the successful completion of the current academic term.
The conference also called for an immediate upward review of the feeding fees of 80Gp per day per student to reflect current market trends in order to forestall the early closure of their schools and ensure their effective and uninterrupted running.
The call was made in a 11-point communiqué signed and issued by Mr Felix Essah-Hienno, the National Secretary of CHASS, at the end of the 46th annual conference of CHASS in Sunyani.
The six-day conference was on the theme, “Promoting Quality Educational Leadership and Excellence”.
The communiqué expressed appreciation to the government for its efforts at providing buses and other vehicles for some schools and hoped that the gesture would be extended to all schools and heads of schools to facilitate effective administration.
It also appreciated the efforts of the government at providing infrastructural facilities for schools but appealed to it to accelerate the provision of such facilities to meet the demands of the fourth year programme as demanded by the new educational reform.
“In order to facilitate the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) process and reduce the frustration of heads of schools and parents, we reiterate that after the just placement heads of schools who still have vacancies should be allowed to admit students who qualify in conformity with the system,” the communiqué said.
It suggested that to further enhance the CSSPS process, less endowed schools should be given immediate attention, especially in the distribution of inputs, in order for students to be attracted to those schools to ease the pressure on the few well-endowed schools.
It stated that to enhance and promote effective leadership, the issue of acceptable and adequate motivation for heads of schools and teachers must be seriously and urgently addressed.
The communiqué also called on the government to seriously consider termly procurement plans, instead of annual procurement plans, for second-cycle schools, since the school programmes were run on a termly basis.
“Finally, we pledge to use our leadership positions to educate our students and communities on the need for peaceful elections,” it said.

Friday, November 7, 2008

FARMER FINED FOR STEALING FOWL (MIRROR, PAGE 12)

From Samuel Duodu,
Sunyani

The desire of a 25-year-old ex-convict, Yaw Boateng, for a meal of chicken has landed him in the grips of the law. He told the Sunyani Magistrate’s Court ‘B’ presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah that he attempted to steal a cock to prepare a meal because he could not afford the GH¢6.00 for a fowl.
The court has, therefore, sentenced Boateng, a farmer, to a fine of GH¢96.00 for attempting to steal the fowl at Nsoatre in the Sunyani West District in the Brong Ahafo Region.
He will go to jail for three months with hard labour if he defaulted on the payment of the fine.
Boateng, who was convicted by the same court for a similar offence early this year, was also ordered to pay a compensation of Gh¢50 to the complainant for strangling the fowl.
Presenting the facts of the case, Chief Inspector Grace Coffie said the complainant’s nephew, who is a witness in the case, saw Boateng with the cock under his armpit and coming out of their kitchen.
She said Boateng dropped the fowl and bolted but upon examination, the fowl was found to be very weak as it had been strangled.
The prosecutor said the witness went to inform the complainant.
She said Boateng was spotted not far from the complainant’s kitchen and he tried to bolt again but was arrested and handed over to the police.

UNEMPLOYED MAN STEALS FROM BENEFACTOR (MIRROR, PAGE 12)

From Samuel Duodu, Techiman

A 25-year-old unemployed who took advantage of the benevolence of his benefactor and succeeded in stealing his personal items running into thousands of new Ghana Cedis at Gyarko-Line, a suburb of the Techiman Municipality, has been remanded in prison custody.
The accused, Kwabena Akamani, is alleged to have made away with 30 pairs of football boots, 25 footballs, 52 boxes of floor tiles, two gas cylinders, 19 pieces of iron rod, 20 pieces of plastic chairs, 3,000 empty sacks, one Honda generator, one massaging Machine, four water closets and 50 bags of cement kept at the storeroom of his benefactor.
Akamani, who pleaded not guilty on three counts of unlawful entry and stealing, will re-appear before the Techiman Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Michael Cudjoe Ntumy, on November 12, 2008.
The facts of the case as read in court by Police Chief Inspector N. N. Nancharigi were that in October, this year, Akamani entered the storeroom of Madam Charity Adjei, a businesswoman and stole the items.
He said the accused lived directly behind the complainant’s house and used to assist the complainant’s husband in doing some work.
The prosecution said while Akamani was helping the husband, who is now outside the country, he detected that the storeroom was stocked with the items.
Akamani later scaled the wall and removed the window to the storeroom and made away with the items.
Chief Inspectro Nancharigi said Akamani was spotted scaling the complainant’s wall on October 21 and 24 by a witness in the case.
He said the accused threatened to stab the witness with a knife.
The prosecution said the witness informed Madam Adjei and the accused was arrested. Akamani later led the police to retrieve some of the items .

