The Police Administration has introduced a badge of authority for all police personnel across the country. This is to facilitate easy identification of the police and also to prevent private security personnel from mimicking the police. The silver badge has numbers that are peculiar to individual police personnel to enable the Police Administration to easily identify officers who would misconduct themselves while on duty. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Reverend Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, who made this known, said the police administration had intensified its image-cleansing exercise to elicit more confidence and respect from major stakeholders, who were members of the public. Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, who is the Director-General of the Police Public Affairs Department, said the administration had devised strategies to also boost the morale of the personnel. He said the recent launch of a bus shuttle service to convey police personnel from their homes to their various stations or duty posts was a measure to boost their morale. He said the shuttle service would be extended to all districts and units of the police service to ensure that personnel got to work on time. Formations Nenyi Ampah-Bennin said the Police Administration had restructured the police service into three major formations —  Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) and the Patrol Department — in conformity with policing systems in the world. He said the three major departments would be institutionalised and would become the hub of policing duties. Preventive policing The Director-General of Police Public Affairs said this year, the service would concentrate more on the preventive aspect of policing, adding that more personnel would be deployed on the roads to ensure compliance with road traffic regulations, to reduce road accidents. He said new strategies had also been developed to reduce crime.  

  The Sunyani police have launched an investigation into the mysterious deaths of a 43-year-old woman, Abenaa Pomaa, and her 10-year-old daughter, Blessing Oppong, at Ohene-Djan, a suburb of Abesim in the Sunyani Municipality. The police found the bodies of the two in a pool of blood in their room last Sunday. Their bodies have been deposited at the Wenchi Methodist Hospital mortuary awaiting autopsy. The Sunyani Municipal Crime Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kingsley Wiredu, who briefed the Daily Graphic, said deep cuts were found on the throats of the two bodies when they were retrieved. Suspicion He said a co-tenant, Kwabena Yaw, told the police that Pomaa and her daughter had not been seen in the house since  last Thursday. ASP Wiredu said Yaw informed the police that the suspicion of the tenants were aroused as a result of an offensive smell as well as flies that emanated from the room of the deceased on Sunday . He said after a report had been made to the police, they went to the house and broke into the room, only to find the bloated bodies of Pomaa and her daughter wearing only panties, lying in supine positions in a pool of blood. ASP Wiredu said the police suspected foul play and would go all out to unravel the mystery behind the deaths and bring the perpetrators to book. He called on residents in the area who had any knowledge about the matter to hint the police to ensure that those who committed the crime were arrested for prosecution. Pomaa was said to be a native of Dormaa Ahenkro. Her daughter was a pupil of the Excel International School at Ohene Djan.  

  A 19-year-old unemployed man resident at Apatrapa in Kumasi, who stole money belonging to a reverend minister to fete his friends, has been sentenced to 24 months with hard labour. The convict, Cosmos Kwasi Apiedu, was also ordered by the Kumasi Circuit to refund GH¢650 out of the GH¢1,500 which he used to buy drinks for his friends. Apiedu pleaded guilty to one count of stealing and was convicted on his own plea. He stole the GH¢1,500.00 from the letter compartment of the car of Rev. Fr Peter Opoku Ware, the priest in charge of St Peter’s Catholic Church at Apatrapa, who was by then at a parish meeting. The court, presided over by Mr D. W. P. Amedior, sentenced Apiedu  and ordered him to refund the GH¢650.00 to the complainant. Facts Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Daniel Opoku told the court that on December 30, 2013,  Fr. Opoku–Ware put the money in the letter compartment of his car with the intention of paying same to a welder for a metal gate for the church. However, before he could do that, he was called to a meeting. Inspector Opoku said while there, Fr. Opoku–Ware asked one of his errand boys to pick something from the car and opened it with a remote device but forgot to lock it. Cosmos, therefore, sneaked into the car and stole the money. He said after the meeting, Fr. Opoku–Ware went for the money but realised that it was missing. He said through the priest’s own investigation, he arrested Apiedu, who admitted having stolen the money and spending it on drinks with his friends. The police said GH¢850.00 was retrieved from the convict at the time of his arrest.  

