This revelation was made by a writer, Bryan Christy at a panel discussion organized by the American Embassy on Biodiversity and wildlife in Accra
He said 62 per cent of forest elephants have been killed in the last 10 years, with about $50 million illegal ivories seized.
He pointed out that the phenomenon is serious in Central, Western and Eastern Africa adding that China is the major buyer of the illegal ivories from the poachers.
He called on the civil society, NGOs and the media to support the fight against wildlife trafficking in Africa.
The Manager of the Commercial Development Unit, Wildlife Division of the Forest Commission, David Kpelle said Agriculture and illegal logging are the greatest threats to biodiversity and wildlife conservation in the country.
According to him, there is massive agriculture expansion due to the population of the country.
Mr Kpelle said a survey conducted indicated that the country is recovering its lost forest reserves and called on stakeholder’s collaboration to fight cross-border wildlife conversation.
He also mentioned that the commission is planning to provide alternative livelihood for people who depend on the wildlife forest for their survival.
He said it is necessary to strengthen the governance system to make sure the existing laws are enforced to monitor biodiversity and wildlife conservation.
Source: Ghana [GNA]
Friday, 14 June 2013
50,000 elephants killed illegally in Africa yearly
Chinese illegal miners back home
The Ghanaian government launched a crackdown on illegal mining in early June, arresting 169 Chinese workers. After consultations between officials of the two countries, the Chinese detainees were released.
A number of Shanglin natives were among those arrested by Ghanian authorities on charges of illegal mining.
A statement from the Shanglin government quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying that the "gold rush" started in 2006. It cited estimates that around 12,000 Shanglin natives have engaged in gold mining in Ghana to date.
"Even if they paid me 50,000 yuan a month, I would not go there again," said a villager surnamed Yang from Tanglong Village, Mingliang Township, who returned from Ghana on Sunday. (50,000 yuan is equal to about 8,115 U.S. dollars.)
Inspired by stories of fast fortunes, Yang went to Ghana and worked at a Chinese gold mine as an equipment guard. He earned a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan, far exceeding what he would have made planting paddy rice back home.
Yang heard about the Ghanian government's crackdown and quickly returned home with 24 of his peers.
"Ghana is chaotic. I just want to lead a stable life at home," he said.
Though he suffered huge losses in Ghana, a villager from Dafeng Township surnamed Wei, 28, said he was grateful to have returned home.
Wei went to Ghana as a hook machine operator and earned more than 10,000 yuan a month. Hoping make more money, he and a friend invested 500,000 yuan in a gold mine, but they encountered the Ghanian government's crackdown on illegal mining before turning a profit.
He could not find buyers for his machines in time, so he left them in Ghana and caught a flight home.
Wei called on local villagers to be rational when working overseas. They should take the customs, laws and social security in foreign lands into account.
A Chinese joint work team of personnel from the Chinese ministries of foreign affairs, commerce and public security arrived in Ghana on Tuesday. The team is discussing issues linked to Chinese nationals in the crackdown on illegal gold mining with their Ghanian counterparts.
A work team from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also arrived in Ghana on Tuesday to assist the embassy in evacuating Chinese nationals.
Source: Xinhuanet.com
WHO issues interim guidance TB drug
The interim guidance provides advice on the inclusion of bedaquiline in the combination therapy of MDR-TB in accordance with the existing WHO Guidelines for the Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB (2011 Update).
A WHO guidance, which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday by Tarik Jasarevic of the WHO Media Office in Geneva, estimates that up to half a million new cases of TB occur worldwide, each year.
It said current treatment regimens for MDR-TB present many challenges such as treatment lasting for 20 months or more, requiring daily administration of drugs that are more toxic, less effective, and far more expensive than those used to treat drug-susceptible TB.
It added that globally, less than half of all patients who start MDR-TB therapy are treated successfully.
“For the first time in over 40 years, a new TB drug with a novel mechanism of action - bedaquiline- is available, and was granted accelerated approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration in December 2012.
“There is considerable interest in the potential of this drug to treat MDR-TB. However, information about this new drug remains limited.
“It has only been through two Phase IIb trials for safety and efficacy,” the guidance stated.
The interim guidance lists five conditions that must be in place if bedaquiline is used to treat adults with MDR-TB: Effective treatment and monitoring, proper patient inclusion and informing patients of the potential benefits and harm of the new drug and seeking their consent before administering such treatment.
Others are adherence to WHO recommendations and active pharmacovigilance and management of adverse events.
WHO strongly recommends the acceleration of Phase III trials to generate a more comprehensive evidence base to inform future policy on bedaquiline.
The Organisation will review, revise, or update the interim guidance as additional information on efficacy and safety become available.
WHO is also developing an operational document to facilitate bedaquiline implementation and is working with partners to help ensure rational introduction.
Source: Ghana [GNA]
KPMG wards off pressure to speed up pink sheets auditing
However, he has given indication that the firm will meet the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
He told Joy News the firm is very much aware of the “sensitive and critical” nature of the task at hand, but promised “we will be able to meet those challenges”.
Following controversy over the number of pink sheets filed by the petitioners in the ongoing election petition hearing at the Supreme Court, KPMG was contracted by the court to audit the pink sheets in the custody of the court’s registry. It will also audit those given to the president of the bench as a control measure.
Justice William Atuguba, President of the panel of judges on Thursday said the accounting firm has requested about “one week and some days” to submit its report. He therefore adjourned sitting to 24th of June.
Joseph Winful said in order to cut down on the time they would need to finish the auditing, more hands have been assigned to the task.
But the firm has cautioned it would not succumb to any pressure that might impede its work.
“We do not allow such pressures or any pressure whatsoever to hamper our work. We know what we are supposed to do, we know that we should apply a lot of diligent, we know that we have to be very accurate, we know that we have to adhere to the laid down principles and procedures that we have agreed with all parties concerned.
“We know all that, so definitely we are not going to allow any pressure to distort our work,” Joseph Winful emphasised.
Nevertheless, he reiterated that everything would be done to meet the “actual limit” they have set for themselves with the assurance that “it is going to be well done”.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for petitioners in the case, Buabeng Asamoah has argued that the auditing will come to a naught so far as the substantive case is concerned. But Abraham Amaliba who speaks for the first and third respondents is confident it may reduce the number of votes the petitioners are praying the court to annul.
Source: Ghana [myjoyonline.com]
Thursday, 13 June 2013
Ghana's democracy scores firsts
After that, the country reeled under four different military coups d’etat — General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong’s overthrow of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia’s Progress Party government on January 13, 1972; General F.W.K. Akuffo’s overthrow of General Acheampong on July 5, 1978; Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings’s overthrow of Gen Akuffo on June 4, 1979 and Flt Lt Rawlings’s overthrow of Dr Hilla Limann’s People’s National Party government on December 31, 1981.
After undergoing 11 years of military rule from 1981, Ghana fully embraced constitutional rule in 1992 and has since gone through six elections.