Thursday, November 6, 2008

NDC SUPPORTERS DISAPPOINTED (PAGE 15)

Hundreds of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters who converged on the Victoria Park in the capital of the Sunyani East Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region on Monday afternoon for a rally to be addressed by former President Jerry John Rawlings were disappointed as he did not turn up.
The supporters, some clad in party T-shirts, clothes and other paraphernalia and perched on top of some storey buildings, both completed and uncompleted around the venue for the rally, in order to catch a glimpse of the former President, finally left at about 7:30 p.m. disappointed as there was no sign of him.
Earlier in the afternoon, the jubilant supporters who had gathered at the park waiting for the former President danced to loud popular songs composed for the party’s presidential candidate, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills and the party, as well as some hip-life music that was being churned out by the spinning group hired by the party to provide music at the rally grounds, as well as that of a brass band music.
The party’s supporters who waited for well over six hours left for their various homes after 7:30 p.m. when rumours went round at the rally grounds that the former President was at Nkrankwanta in the Dormaa Municipality and at Berekum addressing similar rallies.
Although invitations were not sent to the various media houses based in the Sunyani Municipality, newsmen were also present, including this reporter.
There were announcements on some local FM stations in the municipality about the rally scheduled for Monday, November 3, 2008.
Sources within the party told the Daily Graphic that the rally was not sanctioned and also not part of the former President’s itinerary.
Other sources also said earlier in the day the former President’s convoy was stopped at Atronie, a town in the Sunyani East Constituency, where he was not supposed to address any gathering but was asked to do so and so he warned the organisers of such impromptu events to do away with such unannounced meetings.
However, on Monday night, the former President rather addressed a rally at Odumase, the capital of the Sunyani West Constituency, where thousands of enthusiastic party supporters gathered and waited till 9.30p.m.
Former President Rawlings urged Ghanaians to vote the New Patriotic Party (NPP) out of power in the December 7 polls because they had created difficult economic conditions in the country.
He called on Ghanaians, especially the supporters of the party, who cheered him at the rally, to be vigilant on the voting day so as not to allow the NPP and their agents to rig the election.
Former President Rawlings told the people that it was under the PNDC and the NDC regimes that the nation witnessed massive infrastructural development in terms of extension of electricity, good drinking water and roads to every part of the country, as well as the provision of hospitals in all the regional capitals.
He, therefore, urged the people not to give in to the lies and vain promises of the NPP in order for them to retain power but to vote massively for the NDC and Prof. Mills to bring about total transformation in the economy.
Mr Rawlings also urged the people to vote massively for the NDC Parliamentary candidate for Sunyani West, Mr Nyamekye Maafo, to represent them in Parliament since he had served them before as the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sunyani during the NDC administration.
Mrs Cecilia Johnson, a former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development under the NDC, Mr Johnson Aseidu Nketiah, NDC General Secretary and Alhaji Collins Dauda, NDC Member of Parliament and Parliamentary candidate for Asutifi South, who took turns to address the rally, called on Ghanaians to reject the NPP in the December polls since they had used deception and lies to rule the nation.