  The Police in Kumasi have arrested three suspected armed robbers for various crimes committed in Ashanti Region. They include 21-year-old Nicholas Gyapong, alias “Spaculus” of the Dompoase Senior High School and two other unemployed aged 26 and 32. The Senior Prefect of the school, Daniel Owusu also known as “Shaka”, alleged to be leader of the Gang, is now at large. Bekwai Divisional Police Commander, ASP Ohwiahene Acheampong, according to Myjoyonline, said the suspects were picked up after carrying out three robbery operations at some mining companies in Kumasi. ASP Acheampong said in December last year the gang robbed the Shong Gong Mining Company at Awiankwanta on the Obuasi road. They stole mobile phones, machine accessories, and an amount of GH¢94,000. He said the police upon a tip-off last week arrested the two unemployed suspects from their hid out around Obuasi and further investigations led them to pick up a final year student of Dompoase SHS, Nicholas Gyapong from the school. Headmaster of Dompoase Senior High School, Mr. Opoku Asamoah admitted the two are students of the school but is surprised at their conduct.Mr. Asamoah said the school authorities are collaborating with the police for the law to take its cause.  

  A 34-year-old woman collapsed and died moments after she allegedly had a scuffle with her husband. According to neighbours, Juliet Tiwaa had persistently accused her husband of cheating on her.They said, on Thursday, January 2, 2014, Juliet confronted and tried to prevent her husband from going out in the night but collapsed and died moments later.    Exchange of words  Neighbours who spoke to the Daily Graphic said the couple, who lived with their two children at Manhean, near Ablekuma in Accra,  had been experiencing marital challenges and her husband on a number of occasions had sent his wife out of their house.  A tenant in the house, told the Daily Graphic that at about 7 pm on Thursday, she heard the couple exchanging words in their room and later, saw Juliet following her husband out of the house, apparently to prevent him from going out. Collapsing at the roadside  Another eyewitness who spoke to the Daily Graphic said he saw Juliet collapsing at the roadside a few minutes after she was seen with her husband who was fixing the buttons on his shirt, while Juliet held onto it. In the course of the struggle between the two, the eyewitness said, Juliet collapsed and onlookers tried to resuscitate her with water. The husband left the scene as the woman lay motionless and she was rushed home where neighbours continued to revive her.  The tenant said after pouring cold water on her and calling her name several times, she regained consciousness.  “When she responded and opened her eyes, she immediately asked for the whereabouts of her husband,” added the tenant. According to the tenant, when Juliet was informed that her husband was at the lorry station, she asked a young woman in the house to go and call him. Fainting for the second time  Minutes later, the young woman returned to inform Juliet that her husband had boarded a vehicle. Juliet fainted again after which all efforts to resuscitate her failed. Later when her husband was called on phone and informed about what had happened to Juliet, he returned to the house where family members of the deceased and some residents in the area tried to beat him up, blaming him for being the cause of the death of Juliet who is believed to have had a heart failure. The Odorkor District Police confirmed the incident and said the body had been sent to the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy, while the husband had been detained by the police to prevent him from being lynched, while investigations continue.  

  The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has disclosed that since the inception of the second Ghana Land Administration Project from  August 2011 to date,19,985 titles to land have so far been registered with the appropriate authorities. Out of the number, 11, 225 were men with 4,124 being women while 1,899 were institutions.  This was contained in a keynote address at a stakeholder consultation on land with chiefs and queens in the Upper West Region by the second Land Administration Project (LAP-2) in Wa. The minister said that was encouraging, especially with the fact that more women were increasingly becoming aware of the need to register their title to land adding that one cardinal way of preventing land disputes was for land owners and lease holders to register their property. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said the Land Administration Project under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, was collaborating with the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (G-CAP) towards the reduction and alleviation of poverty in the northern parts of the country as the area had the potential of producing more food for local consumption and export. For his part, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Avea Nsoh, urged the traditional authorities in the region to jealously guard against the temptation to sell or release large tracts of land to investors and land speculators with tantalising funds.  He advised them that they should be guided at all times that they hold the land in trust of the people of today and the majority yet unborn.  The Senior Officer of LAP-2, Mr Kofi Abakah Blankson, explained to the participants that the project had been designed to reduce the time and cost in land transactions, reduce and or prevent the numerous land cases pending in the courts, decentralise land administration and ensure an efficient and sustainable land administration for the country.  The Social Development and Gender Specialist for LAP-2, Mrs Sarah Antwi-Boasiako, called on the queens to bring their wisdom to bear on the management of land in their traditional areas and to ensure transparency and prudence in all land transactions. She said LAP-2 considered the active role and involvement of women in land administration as a pre-requisite for any meaningful land reform in the country as women constituted over 70 per cent of the agricultural workforce feeding the country.  

  Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah­-Arthur has expressed the government’s resolve to build an integrated transport system that would facilitate the evacuation of goods from Ghana to inland countries of West Africa. He explained that the system would include the expansion of the country’s ports, rehabilitation and expansion of the railway network and the development of inland ports. Speaking during a courtesy call on him by The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Hans Docter, at the Flagstaff House yesterday, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the government was in the process of engaging the various stakeholders, both home and abroad, to raise the needed funds for the project. Appeal The Vice-President appealed to The Netherlands Government to share its experiences on the expansion of its ports, especially the famous Rotterdam Port  with Ghana. Shell and Vitol, two oil companies, have their origins in the Netherlands for which reason Mr Amissah-Arthur indicated that being in the oil business for more than a century was an opportunity for the Netherlands to support Ghana in that sector. Ghana-Netherlands co-operation Mr Docter said the Dutch Government was willing to support Ghana to develop a robust transport system, explaining that some Ghanaians were invited to the Netherlands for the purpose of studying port management and finding possible areas of collaboration between the two countries. He added that it was the desire of the Dutch Government to establish a training school for port management in Ghana to train professionals to help remedy the bottlenecks at the country’s ports. Mr Docter also said he was willing to share the Netherlands expertise in fishing and aquaculture with Ghana. Writer’s email: [email protected]  

  A suspected robber on the police wanted list for the past five years has been arrested with two other accomplices. The suspect was arrested after exchanging gun shots with security officers dispatched to apprehend him. Samiru Salifu, a 27-year-old unemployed, had been on the police wanted list for allegedly engaging in robbery at residential areas, filling stations, as well as other violent crimes. The two accomplices are a 59-year-old Moses Makini Binipom and his brother, Ibrahim Isaka,32, who are also unemployed. Items retrieved from the suspects included two pump action guns, a pistol, a long dagger, 60 rounds of pistol pellets, six rounds of  AA cartridges and three mobile phones. Exchange of guns    Suspect Samiru Salifu, who sustained gunshot wounds during the shootout with the police, is also a land guard at the centre of a number of disputed land cases. Odorkor District Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Emmanuel Osei Agbogah,  said the suspect was arrested on Thursday, January 2, 2014 from his hideout at Ablekuma Fanmilk in Accra on a tip-off.  He said on that fateful Thursday, at about 3 a.m, the police had information that Samiru had taken two ladies hostage at Olebu in Accra. “When the police patrol team got there, he started firing indiscriminately and the police returned the fire. In the process, he sustained gunshot wounds but managed to escape,” said Mr Agbogah. At 6 a.m. the same day, the Odorkor Crime Officer said the police had information that the suspect was hiding at Ablekuma Fanmilk “so a team was dispatched to effect his arrest.” Weapons buried  During interrogation, Samiru was said to have confessed that he was the one behind some violent crimes and robberies, and mentioned the names of his accomplices, some of whom the police are holding on to as efforts are being made to apprehend them.  “He also said he had weapons including pump action guns, a pistol, which he had given to Ibrahim to bury,” said Mr Agbogah. An intensive search was mounted for Ibrahim Isaka who was later arrested “and he led the police to a bush to retrieve the weapons which had been buried.” Ibrahim Isaka told the police that he had exchanged one of the pump action guns for a piece of land from Moses Binipon who was arrested but said he had sent the weapon to Dambai in the Volta Region. Victims DSP Agbogah said the weapon had been retrieved and that six victims had since been helping the police with investigations. Among the victims was a man who has had one of his legs amputated as a result of gunshot wounds he sustained from Samiru, one with an infected wound from the long dagger and another whose right hand had been slashed off. They all told the police Samiru carried out his operations at gun-point and sometimes amidst gunshots. The Odorkor crime officer said Samiru and the two suspects would be put before court, while the police pursued the other suspects who had been mentioned.  