Although Ghanaians and their businesses have undergone turbulent moments through coup d’etats, Ghana has emerged stronger with its democracy and is currently touted as the gateway to West Africa.
Former President Rawlings, former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills were all elected under the 1992 Constitution.
Ghana has grown in leaps and bounds in the realms of democracy so much so that for the first time in the history of this country, a sitting President’s legitimacy is being challenged through the constitutional system.
The beauty of it all is that both the challenger, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the challenged, President John Dramani Mahama, have publicly stated that they will respect the outcome of the presidential election petition which is currently ongoing at the Supreme Court.
Perhaps what most people have not observed is that the election and subsequent petition has set some very interesting precedents.
Landmark
For the first time in Ghana’s electoral history, biometric registers and biometric verification devices (BVDs) were used in 26,002 polling stations across the country.
The second precedent was when on December 7, 2012, as a result of the malfunctioning of some biometric verification machines, the Electoral Commission (EC) extended voting to December 8. Voting continued in 412 polling station across the country on that day. That was the beginning, and it was to be followed by a challenge of the presidential election results declared by the EC and many others.
Facts Recorded So Far
December 9, 2012 – The EC Chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, declared President Mahama winner of the December 7 and 8, 2012 presidential poll with 50.70 per cent of the valid votes cast, while it declared the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, as placing second with 47.7 per cent.
On December 28, 2012, Nana Akufo-Addo; his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and the NPP National Chairman, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the declaration of Mr Mahama as the winner of the poll, claiming that President Mahama benefitted from gross and widespread irregularities of over-voting, polling stations with the same serial numbers, persons voting without undergoing biometric verification and presiding officers not signing some pink sheets (statement of poll and declaration of results form).
The petitioners are asserting that Nana Akufo-Addo won the elections by 59.69 per cent, while President Mahama polled 39.1 per cent, and for that reason the court should annul 4.3 million votes and declare Nana Akufo-Addo President.
Three days after the filing of the petition, the NDC applied to join the petition, and after a fierce legal battle between lawyers for the NDC and those for the petitioners, who saw the move by the NDC as a ploy to delay the petition, the court, in a 6-3 majority decision on January 22, 2013, allowed the NDC to join as the third respondent.
327 Booted out
On March 14, 2013, 327 people who applied to join the petition to maintain the status quo were thrown out. The court held that their presence was neither necessary nor convenient.
Live Coverage
The Supreme Court, on April 16, 2013, broke the convention of cameras not being allowed into courtrooms by endorsing the live telecast of its proceedings via television and radio to allow viewers to listen to and watch proceedings live.
Article 125 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states: “Justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the Judiciary, which shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution.”
Article 125 (2) states: “Citizens may exercise popular participation in the administration of justice through the institutions of public and customary tribunals and the jury and assessor systems.”
These underpinnings, the powers of the highest court of the land, coupled with the permission of the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood, made it possible for Ghanaians to have firsthand knowledge of this historical presidential petition.
Interestingly, Ghanaians are so engrossed in the hearing that hardly any interaction ends without the introduction of one legalese or another.
Voluminous Documents Filed
Volumes and volumes of documents have been field at the Supreme Court Registry by parties in the case.
There are currently more than 407,000 different documents in the possession of the registry.
They include pink sheets from 11,842 polling stations in contention (the petitioners are now relying on 11,115 polling stations), 7,200 sworn affidavits from witnesses for the President and the NDC, affidavit evidence from the EC, pleadings, counter pleadings and other documents relevant in assisting the Supreme Court to arrive at its decision.
The documents are so voluminous that the court was, at the beginning of the hearing of the substantive petition, inundated with heaps of boxes of documents which took days to be stamped, filed and served on parties in the case.
Court clerks from other courts at a point had to step in to assist their colleagues at the Supreme Court Registry to file affidavits sworn to by witnesses for the NDC and President Mahama.
As it stands now, lead counsel for the petitioners, Mr Philip Addison, has stated in court that his side has received less than 5,000 out of the 7,200 affidavits sworn to by witnesses of the President and the NDC.
A substantial amount of money has been dispensed with by the parties in the case following the filing of thousands of documents.
Accreditation and Security
The Supreme Court was an open place for the public in the past until the hearing of the petition began. The inner perimeter of the court is restricted and only accredited persons are allowed entry.
Security stretches from the streets facing the Supreme Court right through to the courtroom on days the court sits on the petition. A scanner has been mounted at the entrance of the courtroom to scan persons before they are allowed entry.
Journalists, who had, in the past, been allowed to enter courtrooms with their cellular phones, laptops and other electronic gadgets, are now required to leave behind these gadgets before entering the courtroom.
Only pens and notebooks are allowed in.
The petition is so decisive it pulls executives of the NPP and the NDC, former ministers of state, past and current Members of Parliament (MPs) and a host of accredited observers to the courtroom on a daily basis.
Media
It is a daily feature to find photojournalists pitching camp outside the courtroom waiting for proceedings to end, so that they can take pictures of lawyers, party executives and observers.
The situation is so stressful for some photojournalists, they are sometimes found napping under a tent mounted for them in front of the Supreme Court building.
“Hijack” of Supreme Court and Long Hours of Sitting
To meet demands spelt out by by the Supreme Court Amendment Rules, 2012, (CI 74) for an expeditious hearing, the court sits on a daily basis for four consecutive days. Sittings have mostly lasted between four and six hours.
Thus all other cases drawn from other parts of the country and billed for hearing at the Supreme Court have been shifted to Fridays.
Most Prejudiced Case
This petition can also go down in history as the most discussed court case on radio, television, in the newspapers, new media and social media.
It has suffered prejudice from the onset and not even numerous warnings from the bench have deterred some lawyers and members of the public from dissecting it from all angles.
Legal Brains Clash
Perhaps this petition can claim credit for being the only case that has managed to pull the highest number of legal brains together on a daily basis.
Aside the team of lawyers who are representing the parties in the case, it is common to find lawyers filling the gallery of the Supreme Court simply to observe proceedings on a daily basis.
The petitioners, for instance, are being represented by 12 lawyers, namely, Mr Addison, a former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ms Gloria Akuffo; Mr Stephen Dapaah-Addo, Mr Frank Davies, Mr Alex Quaynor, Mr Akoto Ampaw, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Mr Kwame Akuffo, Mr Kwaku Asirifi, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, Mr Egbert Faibille and Professor Ken Attafuah.
Members of the petitioners’ communication and legal team include Mr Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Mr Mike Oquaye Junior and Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah.
President Mahama is being represented by Mr Tony Lithur and Dr Abdul Baasit Aziz-Bamba, while the NDC’s interest is being protected by Mr Tsatsu Tsikata and Mr Samuel Codjoe.
Members of the NDC Legal and Communication team are Nana Ato Dadzie, Mr Victor K. Adawudu, Mr Abraham Amaliba and Mr Chris Ackumey.
The EC is being represented by Mr James Quashie-Idun, Mr Stanley Amarteyfio, Ms Freda Bruce-Appiah and Ms Stephannie Amarteyfio.
