The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has presented office equipment, furniture and various items to the Ghana Legal Aid Scheme at a ceremony in Kumasi. The $300,000 worth of equipment, included 80 office computers and laptops with accessories, 28 photocopiers, 31 printers, 20 scanners, 51 hard drives, 72 UPS, 20 motorcycles, and 90 office desks and tables. The rest were 200 office chairs, 25 mediation tables, 160 chairs and 69 benches for clients. Making the presentation, Mr Dominic Sam, the UNDP Country Director, said the items were to support the government to open 16 district offices for the scheme in addition to those in the 10 regional capitals. He said the rule of law fostered peace, economic and social transformation through justice and security, further enhanced communication, and bound districts, regions and the country together. Mr Sam said where the rule of law broke down, tyranny, poverty and instability prevailed. “The rule of law cannot be a commodity that is available to only those who can afford to pay for it,” he said and, therefore, called for all to ensure that justice was available to all in the country. A Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice William Atuguba, who chaired the function, challenged all Ghanaians to make sure that the laws in the country were obeyed and followed. He said poverty should not be a barrier to justice since every Ghanaian had a share or a stake in the development or the wealth of the nation, and added that there was the need for the Legal Aid Scheme to be given the needed support to function effectively. The Director of the Legal Aid Scheme, Mr Yahaya Al-hassan Seini, said the scheme was provided by the Constitution to assist persons who sought to defend or protect the Constitution and those who could not afford the services of a lawyer. He commended the UNDP for its support which had eased the burden of the institution and also facilitated the operations of staff members. A Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, who was the guest speaker, said aside the mainstream legal system, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) was one of the methods recognised under the legal system for dispute resolution. He said the government had decided to create a Directorate of Public Defence, as well as Citizens Advisory Bureaux, to give free legal advice to Ghanaians and broaden access of the poor to legal aid at all levels, especially at the district level. He pledged the government’s commitment to ensuring that the Legal Aid Scheme was supported for efficient delivery of service to Ghanaians.  

    A media sensitisation workshop on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) is to be held on January 16, 2014 in Accra. Thirty journalists from selected media organisations will take part in the one-day event,  which is a partnership between the Graphic Communications Group Limited and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD). Presentations on both sides of the debate would be made after which discussions would be held. A Deputy Director of CIKOD, Mr Wilberforce Laate, explained to the Daily Graphic that the sensitisation workshop was crucial, since it would equip journalists with the requisite knowledge of GMOs. According to him, the media is the vehicle for the dissemination of information so if journalists are not adequately informed, it is possible they will pass on the little they know to their readers and audience. “We think that the media should be exposed to all the facets of the debate,” he stated. The Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, said the workshop was important because journalists needed knowledge and enlightenment on the subject before they could take the frontline role of informing people about the pros and cons of GMOs. He explained that since journalists set the agenda for society, they must be adequately informed in order to keep the gate to avoid the situation where some elements would try to hijack the media for propaganda. Mr Tetteh added that the debate on the GMOs was taking many twists with civil society groups emerging to support or oppose GMOs and that was why there was the need for a corps of well-informed journalists to lead the debate on the subject.    

  A 30-year-old father of three who defiled his eight-year old biological daughter has been sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Kumasi Circuit Court. The convict, Jude Kuunifaa, pleaded guilty to three counts of defilement, assault and incest.  He is also to serve three years each for assault and incest, but the sentences are to run concurrently. Kuunifaa took advantage of the absence of his wife, who had left the house for an evening church service, and defiled his daughter, who is his first born. The convict told the court that he had a chronic disease which made him fall often. This happened on the day of the incident and before he realised, he was on top of his daughter. His assertion made the audience burst into laughter. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang told the court, presided over by Mr William Boampong, that the complainant in the case was the wife of the convict with whom the accused had three children. The prosecution said the couple lived at Sekyeredumase in the Ejura Sekyeredumase District   in  the   Ashanti Region.   At about 7 p.m. on January 3, this year,  the complainant left the house for a church service, leaving the victim to take care of her siblings. After about 30 minutes, the complainant returned home to take her drugs, only to find her husband on top of their daughter. Out of shock, the complainant raised an alarm that drew the attention of their neighbours.  This did not go down well with Kuunifa and to prevent his wife from making further noise, he subjected her to severe beating till she was rescued by a family member, who met the accused almost naked. The victim was taken to the Sekyeredumase Health Centre and later referred to the Ejura Government Hospital, where she was examined, treated and discharged.  