  Squatters in the various markets throughout the country face ejection as part of measures to curb the perennial fire outbreaks in the markets. The move, to be championed by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), with the support of local government authorities, is also to put an end to the domestic activities of the squatters, particularly cooking, which put the market at high risk of fire outbreaks. According to the Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Billy Anaglate, most of the fire incidents that occurred at the markets last year were due to fires that were left unquenched after cooking.   Last year  Last year, there was widespread fire outbreaks at markets in Accra and Kumasi. Notable among them were the Kantamanto, Kumasi Central, Dome, Makola Number Two, Makola Shopping Mall and Abuja markets.   Investigations by the GNFS concluded that most of the fires were caused by  illegal electrical connections, cooking and, congestion in the markets and overaged wiring.  Other measures Mr Anaglate said local authorities were being encouraged to provide containers to facilitate the establishment of temporary fire posts at the various markets to monitor activities in the markets daily.   He said the GNFS would also engage the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to make sure that overaged wires and  illegal connections at the markets were removed. Structures in the alleys of the markets would be cleared, he said, and added that the congested alleys made it difficult for fire men to go into the markets during fire outbreaks. Furthermore, Mr Anaglate said, the GNFS would see to it that the markets had early fire detectors and fire-fighting facilities with provision of water hydrants by the Ghana Water Company. He said the GNFS would also conduct fire safety audits on all government premises and industries.  

  Six people, including three junior high school (JHS) students, have been busted for stealing 24 laptops belonging to the Nkwantanang 7 and 8 Junior High School (JHS) at Madina, Accra, The laptops were supplied to the school under the government’s one laptop per child project . Five of the laptops have been retrieved. Teenagers  The JHS students in the custody of the Accra Regional Command are Latif Sawyerr, Abraham Aboagye and Douglas Kofi Ansah, all aged 17.  The other three are Ibrahim Mutala, alias Baba, 20; Atta Sarpong Senior and Atta Sarpong Junior, twins aged 19.  Another suspect, whose name was only given as Rakibu, is at large.  The laptops, which were in the computer laboratory of the school, were reported missing on November 18, 2013. Police investigation led to the arrest of three JHS students of a sister school, Madina ‘I’ JHS, in the same vicinity, who, upon interrogation, mentioned three other accomplices. Kumasi police  The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the twins, Atta Sarpong Senior and Atta Sarpong Junior, fled to their home town when they heard the three JHS students had been arrested by the police. The police in Kumasi, Mr Yohuno said, were alerted, who then traced the twins to their home town, Asowase, near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, where they were arrested. The twins allegedly confessed to the crime of burglary and assisted the police to arrest Mutala, who claimed to be an old student of Madina ‘1’ JHS. During interrogation, Mutala told the police that the idea to steal the laptops was hatched by the three JHS students, Sawyerr, Aboagye and Ansah, who got a spare key to the computer laboratory from one of the pupils of the Nkwantanang ‘7’ and ‘8’ JHS. Taxi hijackers  In another development, two other suspects were paraded for attempting to hijack a taxi at Achimota. The two, Danjumah Abubakar, 25, and Mark Dzotopey, 24, hired the services of a taxi driver, Charles Osei , from Achimota to Amasaman but on reaching a filling station at Achimota the driver opted not to continue the journey, suspecting his passengers could be robbers. A scuffle ensued when the two suspects attempted to seize the taxi but a police patrol team came to the aid of the driver.  

    Three young men, including a 16-year-old junior high school pupil, who allegedly attempted to kill a JHS Three student for ritual purposes, have  been apprehended by the police. They attempted to kill their victim for ritual purposes to make them rich through what is popularly known as ‘Sakawa’. The three are Ebenezer Agyemang, 19, student of Ghana National Academy, Salu Mohammed Amiu, 23, a student of Elite College and the 16-year-old boy (name withheld), pupil of Adventist Preparatory School. Agyemang and the juvenile were said to have lured the victim, Agyei Dufie, a final-year student of Atonsu Presby Junior High School to the house of Amiu where her blood was expected to be drawn for ritual purposes to make them rich through ‘sakawa’. The three were last Tuesday arraigned before a Kumasi circuit court presided over by His Lordship, Emmanuel Amo-Yartey, a high court judge sitting with the additional responsibility of a circuit court judge, on charges of conspiracy to commit crime and attempted murder. Their pleas were not taken and Agyemang and Amiu were remanded into prison custody to reappear on January 21, while the juvenile was granted bail in the sum of GH¢10, 000 with a surety.  Presenting the facts, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Archibald K. Fandoh, told the court that on October 16, 2013, the juvenile and Agyemang were discussing how to become rich by ritual means with one Pupee. He said Pupee then introduced them to Amiu as a spiritualist who could help make them rich. According to the prosecutor, Amiu gave his phone number to the other two accused persons who later contacted him and he assured them of making them rich if they could produce human blood and a sum of GH¢60. Mr Fandoh said the two later provided the money, while awaiting the human blood, and on January 2, 2014, the two lured the victim to the house of Amiu for her blood to be drained for the rituals. Luck, however, eluded them as upon a tip off, they were arrested by some men within the community and handed over to the police for investigations. They were said to have admitted the offence in their caution statements to the police.    