Daily Press Briefings
It may look weird in legal language, but as far as the presidential petition is concerned, it is normal to find lawyers representing the petitioners and the NDC organising daily press briefings to walk journalists through what transpired in court.
Social commentators and sympathisers of the two main parties also grant interviews to radio stations and give account of court proceedings from their “political spectacles”.
Final Arbiter
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, declared President Mahama winner of the December 2012 polls. The current challenge to the declaration, therefore, means that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter.
For that reason, the nine-member panel, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, with Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mrs Justice Sophia Adinyira, Ms Justice Rose Owusu, Mr Justice Jones Dotse, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah, Mr Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Mr Justice N. S. Gbadegbe and Mrs Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo as members, has set out two issues for determination.
They are whether or not there were statutory violations, omissions, irregularities and malpractices in the conduct of the elections held on December 7 and 8, 2012.
It will also ascertain whether or not the said violations, omissions, irregularities and malpractices (if any) affected the outcome of the results of the elections.
Judgement and Declaration of Results
After taking evidence from all the parties in the case, the court will fix a date for judgement. It will then forward its order to the EC for implementation.
It is important to note that the EC will be expected to declare the results again, irrespective of the outcome of the court’s decision.
Rule 71 of CI 74 says: “The court shall, at the conclusion of the hearing of the petition, deliver its judgement and the registrar shall, within seven days of the delivery of the judgement, forward a copy of the judgement to the Electoral Commission.’’
Rule 69 C (5) of the Supreme Court (Amendment) Rules, 2012 (CI 74), which provides in part that "the court shall sit from day to day, including public holidays, when hearing a presidential election petition”, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on April 30, 2013.
In a unanimous decision, the court also held that a review of its decisions was a right created by Article 133 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and consequently declared the aspect of CI 74 which said the court’s final decision on the petition could not be reviewed a nullity.
Article 133 (1) of the Constitution states: “The Supreme Court may review any decision made or given by it on such grounds and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by rules of court.”
The decision relates to a suit filed at the court by the General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Bernard Anbataayela Mornah, seeking “a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of articles 133, 157, 93(2) and 11 of the 1992 Constitution, Rule 71B and a part of Rule 69C (5) of the Supreme Court (Amendment) Rules, 2012 (CI 74) are unconstitutional and must be declared null and void and of no effect”.
Political tolerance is Key to promoting peace
It is understandable for Ghanaians to have dissenting opinions because of their political beliefs.
But they must note that Ghana is the only country available for Ghanaians to be called “home”, for which reason it is pertinent for everyone to be tolerant.
Politics is not about life or death. The world is looking up to Ghana and it will be most unfortunate for any person or group of persons to take the law into their hands and cause mayhem after the declaration.
Any society that does not have law and order cannot survive. Ghanaians are blessed and envied the world over because of the prevailing peace and tranquillity.
No one should take that away. It is imperative for Ghanaians to prove to the world that our democracy has matured to such a level that never again will Ghana go through political turmoil.
Source: Ghana | Mabel Aku Banesseh [Graphic online]
Dep. National Security director, three others arrested
The arrest which was done on Monday was made by the special tax force on revenue collection headed by the Chief of Staff Prosper Bani.
The Tax force was established by President Mahama to streamline and monitor some perceived underhand dealings within the revenue collection agencies in the country.
Briefing the media about the arrest on Thursday deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations Murtala Mohammed said government will in the coming days disclose to Ghanaians the rot at the various harbors in the country and measures being put in place to address them.
Source: Ghana [radioxyzonline.com]
Irritant dysfunction
Ghanaians never seem to learn anything from history, especially politicians and political activists. And when they are caught in their nemesis, they do everything to justify and distinguish their actions and words from the very similar incidents they condemned unconditionally.
For instance, in 1993 after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) complained that the November 1992 Presidential election was rigged and boycotted the subsequent parliamentary election, the party refused to seek redress in the courts for lack of faith in the judiciary. The party went on to write ‘The Stolen Verdict’ in which it chronicled the claims of rigging.
When in 1997, the NPP decided to go to court to challenge the decision of government to retain Ministers of State without prior approval by Parliament; there were some within the NDC who described the action as coming from those who flipped through the Constitution as a full time job for litigation.
In the campaigns preceding the 2008 general election, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu described our judicial system as a Kangaroo Court, but when she appeared before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee for consideration as the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, she explained that her statement was a mere campaign platform talk.
A former Minister of Local Government, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, attracted the ire of the public when he was reported to have said that the increased spate of robbery in the country was the handiwork of opposition elements.
When a former MP from the NPP was arrested in the US for dealing in narcotic drugs, members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) used that to smear the NPP as a cocaine party. Indeed, the shouting and ugly noises were heralded by now Council of State Member, Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, then Women Organiser of the NDC.
Even former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, was reported to have referred to Mr E. T. Mensah, MP for Ningo-Prampram, who had shown courtesy by joining the President who was on a visit to his constituency, as Odwan mεεmεε, meaning a bleating sheep, because of how he was submissive in the presence of the President.
When it comes to fuel prices, at all times, you hear counter arguments as to which party is inhuman or who wants to run the economy better. While the NPP was in power and decided to follow a policy of full recovery of petroleum prices to raise money for sustainable development, they were described by the NDC as lacking sensitivity to human-centred policies. Then when the mantle fell on the NDC and it took the same path, it was informed by the foresight to raise funds for development since government has no business subsidising fuel for a few.
That far, the average Ghanaian has not been told which is the best policy for national development, outside those in leadership at any given time. This way, it may be difficult to build national consensus on the subject matter of petrol price fixing. The politicians have been cutting their noses to spite their faces, yet they blame the public for making politics unattractive.
Currently running are two major national issues that demand national attention, but which are being presented in partisan manner. The first is the arrest in the US of the Chief Executive Officer of Sohin Security Services, managers of our national airport for dealing in narcotic drugs. The other is the unending mystery fires destroying markets and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians.
These are developments that have serious implications on our safety and security and must be discussed in open, candid and nationalistic manner. But no, politics would have to be introduced into the equation.
First, the government has tried to do everything possible to disassociate itself from the narcotics allegation. The government acted pre-emptively to escape the charge of the fact that Solomon Adelaquaye, who is at the centre of the drug smuggling, is close to the ruling party. Those on the side of the NPP have now started describing the NDC as a cocaine party.
With the market fires, comments by Nii Lante Vanderpuije, MP and Deputy Minister of Trade and especially the open claim by the National Chairman of the NDC, Dr Kwabena Adjei, that elements from the opposition party, NPP, are behind the fires, are unfortunate and fraught with poisoned environment.
They would live to be haunted by the present in the near future. However, it is never my wish that there should be vengeance. My objective is to submit that such crass and petty developments not only undermine national aspirations, but fuel divisiveness and sectarian animosities. The issues of ‘us and them’ do not help.
What we must all learn is the reality by the historian who has said that when those who have died speak to the living, it is about the fact that “what you are, we were, what we are now, you shall be”.