  The Obuasi train station, on the Kumasi to Sekondi-Takoradi rail line, has stopped operating since 2004. This is  due to damaged railway lines and constant  malfunctioning  of the train which operates on the line. Most of the  train  coaches have deteriorated and have been sent to Accra for  the past 10 years but have not returned. Just like the properties of the Ghana Railway Company elsewhere, the land closest  to the rail lines has been encroached upon. Years of neglect have resulted in the immediate surrounding of the station being dirty and overgrowing with weed. Windows of the building and the office furniture have been destroyed, some roofing sheets of the building have also spoilt as a result of the neglect and the signboard fixed in front of the building has blurred writing making it difficult to retrieve any information from it. The situation has given way to a number of illegal activities very close to the railway lines. A number of buildings, including drinking spots and grocery shops, have sprung up there. Apart from that, a cement block manufacturer and a vulcaniser have  teamed up to ply their trade near the rail lines.    Challenges Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the station master of the Obuasi train station, Mr Joseph Prah, said there were some challenges that had led to the closure of the station. He said the rail lines had suffered from the activities of galamsey operators, as they had removed certain metals from the rail lines. Mr Prah said the railway signal, an electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to the train driver,  was not functioning either. The train cargo compartment, he said, supported the Anglo Gold Ashanti company  and farmers in the municipality in conveying their goods such as foodstuffs, timber, cocoa and mining equipment, but the cargo compactment was no longer working because of the bad nature of the railways lines. The station master said carrying goods on the train was safer and less expensive as compared to other vehicles, adding that the absence of the train services had affected mining and agricultural activities in the area.  “There is a need for renovation of the entire building making up the railway station and its surroundings because it will solve about 30 per cent of unemployment problems in the municipality,” he said. Mr Prah disclosed that due to the closure  of the station, all the engineers and some workers had been transferred to Awaso, Takoradi, Accra and other stations to assist them in their work. He said only a few workers were left at the Obuasi train station to protect the properties.  

  Nominees for the maiden Media and Broadcasting Awards have been released by the organisers, the Institute of Media Practice (IMP). Categories Nominees have been selected to compete for awards in 16 categories including, Media Entrepreneur of the Year, Radio Programme of the Year, Television Programme of the Year, New Media Practitioner of the Year, General News Media House of the Year and Print Media House of the Year. The others are: Radio Broadcaster or Practitioner of the Year, Television Broadcaster or Practitioner of the Year, Print Journalist of the Year, Radio Station of the Year, Television Station of the Year, Media Practitioner of the Year, Media Organisation of the Year. Some criteria  The President of the institute, Mr J. O. T. Agyeman, said in a statement that the criteria among other conditions included the radio programme that made the most measurable contribution to specific social causes.  The nominees It said Mr Kwesi Twum, Multimedia Group; Mr Osei Kwame Despite, Despite Group of Companies; Mrs Stella Wilson-Agyapong, Kencity Media, and Mr Edward Boateng, Global Media Alliance, have been nominated for the Media Entrepreneur of the Year while Nsem Pii of Happy FM; Joy FM’s Super Morning Show; Kokroko, Peace FM and Boiling Point of Oman FM would compete for Radio Programme of the Year. The Daily Graphic, TV3, Peace FM and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation have been nominated to vie for the General News Media House of the Year with The Finder, Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times and Daily Guide being nominated for Print Media of the Year. The statement said Messrs Ransford Tetteh of the Daily Graphic, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah of JOY FM, Kwame Sefa Kayi and Ms Gifty Anti were the nominees for the Media Practitioner of the Year while the Media Organisation of the Year would be contested for by Viasat 1; Graphic Communications Group Limited; TV3 and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation It said the Print Journalist of the Year award would be keenly contested for by Mr William Asiedu of The Mirror; Ms Mabel Aku Baneseh of the Daily Graphic, Mr Cephas Larbi, Daily Guide and Edmund Kofi Yeboah of the Daily Graphic. On the award for Radio Broadcaster or Practitioner of the Year, it mentioned Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (Joy FM); Bernard Avle (Citi FM); Kwami Sefa Kayi (Peace FM) and Wisdom Agbodza (Nyansa Boakwa) (Happy FM) as the nominees with Odelia Ofori (TV3 News); Gifty Anti (The Stand Point); Paul Adom Otchere (Good Evening Ghana) and Randy Abbey (Good Morning Ghana) as the contestants for the Television Broadcaster or Practitioner of the Year. Other award categories are Television Programme of the Year; New Media Practitioner of the Year; Radio Station of the Year and Television Station of the Year. The rest are Environment Award; Arts, Culture and Entertainment Award; Social and Gender Award; Democracy and Governance Award and CSR Award. Frequency and purpose According to the statement, the awards, which will be an annual event, seeks to recognise and honor individual journalists and media organisations for excellence in specific areas of national life, including health, education, sanitation and entertainment.  