  The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Mensah, has donated food items valued at GH¢10,000 to three institutions in the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) in Accra. The beneficiary institutions are the Osu Children’s Home, the Shelta for Abused Children and the New Horizon School. The items, comprising rice, oil, sugar, milk and canned fish, were bought with the proceeds from the sale of a book titled: In the Shadows of Politics, Reflections from My Mirror  authored by Mr Mensah, which was launched to mark his 50th birthday celebration.    According to Mr Mensah, his compassion for the underprivileged in the society is what drives him to help improve their situation anytime he has the means to do that. He expressed the hope that the items would significantly help the institutions to feed the children under their care with healthy meals. For her part,  the proprietor of the New Horizon School, Ms Joycelyn Adoboe, thanked the CEO for the kind gesture and appealed to other institutions to follow suit. She stated that many people perceived the New Horizon School as a school for the rich hence they did not need any help, but that was wrong as most of the children were sponsored by philanthropists while some stay at home due to lack of funds to pay their school fees. The MCE of LaDMA, Ms Rita Odoley Sowah, commended Mr Mensah for the foresight in deciding to use the proceeds of his book to help the needy in the society. She said there were a number of children out there who needed support, and called on others to try and touch the lives of underprivileged people.  

  Mamfe is a very strategic town in the Akuapem State. Mamfe is arguably the central town of the state as it connects all the 17 towns of Akuapem as well as having a very good road passing through it to Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital. The Mamfehene, Osabarima Ansah Sasraku II, doubles as the Kyidomhene of Akuapem. Mamfe has featured regularly in the government’s budget statements when reference is  made to the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina- Pantang-Mamfe road project. That portion of the road from Akuapem to Accra was in a deplorable state until the 2000s when the then government secured funding to fix the Pantang –Mamfe portion. The Tetteh Quarshie to Pantang portion is in an advanced state of rehabilitation now. Mamfe is thus a very popular town in Ghana in terms of geographical location and its role in traditional governance. In terms of festivals, Akuapems are noted for their Odwira and Ohum festivals. Although the Odwira festivals of the people of Akropong, Aburi and Larteh appears to be more popular, the Ohum festival also has its own attraction. The chiefs and people of Mamfe, Mampong and Tutu, among other towns on the Akuapem Ridge, celebrate Ohum. But the Ohum of Mamfe is of a unique character. The Mamfe Ohum is also the occasion for what has become known as ‘Asafosa’. In other words it is the occasion for symbolic  drinking, which also offers the opportunity for bonding, unity and peaceful co-existence..  This year’s festival will be climaxed with a durbar at Mamfe on Sunday, January 12, 2014, at 12 noon. ‘Asafosa 2014’ will be unique because for the first time in many years all the towns on the Ridge that make up the Akuapem State will participate in the event. And their chiefs will participate with pomp and circumstance. The Akwamuhene, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto,  and chiefs from  other parts of the country will grace the occasion. Every year, the people of Mamfe celebrate the Ohum festival in December or January depending on the calculation of the traditional calendar (Akwasidae). The Ohum festival is heralded by the performance of the “Asafo nsa” or “Asafosa” ceremony on Sunday, which is one week after the ninth Akwasidae in the year. Two Mondays preceding the ninth Akwasidae, that is three weeks before the start of the Ohum or the ‘Asafosa’ day, there is a ban placed on the town on drumming, dancing, noise-making and funerals. However, because at times this ban on noise-making coincides with the Christmas season, and so as not to impede church activities, the current chief, Osabarima Ansah Sasraku, and elders of the town have developed a system; anytime the Christmas festivities fall within the ban period, special rituals are performed to lift the ban till after the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over. The ban is then placed again so that churches in the town can worship without any hindrance. During this temporary lift of the ban, however, funerals are still not allowed to be performed. During the period of the three weeks of the ban, whether temporarily lifted or not, the chiefs, heads of clans and families are expected to settle any disputes or iron out any differences that might have arisen among the members of the domain during the year.  In pursuit of the belief in the adage that in unity lies strength, the leaders of the Asafo companies or ‘asafohenefo,’ led by the ‘osafohene supi,’ at the dawn of the Sunday after the Akwasidae, beat a drum called the ‘asabi kyene’ to signify the end of the ban on noise-making.  During the period of the ban, the whole town will be cleaned up in preparation for the Ohum festival.  It is during this time that the sons and daughters of the town who live outside of the town will come home to join their kinsmen for the Ohum celebration. In the afternoon, the ban on noise making is lifted. The ‘asafohenefo’ or leaders of the Asafo companies are then made to call a meeting of the chiefs, clan and family heads, with some members of the community serving as witnesses. Because it is expected that by this time, they would have settled all disputes within their families, and also among themselves, it is expected that there is peace and harmony within clans and families and among themselves. Each chief, clan and family head is made to bring a pot of palm wine. After calling them one after another to bring their pots of palm wine, the ‘asafohenefo’ pours these individual drinks into one big pot. After mixing them, the individual small pots are filled again with the drink and given back to their owners. Members of the community who wish to drink some of the palm wine can go and get some, a kind of community drinking, hence the name ‘asafosa.’ The significance of the mixing and drinking of the palm wine is that once you participate in the ceremony, it means you have no issue with anyone in the community or even if you do, you have abandoned any such issue — whether by yourself or by a representative of your clan or family head. If any of the clan or family heads or chiefs bears a grudge against anyone, then they cannot add their drink to be mixed with that person’s drink. The significance then is to unite the community so that it can pursue its agenda with a unity of purpose.  