We need to agree with our elders that ‘emmere woho yi, yεnni nkaso’ meaning, No one can reign forever, but if we build a nation of principle, we shall all benefit from it.
Source: Grpahic Online [Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh]
Nigeria: Suspected human parts dealer bares it all
Their arrest came barely three weeks after some of their members were paraded at the Lagos State Police Command, where they confessed to have sold live human beings for N40,000, hands—N4,000 and head—N8,000.
Those recently arrested are Gazali Akewadola (60), the native doctor who allegedly offered N40,0 for a live human being, Alfa Taofeek Akinola (35) and Kazeem Sanni (25).
To the bewilderment of all, Gazali confessed that live human beings were cheaper than buying dead human parts, saying all parts of a live human being are vital in the preparation of money ritual.
For instance, he said a life human being was bought for N40,000, “but at the end of the day, you get a lot of expensive parts from it. Aside that, it is even more potent because the efficacy of the charm or concoction prepared with live human parts cannot be compared with the ones prepared with dead parts.
“When a life human being is killed, one will get fresh blood which is used in preparing some charms. The same body will also give you hairs from private part, head and some mustache which are used for other ritual purposes. The private part is also very useful for the preparation of effective concoction. The head, flesh intestines, liver, heart, eyes, lips and tongues can be used for pepper soup which is usually very delicious than that of animal meat. I usually take the pepper soup so as to assure those who patronize us that it is not harmful. It also fortifies one spiritually.
“If you buy a full human being for N30,000 or N40,000 and pieces it, you will end up getting N100,000 or more because you will get more than 10 parts that will yield more money for you.”
Gazali who hails from Folahan, Ado-Odo in Owode Yewa Local Government Area of Ogun State, further said: “I am an Islamic teacher and a cleric. I own an Islamic school in Owode Yewa. I am also married with eight children. I am also a native doctor. I cure people of their ailments and help those who want to get rich quick, by using human parts to prepare charms and concoctions for them.
We use soft bones to cure epilepsy
“Most of the human parts I bought were sold to me by Kazeem Sanni. He used to sell dead human head between N3,000 and N8000, depending on the market price. The soft bones that can easily be grinded into powder are very cheap. It is just for N1,000. It is used to cure ailments like epilepsy.”
Asked why he did not use any of his children since he has eight of them, he said that would reduce the potency of the ritual concoction, adding that its potency depended solely on strangers being used. He said their victims were usually abducted from Lagos State and beyond, with the use of charms.
He further disclosed that aside the N40,000 paid to Sanni to get him a live human being, he gave him another N5,000 and a charm to hypnotize the male victims. But he said the plan almost failed as Sanni was almost caught. He, however, expressed regrets that despite the use of human parts to make other people rich, he ended up not only being poor but arrested along the line.
Money ritual charm changed my level
The second suspect, Alfa Taofeek, who is also an indigene of Owode Yewa in Ogun State confessed to have bought a human head from the third suspect, Kazeem, which he grinded and mixed with local gin.
According to him, “it was to enable me get rich. I am a Muslim cleric and I have been making people rich through this means but became jealous at a point and decided to get rich as well, since I was unable to get enough money from my clients.
“After drinking the concoction prepared with a human head, I got more customers and made more money. I even threw parties on a monthly basis to celebrate my new level.
“I also used part of the money to sponsor the graduation ceremony of some of my students in the Islamic school known as Alfa Taofeek Islamic School, at Owode Yewa.”
Customs officers lured me into money rituals
On his part, the third suspect, Kazeem Sanni, claimed to have opted for the money ritual business due to frustration from Customs men.
He said: “At a point, business was no longer moving because Customs men at the border were always seizing the goods, at the end of which their owners would force me to pay for them. I became frustrated even contemplated selling my father’s landed property. I decided to consult Alfa Taokeek Akinola to find out the cause of my predicament. He instructed me to get a human head in order to be rich. After that, he requested a live human being. I attempted kidnapping someone so that I can cut off his head but it was not possible. He then instructed me to exhume dead body from the graves which I did and got him three at the rate of N3,000 each.”
Their arrest, as explained by spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, was in compliance with the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko’s directive to SARS Commander, Abba Kyari, to get the fleeing suspects, after the arrest of three members of the syndicate on May 15, 2013, with human parts.
Source: Vanguard Nigeria
Gov't to set up GH¢2 million fund for victims of market fires
The establishment of the fund, intended to help provide some relief for the fire victims, forms part of measures the President promised to institute during his visit to the Makola No.2 market last Thursday.
The Chief of Staff, Ministers responsible for Finance, Gender Children and Social Protection, Local Government and Rural Development and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly have been tasked by the President to coordinate and provide the necessary support within their respective areas of competency to ensure effective implementation of the decision.
The Minister for Finance will be working with the Chief of Staff to ensure the provision of the funds and monitor the implementation of the decision.
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, working with the relevant agencies will register all victims to access the extent of their damage especially the effect on individual victims and ensure that only deserving of assistance are catered for under the fund.
President Mahama has directed an expeditious implementation of the decision to enable the victims feel the positive impact of the assistance during their moment of difficulty.
Source: Ghana [Flagstaff House]
Over 700 Ghanaian peacekeepers honoured in Liberia
“Since deploying its first troops to UNMIL in 2003, Ghana has remained a strong, reliable and dedicated partner in Liberia’s peace, stability and development,” the UN envoy said at a ceremony in Liberia’s frontier city of Ganta, to honour the Ghanaian soldiers for their dedicated service.
In addition to providing a large number of troops to UNMIL, Ghana has also made available highly qualified military and police officers, who have served the Mission in senior positions, including deputy force commanders, chiefs of staff forces and a police commissioner, Ms Landgren noted.
Turning to the Ghanaian peacekeepers, who for the past five months have been serving in various locations in Lofa, Bong and Nimba counties, Ms. Landgren praised them for pursuing and upholding the noble values and traditions of peacekeeping.
She commended the joint patrols and operations the Ghanaian soldiers had undertaken with their Liberian counterparts to remote and inaccessible parts of the country, especially along the borders with Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone to monitor cross-border activities and reassure the local population.
“You and your national partners have played an essential role in protecting civilians along the fragile border with Côte d’Ivoire through Operation MAYO, which brings you together with UNOCI forces and Ivorian officials for information sharing and joint patrols,” the SRSG told the Ghanaian peacekeepers.
Ms. Landgren, who is also the Coordinator of UN Operations in Liberia, noted that in a few months Liberia and UNMIL would celebrate a decade of peace. At the same time, she emphasized that “there is still more to be done in support of Liberia’s peace, security and development.”
“Liberia’s security remains UNMIL’s top priority as we progress with the gradual and carefully planned transition of our security responsibilities to the Liberian authorities,” she added.