DEC 7 IS FREEDOM DAY — RAWLINGS (PAGE 17)

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has called on Ghanaians to see the December 7 polls as a day of freedom, redemption and liberation from the shackles of poverty and the present socio-economic hardships visited on them by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He assured Ghanaians that a vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Professor John Evans Atta-Mills at the December 7 polls was a vote for themselves since the party was there for all Ghanaians.
President Rawlings said this when he addressed thousands of enthusiastic supporters of the NDC at separate rallies at Kintampo and Jema, the constituency capitals of the Kintampo North and South, Busunya and Nkoranza, the constituency capitals of Nkoranza North and South respectively, as part of his five-day campaign tour of the Brong Ahafo Region to garner more votes for the NDC.
He said Ghanaians would not only be doing good to themselves but would also be voting for a selfless, humble, dedicated and knowledgeable leadership as compared to the arrogant and selfish personalities of the NPP.
According to him, the NPP used lies, intimidation and deception to win power and had used the same tactics to render majority of Ghanaians powerless, poor and vulnerable.
He, therefore urged Ghanaians not to give in to the lies, deception and vain promises being made by the NPP to further deepen their economic woes.
The former President said, the only way Ghanaians could ensure that the NPP did not retain power in the December polls in order to cover up their bad deeds and corruption, was for the people to effectively police the various polling stations to ensure that the NPP and their agents did not carry out any dubious means to win the elections.
He urged all Ghanaians, especially NDC supporters, not to leave their various polling stations after casting their votes until the ballots were counted for the winner to be declared, and even follow up to the collation centres to ensure that rigging did not take place.
Former President Rawlings also urged the electorate not to allow the NPP to use both monetary and material things to buy their votes or to induce them to vote for them to continue with their divide and rule tactics as well as to enrich themselves and their cohorts at the expense of the broader masses.
He bemoaned the current economic hardship being witnessed by Ghanaians under the NPP rule, saying that it was under the 19 year rule of the PNDC and NDC that electricity and good drinking water was extended to every part of the country as well as the construction of hospitals in all the regional capitals.
The NDC parliamentary candidates for Kintampo North and South, Nkoranza North and South, Messrs Stephen Kuusu, Yaw Effah Baafi, Agyentutu and Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum respectively, who took turns to address the rallies held in their various constituencies, called on Ghanaians to reject the NPP at the polls since they had failed to deliver and vote massively for the NDC.

Monday, November 3, 2008

RELEASE GETFUND HOSTELS TO POLYTECHNIC AUTHORITIES (PAGE 11)

THE Rector of the Sunyani Polytechnic (S-Poly), Prof. Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, has appealed to the government to release the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) hostels situated in and around the campuses of the various polytechnics in the country to the authorities of the institutions concerned to manage them.
This, he said, would enable the polytechnics to use the income that would be derived from their management to put up more hostels to ease the accommodation problems on the various campuses nationwide.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah made the appeal at the 13th matriculation of the polytechnic at the weekend, and appealed to the various student associations of polytechnics and alumni to take up the challenge of building hostels for students whose numbers were increasing year by year.
He commended the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the S-Poly for initiating one of such projects to provide accommodation for the students.
Currently, he said, the Polytechnic run 13 full time tertiary programmes, including Bachelor of Technology, seven Higher National Diploma and five Technician programmes.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah asserted that in line with the polytechnics’ objectives, it would continue with its higher degree expansion programme to cover areas such as Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management (HCIM), Carpentry and Joinery (C&J), Electrical/Electronics Engineering and other Applied Sciences and Engineering programmes.
In running these programmes, he said, the polytechnic would remain focused and provide the practical training and skills required for the industrial transformation and sustainable development of the country.
The rector disclosed that the polytechnic received many complaints from students about high rent charges and poor sanitary conditions in many of the private hostel around the polytechnic last year, and expressed his gratitude to the GETFund for providing a hostel for students.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah bemoaned the moral decadence that had engulfed all tertiary institutions in the country such as indecent dressing, drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, occultism and hooliganism, saying that the S-Poly would continue to enforce discipline among students and staff of the polytechnic community.
He announced a ban on “ponding” of students on campus and warned that students who engaged in such acts would be dismissed when caught.
“As you were informed during the orientation, ‘ponding’ of students is a major offence in the polytechnic. Students who engage in this act will be dismissed. You are therefore warned to desist from such acts, for, “a word to the wise is enough”, he stressed.
Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah, however, assured the freshmen and women that the polytechnic would always protect and support students who were humane, respectful, law-abiding and disciplined, saying “Discipline is necessary for knowledge acquisition and intellectual development”.
The rector advised the freshmen and women to develop their entrepreneurial skills so that they would leave the polytechnic as ‘job creators’ or ‘employers’ and not ‘job seekers or employees’.