  Organised labour is considering legal action to ensure transparency and accountability in the sale of Merchant Bank to Fortiz Private Equity Fund. Following its call for the suspension of the sale of Merchant Bank, organised labour wrote to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for engagement on the issue. But a statement signed by the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, Mr Kofi Asamoah, said organised labour found the “responses from both Bank of Ghana and SSNIT that they cannot engage with us because the matter is in court unsatisfactory and unacceptable”. It said the decision to go to court followed a meeting last Tuesday to discuss the sale of the bank where the meeting discussed extensively all options including legal action. Speaking to an Accra-based radio station, Joy FM, Mr Asamoah said although organised labour was part of the SSNIT board that approved  the sale of Merchant Bank, the fresh disclosures that organised labour has uncovered made it difficult for the TUC to stand by the sale. Although he would not disclose the details of the fresh evidence uncovered, Mr Asamoah stated that the information could reverse the sale of Merchant Bank. “We are not going to disclose the content of our information now but we have made plans to file a suit at the Accra Fast Track Court to reverse the sale because we think something went wrong,” he said.  According to him, the decision to head to court was also reinforced by the fact that both the Bank of Ghana and SSNIT were not ready to meet organised labour to discuss concerns raised against the sale.  

  A police investigator Wednesday told the Accra Fast Track High Court that five institutions failed to conduct due diligence before sanctioning the payment of GH¢51.2 million to businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome in 2010. Mr Odame Okyere, the investigator, pointed accusing fingers at the Attorney-General's office, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of CAN 2008 and Building Industry Consultants (BIC) for recommending payment to Woyome without verifying the authenticity of the documents submitted by him. Lead counsel for Woyome, Mr Sarfo Buabeng, had suggested that the cited bodies acted properly, but the investigator disagreed and said, "they didn't do their work well." That, according to Mr Okyere, was because the entities agreed that Woyome was entitled to the claim, based on documents he submitted. According to the witness, the said entities did not do due diligence on documents submitted by Woyome, because when the investigation team sent Woyome's documents to Bank Austria, they found that no money had been committed to support any project in Ghana. At that point, counsel suggested to Mr Okyere that the five entities did not do their work well, to which he answered in the affirmative. Woyome was paid the amount for conducting financial engineering for the award of 1.1 billion Euros from Bank Austria but Mr Okyere said investigations into the matter revealed that that money was never made available to the government. Letter from Bank Austria Counsel directed Mr Okyere to read out portions of a letter from Bank Austria which said a 1.1 billion Euros facility for the construction of hospitals, stadia and other projects would not be made available to the LOC if the offer was not accepted before September 30, 2005. Asked if the LOC accepted the offer before the said September 30, 2005, Mr Okyere said he did not have any document to that effect. He, however, told the court that he had indeed verified the authenticity of the signatory of the letter giving the deadline from the Bank of Austria and the signature was found to be genuine. Cross-examination Mr Buabeng: Do you know the term financial engineering? Mr Okyere: I know. It is simulating for funds for a project. Mr Buabeng: This petition never mentioned anywhere that funds had been transferred from Bank Austria to the accounts of the Republic of Ghana?  