Among the dignitaries present at the ceremony were: DSRSG for Rule of Law, Mr. Tamrat Samuel; Ambassador of Ghana to Liberia, Kodjo Asimeng Wadee; UNMIL Force Commander, Major-General Leonard Ngondi; Director of Mission Support, Hubert Price; Armed Forces of Liberia Chief of Staff, Major-General Suraj Abdurrahman; Nimba County Superintendent, Christiana Dagadu; and other senior UNMIL military and civilian officers.
Source: Liberia [UN]
World Bank approves $155 million for Ghana
It is also intends to help improve the capacity of government agencies to plan and manage natural resources more sustainably.
Correspondence to that effect, which was made available to the Daily Graphic, said the amount which was approved by the board of the bank said the first US$5 million of the amount would be used to support the Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (NREG) project.
This project is designed to provide technical assistance to help improve the capacity of government agencies to plan, manage and use natural resources in selected sectors more effectively and sustainably.
The project will also support the analytical work, policy dialogue, consultations and capacity building to address critical sector challenges identified in the first phase of the NREG Programme.
According to Mr Jamal Saghir, the World Bank Director of Sustainable Development, Africa Region, the high rate of environmental resource degradation exacts a heavy toll on Ghana.
He said “these funds will help the government to better manage its natural resources, particularly its forests, and bring more jobs and improved livelihood opportunities to people living in the rural and forest areas”.
The second IDA grant of $US150 million will support the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project.
This is a five-year programme designed to bring sanitation facilities and water supply to residents in the Accra Metropolitan areas with emphasis on low income communities.
The project selection will take into account the specific physical conditions of each community, such as soil characteristics and space availability.
According to the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project, Ventura Bengoechea, “Ghana’s economic growth has been accompanied by rapid urbanisation.
“But the provision of basic services has not kept up, and it is particularly affecting people living in low-income areas,” he added.
Source: Ghana [graphic.com.gh]
Kufuor gets another international appointment
His co-Chair is Prof. Sir John Beddington, former UK Chief Scientific Officer.
The Global Panel is a UK government initiative which will review research evidence and provide global leadership for investments and policies in agriculture that supports nutrition and helps eradicate hunger.
An estimated 165 million children alive today will have their future potential stunted due to lack of adequate food.
Providing better nutrition to mothers and infants in the first 1,000 days is essential to give these children a better start in life.
The benefits of interventions that directly tackle nutrition are well documented, but broader measures are urgently needed to address the global burden of under-nutrition and under-five mortality.
Following the launch in London on 7th June 2013, former President Kufuor said: “We need a concerted global effort to eradicate hunger and we need it now. No child should have its potential wasted due to lack of food”.
Agriculture is critical for improving livelihoods and tackling food and nutrition security.
It plays a key role in producing nutritious foods and making them available to consumers through the food value chain, resulting in better nutritional outcomes. It is also an important source of income for farmers and farm workers enabling them to provide their families with better quality nutrition.
Prof. Sir John Beddington, the co-chair of the Panel, said:
“There is a complex interaction between agriculture, food systems and human health which we do not understand well. Clearly research is needed, but such research needs to be clearly focused to ensure that its results are beneficial and transparent in its implications for policy”.
To gather and examine existing and emerging evidence on agriculture for improved nutrition, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has launched the Global Panel, an independent group of influential experts who will gather and examine the evidence, and provide leadership to the international community in developing global and country-level policies to tackle hunger and under-nutrition.
Other members of the Panel include Hon. Dr. Akin Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria, Jose Graziano de Silva, Director-General at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director of BRAC, Jane Karuku, President of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice-President and Chair of the CGIAR Fund Council, Mauricio Antonio Lopez, President of Embrapa, the Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research, Professor Srinath Reddy, President of Public Health Foundation of India and Hon. Rhoda Peace Tumisiime, Commissioner Agriculture and Rural Development at the African Union.
The Global Panel will be supported by the London International Development Centre (LIDC), a consortium of five Bloomsbury Colleges of the University of London, who will provide expert advice to the Panel and host its Secretariat. Present at the launch were several influential personalities including Mr. Bill Gates, co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ms Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom.
Source: Ghan [radioxyzonline.com]
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Chinese protesters demand aid for illegal miners
Protesters began to gather outside the county government office building at 10am, holding placards and banners with slogans such as "Violent crackdown against Chinese in Ghana, Chinese nationals have been robbed" and "Lack of action by the Chinese embassy in Ghana".
Thousands plan to travel to the capital of the autonomous region, Nanning, today to protest outside the regional government building.
A protester from the town of Mingliang said: "We are devastated these days whenever we receive long-distance calls from our relatives in Ghana. Thousands of them are now in danger of being robbed and attacked by local gangsters, robbers and even armed policemen."
Ghana’s immigration authorities have detained over 160 Chinese in a crackdown on illegal mining in the country.
Most of the illegal gold prospectors in Ghana are Chinese - an estimated 50,000 of them, with most from Shanglin County.
Francis Palmdeti, head of public affairs for the Immigration Service in Ghana, said some of those detained held residential permits that had expired, Bloomberg reported. "Repatriation will start once the migrants or the Chinese embassy pays for transportation costs," he said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing was liaising with the Ghanaian government and Chinese officials had visited and sent daily necessities and medical assistance to the detained, none of whom had been injured.
"We urged the authorities to stop Chinese citizens from being robbed and ensure their security and legal rights," Hong said.
The Chinese embassy would send officials on a fact-finding mission to the area, he added.
However, Shanglin county residents said several families had been told that their sons had been shot dead or severely injured since Sunday by armed robbers and gangsters. The Ghanaian government was not available for comment last night.
"From Sunday, I received at least 50 calls each day from Chinese nationals in Ghana for emergency help," said Su Zhenyu, secretary general of the Chinese Mining Association in Ghana. "According to the calls, at least five Chinese nationals have been shot dead in Kumasi, Obuasi and Dunkwa in the Ashanti Region of Ghana."
He said it was difficult to keep a record of the toll because many Chinese mine workers were hiding in forests and local villages and had lost contact with their compatriots. Su said many Chinese wanted to return home, but they needed help from the central government to do so.
"There are too many robberies on those roads between Ghana's capital and mining sites," he said. "Many of the Chinese have been robbed, beaten and even shot on the way to the airport.
"Local gangsters target everyone who looks Asian, no matter whether you are a mine worker or own a restaurant."
A protester from Mingliang said: "More than half of the young men from Mingliang are in Ghana now. Fourteen male family members of mine are there. We're sorry we sent them to Ghana for illegal mining. But we beg the central government to help bring them home."
Meanwhile, Chinese demonstrators today besieged the Ghana embassy in Beijing protesting the arrest of their compatriots.
Source: Graphic Online
The story of surveillance on screen
The story of Edward Snowden - the intelligence contractor who leaked information about secret government surveillance programmes - has the makings of a great film. Hollywood has long found compelling tales in stories of wiretapping, spying and rogue agents.
Although there have been films about the powerful spying on and controlling those without power since films have existed - think Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times in 1936 and Metropolis in 1927 - they have been prevalent since the 1970s.
"It's very much post-Vietnam, post-Pentagon papers, that suspicion of the national security state," says Michael Berube, director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Penn State University.