1 DEAD IN POLITICAL CLASH AT SANKORE (PAGE 3)

A MIDDLE-AGED man was shot dead on Saturday night at Sankore in the Asunafo South District of the Brong Ahafo Region following a clash between rival groups alleged to be supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The deceased was identified as Yaw Amponsah, a supporter of the NPP.
Six others, including a four-year-old boy, who sustained various degrees of injury, have been sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi for treatment, while the body of Amponsah was deposited at the Goaso Government Hospital.
According to sources, the clash between the two groups was the result of an earlier misunderstanding between Kwaku Okyere of the NPP and Kofi Asare, an NDC supporter, during which Asare was said to have been injured.
In the heat of the clash, a rented house of Asare was alleged to have been burnt down.
The police have so far arrested 11 suspects, four of whom were to be sent to the Regional Police Headquarters for further investigations. According to the Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr Seth Charles Oteng, they would soon be arraigned before court, while the seven others would be screened at the local level.
In an interview, Mr Oteng told the Daily Graphic that the four had been identified as having taken active part in the alleged clash, adding that police reinforcement had been deployed to the area to maintain law and order.
According to the Police Commander, there had been a long-standing misunderstanding between Asare and Okyere following an alleged robbery case, in which Asare was granted bail by a court. However, when the two met in town, a scuffle ensued between them, during which Asare got injured.
ACP Oteng further stated that dissatisfied with the action of Okyere, Asare informed some of his colleague NDC supporters, who also mobilised some deadly weapons, including guns and paraded through the streets of Sankore and finally came across a group of NPP supporters who were seated in front of a shop, where they normally sat to discuss politics.
He said without any provocation, Asare’s group shot into the gathering, resulting in the injury of the six persons.

VOTE MASSIVELY FOR NDC — RAWLINGS (PAGE 13)

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has called on Ghanaians to vote massively for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to come to power to ensure equity, justice for all and an improvement in the living conditions of every Ghanaian.
He, therfeore, called on the people to reject the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the December 7 polls, since the party had shown consistently that it had not got the welfare of Ghanaians at heart.
Former President Rawlings made the call at separate rallies attended by thouands of people at Yeji, Atebubu and Kwame Danso, the district capitals of Pru, Atebubu/Amantin and Sene respectively, all on Thursday, to canvass for more votes for the NDC in the Brong Ahafo Region in the run-up to the general elections.
He was accompanied on his campaign tour by Mr Kofi Adams, his spokesperson, Alhaji Collins Dauda, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and NDC parliamentary candidate for Asutifi South, Mr John Owusu Agyeman, Brong Ahafo Regional NDC Chairman, and some regional executive members.
He stated that the ruling NPP government and their functionaries thought only about themselves to the extent of enriching themselves at the expense of the ordinary Ghanaian.
According to the former President, indications were that history was going to repeat itself on December 7, 2008, as was the case in 2000 when the NDC handed over power to the NPP.
He alleged that the NPP leaders did not want to leave power because of their bad deeds in government. He urged all like-minded Ghanaians and supporters of the NDC to be vigilant at the various polling stations on election day.
Former President Rawlings said the NPP was using lies and intimidation to rule the nation which had led to polarisation and division, but assured the people that an NDC government under President John Evans Atta Mills would unite the nation and serve the interest of all Ghanaians and not a section of it.
Mr Owusu Agyeman, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NDC, urged supporters of the party to remain calm, focused and resolute in the face of intimidation and harassment by the NPP designed to cow them into submission.