Mr Okyere: He said monies were available in Bank Austria. Counsel then questioned the witness on the outcome of investigations on Austro-Invest to which Mr Okyere said the company was not registered in Ghana per records from the Registrar-General's office. He added that he then attempted to contact the owner of Austro-Invest, Mr Ray Smith,  who had an office at Dzorwulu but was told he was then out of the country. Mr Okyere, who is the ninth and last prosecution witness in the case, said the lawyer for Austro Invest, Mr Tony Lithur, wrote to the police stating that Mr Smith was indisposed and that he would accordingly notify the police when he got back to the country. Asked if he followed the issue up after he had returned to the Dzorwulu office, the witness replied in the negative. Waterville Holdings (BVI) Limited engaged Austro-Invest to source money for the stadia construction project. Evidence-in-chief Led earlier by a Chief State Attorney, Mr Matthew Amponsah, to give his evidence-in-chief, Mr Okyere stated that Woyome submitted a claim to justify his raising 1.1 billion Euros for the construction of nine different stadia in nine different regions and other projects, but "nothing of the sort was built." "That money never came to Ghana," Mr Okyere emphasised. Witness told the court, presided over by Mr Justice John Ajet-Nasam that Woyome "had no title to claim because he did not have any contract with government for which he made that claim." Nonetheless, he said Vamed Engineering had a contract with Woyome. Woyome scrutinises documents The prosecution sought to tender in evidence various statements taken from Woyome,  but he stood up and scrutinised each statement with his lawyer. The judge at a point asked him: "is that not your handwriting?"  In his response, Woyome conceded that it was his handwriting, but added, "I am looking carefully to see if there are no additions." All the statements were tendered without any objection from Woyome's counsel. Prosecution witnesses The prosecution, which has since closed its case, called Mrs Mangowa Ghanney of the MOFEP; a former Minister of Finance, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo; a former Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Kwaku Agyeman Manu; Ms Yvonne Quansah of MOFEP, and a former Deputy Governor of BoG, Mr Lionel Van Lare Dosoo, as its other witnesses. Ms Lesley Dodoo of the Public Procurement Authority, Mr Andrea Orlandi, then Managing Director of Waterville Holdings, and Mr Ahmed Sulemana, the acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Justice, have also testified for the state. Writer's email: [email protected]  

  Squatters in the various markets throughout the country face ejection as part of measures to curb the perennial fire outbreaks in the markets. The move, to be championed by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), with the support of local government authorities, is also to put an end to the domestic activities of the squatters, particularly cooking, which put the market at high risk of fire outbreaks. According to the Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Billy Anaglate, most of the fire incidents that occurred at the markets last year were due to fires that were left unquenched after cooking.   Last year  Last year, there was widespread fire outbreaks at markets in Accra and Kumasi. Notable among them were the Kantamanto, Kumasi Central, Dome, Makola Number Two, Makola Shopping Mall and Abuja markets.   Investigations by the GNFS concluded that most of the fires were caused by  illegal electrical connections, cooking and, congestion in the markets and overaged wiring.  Other measures Mr Anaglate said local authorities were being encouraged to provide containers to facilitate the establishment of temporary fire posts at the various markets to monitor activities in the markets daily.   He said the GNFS would also engage the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to make sure that overaged wires and  illegal connections at the markets were removed. Structures in the alleys of the markets would be cleared, he said, and added that the congested alleys made it difficult for fire men to go into the markets during fire outbreaks. Furthermore, Mr Anaglate said, the GNFS would see to it that the markets had early fire detectors and fire-fighting facilities with provision of water hydrants by the Ghana Water Company. He said the GNFS would also conduct fire safety audits on all government premises and industries.