But what kind of story Snowden's will be has yet to be determined.
Perhaps it begins with our hero in front of a computer. Conventionally handsome, save for the heavy-rimmed glasses that are shorthand for "geek", his fingers fly over the keyboard until he finds something he shouldn't. Everything changes. Our hero befriends an outside-the-establishment reporter. He races through Hong Kong, trying to avoid the people out to get him for exposing the truth, one man against the machine.
Or it begins with a villain. Cast in a sickly glow from the light of his computer screen, his lightening-fast fingers expose secret after secret, and soon information designed to keep America safe - information the villain swore to protect - is exposed to the entire world, including terror networks. Then it's up to a plucky team of US agents to track him through Asia before he can do more damage.
Both these film treatments have popular Hollywood precedents. Both reflect conflicted attitudes about the role of surveillance in modern society.
"On the one hand, you have government seen as the power that is surveilling people inappropriately," says Vincent Casaregola, incoming director of film studies at Saint Louis University.
"Other times it's the stalker or the criminal, and it's the power of government and police to surveil that gives them the power to catch the criminal. It's a mixed bag."
Films such as Minority Report and Gattica, where the protagonist is trapped and freedoms are limited by an all-powerful and all-knowing government, tap into a primitive fear, says Casaregola.
"Everyone knows they are potentially a victim of predation. When you are out in the open and can be seen, you know there is something in the bushes that might be watching you.
"Though we want to deny it, we do want to be on the viewing end. We want to know what other people don't know."
After all, along with fears of being stalked comes the desire to be the one in the bushes, doing the stalking. That is seen in films such as:
- Zero Dark Thirty - hi-tech surveillance is used to track down Osama Bin Laden
- Hackers - young computer hackers try to break into company and government databases in the name of freedom
- Sneakers - a team of hackers tracks down a code-breaking machine, rescues it from corporate and government interests, and uses it to bankrupt certain organisations in favour of pet causes.
While the use of torture and the depiction of terrorism has shifted tremendously in films since 9/11, says Berube, the depiction of state-sponsored surveillance has remained consistent for decades, on display in films like THX 1138 (1971) and Enemy of the State (1998).
"This has been a pervasive fear and anxiety, long before the Patriot Act, long before this latest news," says Berube.
"In some ways it's almost like the realisation of fears you already had."
And while the technology has changed, some of the messages remain the same.
"There's always this longing for a simpler time," says Carolyn Guertin of the Trans Art Institute in Berlin.
"They're fairy tales or fables that try to escape contemporary reality."
Moviegoers may line up to buy tickets for these fables, but they're less idealistic in real life. Witness a recent survey which finds that 56% of Americans find the NSA's actions acceptable.
Indeed, some films - such as David Wittenberg's Code 46 - decry the authoritarian controls of a surveillance state while also recognising that in some cases, the state knows best.
In that film, two lovers are punished for violating government rules about who can travel and who can engage in physical relationships. But these rules prove to be protective. A man given false papers so he can travel to do research dies from a disease, his susceptibility to which prevented his official clearance in the first place.
"You try to buck the system and the person you're doing the favour for ends up dead," says Berube.
That has some film theorists arguing that movies need to do a better job not just telling stories about surveillance, but examining what it means to be watched - and what we lose when we are.
"These film are about surveillance falling into the wrong hands or the right hands, but there's never an examination of what it does to people and what the costs are," says Lance Duerfahrd, a professor of English at Purdue University.
"What is privacy and what is private? Why is privacy a crucial space that needs to be defended? There's no indication of one's inner or private world. It's taken for granted and being compromised, and the film goes on from there."
Still, he predicts that the Edward Snowden story - possibly starring Bradley Cooper? - will someday make its way to a theatre near you.
Source: BBC
Ghana marks Child Labour Day
Every year, on June 12, the World Day Against Child Labour is observed to raise awareness of the plight of child labourers worldwide.
To combat child labour around the world, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) initiated the World Day against Child Labour in 2012.
Ghana’s efforts have been hampered by the lack of coordination among key stakeholders.
It is against this background that a Minister of State in charge of Social and Allied Institution, Madam Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah, has called on stakeholders to intensify the crusade against child labour.
She suggested that they should deepen their engagement by offering better protection for the rights of children and redouble their efforts to quicken the pace of the implementation of the National Plan of Action (NPA).
Speaking to the Daily Graphic ahead of World Day against Child Labour, Madam Ghansah said though Ghana had been commended as being among the countries leading the way in the elimination of child labour in the world, “ we still have children in the fishing, mining and cocoa growing communities involved in the practice.”
Madam Ghansah, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ada, said it was disheartening to see children of school age selling all kinds of items, often under the scorching sun and in the rain.
Story: Dominic Moses Awiah [graphiconline.com.gh]
Errors were not corrected before declaration – Afari Gyan
Dr. Afari Gyan conceded to this fact on the fourth day of his cross examination by lead witness of the petitioners, Counsel Philip Addison.
In cross examining the EC Chairman, the lead counsel of the petitioners handed Dr. Afari Gyan thirty (30) pink sheets on which incidents of voting without verification occurred at those polling stations.
As part of the sections of the pink sheet is the ballot accounting section which, among others, requires the presiding officer to indicate the number of ballot papers issued to voters on the polling station register (C1) and the number of voters out of this number who voted without being verified by the use of the biometric verification device (C3) (C3 states: What is the number of ballots issued to voters verified by the use of Form 1C (but not by the use of BVD)).
When confronted with the pink sheets on which part of the voters at the particular polling stations were recorded to have voted without being verified, Dr. Afari Gyan’s initial explanation was that the C1 and C3 sections ought to be summed up to find the total number of people who were given ballots at the polling station.
However, this was sharply countered by Counsel Philip Addison who indicated to the witness that that would lead to double counting as the number of persons who voted without being verified were also on the polling station register and thus included in the C1 section. The explanation given by Counsel Philip Addison was supported by Justice Baffoe Bonnie and Justice Dotse.
However, Dr. Afari Gyan further explained that the numbers indicated in the C3 sections were not on the voters’ register and that they should be taken separately from the entries made in the C1 sections.
When pushed further, Dr. Afari Gyan shifted his position and concluded that all such entries in the C3 part of the pink sheet arose out of errors and that the entries should not have been placed at the C3 section.
This reasoning by Dr. Afari Gyan prompted Justice Baffoe Bonnie to inquire from the EC Boss where those entries should have been placed if it should not have been entered in the C3 section as the entries in the C3 section were completely different from all other numbers filled in on the pink sheets and thus couldn’t be said to be trans-positional errors. Dr. Afari Gyan, as usual, failed to also indicate where in his view those entries should have been entered.
Indeed, Dr. Afari Gyan proceeded to state that the whole Pink Sheet and especially the ballot accounting section was designed in error.
Counsel Philip Addison inquired from Dr. Afari Gyan if the Commission and himself as returning officer for the Presidential elections corrected/rectified the errors before the declaration was made especially as the EC Boss throughout his evidence in chief and cross examination had blamed all the irregularities on the face of the pink sheets on errors which arose in the elections.
Dr. Afari Gyan in answering stated that not a single error was corrected before he made the declaration and that he did not do that because he had no access to any pink sheet.
Source: NPP Communications
Asantehene’s Press Secretary is dead
Mr. Antwi Bosiako is said to have died on Tuesday morning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital after a short illness.
The son of the deceased who confirmed the news to Nhyira FM’s Kofi Asante said he was admitted at the hospital last week Tuesday but his condition deteriorated today.
Mr. John Oduro said his father had a brief discussion this morning with some family members who visited him, but was pronounced dead shortly after that.
Mr. Bosiako until his death served as Media Relations Officer at Manhyia for 15 years after he resigned from the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
He was 74.
Source: Ghana [Nhyira Fm]
5 accused of embezzling over Ghc2m at Metro Mass Transit
As a result, the regional manager and his accomplices have been dismissed.
The workers are dissatisfied with the action and are instead demanding their arrest and prosecution.
According to sources, the dismissed officials were asked to refund only GH¢520,000 of the amount, with no information on how the remaining would be retrieved.
The other officials are the accountant, Mr Stephen Ayisi; the auditor, Mr Dominic Mensah; the transport officer, Rev Abraham Ogo, and the traffic supervisor, Mr Richard Baffoe Antwi.
They are alleged to have forged the serial numbers of old receipts and used them for the deals.
Reports from other regional offices of the company indicate widespread malpractices that threaten the survival of the MMT. It is suggested that company faces imminent collapse if the government and other shareholders do not intervene to stop the dissipation of company funds by managers and other officials.
Even though not clearly stated, the Ministry of Transport's decision, last week, to remove Mr Maxwell Awuku from office as the Managing Director of the company was not unrelated to the challenges facing the company.
His deputy, Mr Martin Afram, has also been asked to report at the Ministry of Transport to be re-assigned.
The sources said the officers in the Western Region, were also said to have introduced several ghost names on the company’s payroll, which raked in huge amounts of money which they pocketed.
An official of the company, who was part of the auditing and investigations team, told the Daily Graphic that the Western Regional office was financially distressed as a result of the deal, with more than 20 of the company’s buses grounded.
One of the documents made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that a church at Elubo, had contracted the MMT to release 10 buses for a crusade in Accra for three days on July 20, 2012 at a cost of GH¢9,200.
Interestingly, only one Jonckheere bus, with registration number AW 460-09, appeared on the request form, with the driver’s name given as I.K. Bondzie.
A bus inspector, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, said the receipt number 1153816 entered on the request form was forged, explaining that it was an old receipt number.
The GH¢9,200 paid, according to the audit, was under-invoiced, as the amount for the period should have been about GH¢16,000.
The audit official said that amount and others from several other deals were not credited to the MMT’s account.
That aside, many buses that were used for election duties in the northern part of the region by the security agencies who supervised the electoral process from December 5 to 9, 2012 were paid for but not credited to the company.
According to the audit, requests were made by political parties, schools and churches for excursions and other functions which were also not entered in the books of the company.
Reacting to the report, the Media Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Transport, Mr Egypt Kudoto, confirmed that the issue had come to the attention of the ministry.
He, however, explained that although there had been financial irregularities, the amount involved in respect of that case was GH¢9,200.
Mr Kudoto said most of the institutions had placed monitoring and investigative mechanisms in place to address some of those challenges and, therefore, did not have to refer such matters to the ministry.
According to him, it was after the five officials had been dismissed that the Western Regional Manager went to the ministry to verbally protest.
He, however, said the minister asked the manager to put the protest into writing, but “as we speak now he has still not submitted it”.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Ministry of Transport said in line with a directive from the Presidency, it had appointed Mr Noble Appiah as the new Managing Director of the MMT.
Mr Appiah takes over from Mr Awuku.
Until his appointment, Mr Appiah was the Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).
Mr John Awuku Dzuazah has been appointed the new Deputy Managing Director of the MMT.
All the appointments take effect from June 17, 2013.
The Ministry of Transport expressed its appreciation to the two men for their contribution to the company in the last four years.
Source: Ghana [Daily Graphic]
Ash Town shooting gang leader arrested
The suspect, aka Mark Fuss, 27, was picked up by the Accra Police Command at his hideout at McCarthy Hills at 10 p.m. on Sunday following a tip-off.
In May this year, two persons, Kwadwo Asamoah, aka “Gawusu”, and Victor Ocrah were shot and killed by unknown assailants. Asamoah did not die on the spot but was later butchered by some unknown persons who wielded guns and machetes.
Ocrah, who was standing close to the crime scene, was hit by a stray bullet fired by the attackers of Gawusu, killing him as well.
According to the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, Gibril bolted after the incident.
Gibril and Asamoah were purported to be at “war” and in a show of power over who was the Overlord of Ashanti New Town and Ebrom, both in Kumasi.
In November 2012, Gibril was said to have been attacked and shot in the thigh by Asamoah. Asamoah was said to have fled the scene of the accident, thinking Gibril was dead.
But Gibril survived the attack and recovered after seeking treatment for the wounds he had sustained from the shots fired by Asamoah.
According to Mr Yohuno, Gibril allegedly re-organised himself and led a team of assailants who went to shoot and kill Asamoah.
In the process, Gibril and his accomplices allegedly killed Ocrah.
During interrogation, Mr Yohuno said Gibril admitted to have had confrontation with Asamoah.
He said Gibril would be handed over to the Ashanti Regional Police Command for further investigations and action.
Source: Ghana [Daily Graphic]
US 'fire experts' to arrive in Ghana today
President Mahama first gave hint of the invitation of the US experts last week when he visited the Makola number two market which was gutted by fire.
Speaking to the media at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Felix Kwakye Ofosu said the team in collaboration with their Ghanaian counterpart will swing into action as soon as they arrive.
“I am happy to announce that the team will arrive today from the USA and it is expected that once they arrive they will move in quickly to liaise with their Ghanaian counterparts to launch a detailed investigation into the recent fire outbreaks”.
Felixs Ofosu Kwakye added that “Government attaches a lot of importance to this investigation and is committed to ensuring that we find out the causes and take steps to prevent their recurrence”.
Source:Ghana [radioxyzonline.com]
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Nelson Mandela faces fourth day in Pretoria hospital
The office of President Jacob Zuma says the 94-year-old remains in a serious but stable condition.
Relatives, including his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, visited the ailing former leader on Monday.
He has been in intensive care since he was was admitted to hospital on Saturday, for the third time this year.
In December, Mr Mandela spent 18 days undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones.
Prayers
The foundation led by retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu has issued a statement describing Mr Mandela as an "extraordinary gift".
"As the beloved father of our nation, Nelson Mandela once again endures the ravages of time in hospital," the foundation said.
"Our prayers are for his comfort and his dignity."
There are first signs that his family may have begun to gather at his bedside, the BBC's Andrew Harding, in Pretoria, reports.
On Monday, Mr Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, visited him. His grand-daughters have also been coming and going, our correspondent says.
The leader's eldest daughter, Zenani Mandela-Dlamini, has returned to South Africa from Argentina, where she is the ambassador, to visit her father.
His wife, Graca Machel, cancelled a scheduled appearance in London on Saturday to remain at her husband's bedside.
In an earlier statement, the government said: "President Jacob Zuma reiterates his call for South Africa to pray for Madiba and the family during this time." Madiba is Mr Mandela's clan name.
Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj also denied reports that visitors were being barred from seeing Mr Mandela.
He said: "The reality is that the normal procedures when a patient is under intensive care are applying from the medical side.
"When a person is in intensive care the doctors only allow some very close people to be there."
The presidency also said Mr Mandela had been ill for some days at his Johannesburg home, with a recurrence of his long-standing lung problems.
He was admitted to hospital after his condition worsened at 01:30 on Saturday (23:30 GMT Friday).
Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999.
He was previously imprisoned for 27 years, and is believed to have suffered damaged lungs while working in a prison quarry.
He contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while being held in jail on the windswept Robben Island.
He retired from public life in 2004 and has been rarely seen in public since.
BBC
Election petition must “heal” Ghana - Abu Sakara
The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party, CPP, says Ghana must use the ongoing election petition to “heal” the nation.“Whichever way the decision of the Supreme Court goes, Ghanaians must stand firmly together as one nation to embrace a fragile democracy and heal the wounds of a battered nation”, Dr. Abu Sakara Forster urged.
He warned that: “We cannot and must not allow the nation to descend into the bottomless abyss of dissent, disobedience and destructive conduct”.
He advised that: “We must reflect calmly and objectively on our choices to enable us avoid the path of destruction and cling to the path of progress with a renewed commitment to national unity. In the wise words of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, we must stop, look and listen! We have arrived at a crossroad! Which way Ghana?”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, June 11, 2013, Dr. Abu Sakara said he hopes the Court case ends soon, adding that: “Its conclusion can also have only one of two possible outcomes: either carry on to live with the President we have now, or we prepare ourselves for another election of a sort yet to be determined”.
“In either case we must warn ourselves to be more careful in future and take some sensible measures to reform our electoral process and acquaint ourselves properly with its complex procedures, which have many grey areas for use of good judgment”, he counseled.
The Agriculture Economist noted that: “As we reflect upon the choices we must make, we need to understand why certain issues seem to arouse so much passion in our society. We must also learn how to deal with these issues within reasonable bounds”.
He observed that: “The heady days of national fevour of the immediate post colonial period saw an unprecedented feeling of nationhood with a shared vision and common purpose. This state of affairs was however short lived, because the political differences persisted and spilled over beyond reasonable bounds culminating in the first “coup d’ etat” in February 1966. The rest is history but the reasons for our deep divisions that led to social and political turmoil remain the same (fundamental political differences that were not resolved within reasonable bounds and legitimate means)”.
According to him, the current election petition is an opportunity to “resolve our differences legitimately and within reasonable bounds for the sake of our common good. This court case (election petition) gives us one more try to get it right”.
“It is an opportunity to leave behind us the baggage of the past that has so sharply polarised our nation. Each and every one of us, politicians, judges, supporters and counselors have a duty to ensure that this time we get it right”.
He says “to pass the test, we must hand over to the next generation a nation in tranquility and harmony”.
Dr. Sakara cautions that: “How we handle the aftermath of this court case will send a clear signal of our intent whether by acts of commission or omission. My appeal is to heal the nation and bind the wounds within our society. Let us all cooperate to proactively determine that we shall march forward on the path of progress, peace and prosperity”.
He noted that: “Those who claim that the court case has divided the nation have only now woken up, very late, to a pre-existing condition of the nation long before this election began. Right from our beginnings as a nation state our country has been sharply polarized and divided by one decision or another”.
Source: Ghana [radioxyzonline.com]
Don't arrest us; we'll go - illegal Chinese miners tell GIS
Their decision to return home stems from a clampdown on illegal mining activities by the authorities.
In response to their request, the GIS has scheduled to screen them to confirm their nationalities before allowing the Chinese Embassy to arrange for their departure from Ghana.
The Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, Mr Francis Palmdeti, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the Chinese were now being kept at immigration detention centres.
He said the screening process would enable the GIS to establish how the Chinese entered the country and where they carried out their illegal mining activities.
According to Mr Palmdeti, the Chinese first expressed their intention to return home to the Chinese Embassy, which arranged to convey them to the GIS for the necessary screening and documentation.
Illegal mining activities have intensified lately, resulting in considerable damage to the environment and some water bodies. Occasional clashes between some illegal Chinese miners and Ghanaians have led to the death of some Ghanaians.
Recently, two Ghanaians were allegedly shot dead by illegal Chinese miners over a disputed land at Mamiriwa in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
Following the incident, the police picked up two Chinese for interrogation.
The suspects, Li Wen Zhong and Li Shi Li, were said to be among a group of 14 illegal miners who opened fire on the defenceless Ghanaians, numbering 10, killing the two on the spot and critically injuring two others.
The other 12 Chinese suspects are said to be on the run.
It is estimated that 1,000 Chinese are engaged in illegal mining in the Ashanti Region alone.
In July 2012, violence erupted at an illegal goldmine at Manso-Nsiena in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region when some illegal Chinese miners went on the offensive with gunfire to ward off anti-illegal mining protests by the members of the community.
Not even the presence of the immediate overlord of the area, the Otumfuo’s Werempemhene, Nana Opia Mensah II, could make the Chinese stop firing, forcing three young men from the community to also fire back.
There were no casualties, but the firing went on for about 30 minutes before armed policemen arrived from Manso Nkwanta to save the situation from deteriorating.
Six groups of illegal Chinese miners were, as of that time, operating at Manso-Nsiena, a predominantly farming community of about 1,000 inhabitants.
Mr Palmdeti said some other Chinese had been detained, saying they had not expressed the willingness to return home.
He explained that that category would have to be documented separately to establish who they were in order to grant them bail, stressing that the GIS had intensified its effort at enforcing the regulation that debarred foreigners from participating in small-scale mining.
“We have to ensure that people engage in the business legitimately because small-scale mining is meant for Ghanaians only,” he said.
The Chinese government has already given its backing to the Government of Ghana to sanction Chinese companies and individuals whose actions contravened the laws and welfare of the citizens of their host country.
On June 8, 2013, about 60 foreigners were arrested for allegedly indulging in gold mining at Kyebi and in some parts of the Western Region.
Mr Palmdeti said their respective embassies had been invited to confirm their true nationalities and provide them with travel documents to return to their home countries.
President John Mahama, in April this year, inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Illegal Mining.
The task force is co-ordinating the work of the operations team, which includes staff of the National Security Council Secretariat, the GIS, personnel of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces.
The team has the mandate to arrest and ensure the prosecution of all who are engaged in illegal mining.
Source: Ghana [Daily Graphic]