  Three pastors from the Jesus Called Prayer Ministry at Apedwa and Mankesim who claimed to be on a mission to heal mentally deranged persons in the Krobo area have found themselves at the wrong side of the law after they were arrested for kidnapping two mad women. The three men of God: Rev. Ashworth Kwame Amponsah, 33, Pastor Joseph Kwame, 26, and Pastor Kwame Amankwah, 40,  said  they were sending the mad women to Nkurakan, near Koforidua, to pray for their healing. However, their accuser, who is also the complainant, and a taxi driver were not convinced about the pastors’ explanation and, therefore, sent them to the Odumase-Krobo Police Station. After investigations, the police charged the pastors with conspiracy to commit crime and kidnapping and arraigned them before the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Asmah Akwasi Asiedu. All the three men pleaded guilty with explanation to both charges. They were, however, discharged and bonded to be of good behaviour for a period of six months or in default serve three months’ imprisonment.  Mr Asiedu, before passing the sentence, cautioned the three pastors that in doing the work of God, they should take into consideration the liberties and rights of all human beings.  He also told them that they did not have the right to capture mad persons from any community without the consent of the chief of that community or the police, and if possible their relatives.  According to Chief Inspector Tobias Amoadza, the complainant in the case lives at Salosi, a suburb of Somanya. He said Rev. Amponsah, Pastor Kwame and Pastor Amankwah also claimed to be pastors of the Jesus Called Prayer Ministries at Apedwa and Mankesim with its headquarters at Kasoa in the Central Region.  The prosecutor said on August 8, 2013, at about 8:30 am, the complainant saw a taxi driven by a witness in the case with three men on board coming from the direction of Odumase-Krobo towards Somanya.     The complainant, Chief Inspector Amoadza stated, said the taxi stopped and the three pastors came out of it and pounced on a mad woman who was walking beside the road. They then shoved her into the taxi. The prosecutor said the complainant hurriedly walked to the taxi and realised that there was another mad woman in it.  He became suspicious and confronted the pastors. According to the prosecutor, after a heated argument, they had to go to the police station to ascertain the truth or otherwise of their mission. During police investigations, the pastors told the police that they were not going to harm the mad people but they were rather going to pray for  them to be healed.  They further explained that they had held a similar prayer and healing session at Agormanya Market in Odumase-Krobo where some mad people were healed.    

  Two directors of African Automobile Limited (AAL) are to be arrested on the orders of a court for failing to appear before it over a criminal case filed against them by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The Accra Circuit Court last Tuesday issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Hijizi, Managing Director of Mitsubishi, and Jehad, a Director of the company. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime. The court, presided over by Mrs Doris Bempong, a High court judge sitting as an additional circuit court judge, adjourned the case to January 23, 2014. When the case was last called in December, last year, Hijizi prayed the court to allow him to put in a plea bargain after his company had issued various cheques to settle its indebtedness to ECG from 2001 to 2004—totalling GH¢36,248.31 and penalty charges on illegal connection to the tune of GH¢43,685.06. He, however, failed to honour his promise and also failed to show up in court when the case was called. AAL dealers in Mitsubishi vehicles, was recently in the news for defrauding ECG to the tune of GH¢43,685.06 through illegal connection.  This was after the same company had failed to pay an amount of GH¢36,248.31 of electricity it consumed from 2001 to 2004. It was subsequently disconnected by ECG. The two were arrested in 2010 and put in the dock for conspiracy to commit crime.  Civil action was also taken against them at the Commercial Court to retrieve the amount it owed ECG, which has been settled. The criminal aspect has to do with the criminal intent to run down the company by stealing power and the general effect of sabotaging the economy of Ghana.  

  The Ashanti Regional Office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service recorded 120 cases of defilement in 2013 as against 80 cases in 2012. During the year under review, the unit also recorded 36 rape cases as compared to the 28 cases it recorded in 2012. The Regional Dovvsu Co-ordinator,  Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Benjamin Dokrugu, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said 13 of the suspects involved in the defilement cases were prosecuted in the law courts and committed to various terms of imprisonment.  The cases reported, according to him, were from the various police districts in the Ashanti Region such as Kumasi, Atwima Nwabiagya and Suntereso, adding that some of the cases were  struck out due to lack of prosecution. DSP Dokrugu also noted that the number of cases of parental neglect reported to the unit decreased from 1,165 in 2012 to 866 last year. Similarly, the number of reported cases of threats of death and harm dropped by 40 from 156 cases recorded in 2012. There was one case of sodomy reported in 2012 and none in 2013. He explained that the increase in some reported offences could be as a result of public awareness about the legal avenues to seek redress whenever victims suffered domestic violence. DSP Dokrugu disclosed that his outfit intended to mount public education on domestic violence to reach out to about 10,000 people this year, adding that under the project, the public would be educated on what constituted domestic violence, the effects on the individual, family and larger society and the legal remedies available to victims. According to him, as part of the programme, DOVVSU  would equip the public with some security tips that could help them to avoid  or reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of some of the preventable crimes, especially defilement and rape. He explained that as part of the strategy to achieve the target , DOVVSU was collaborating with the Ghana Education Service to reach out to pupils and students in about 180 basic schools and engage some artisans in the project. DSP Dokrugu mentioned that the unit was able to reach out to about 218 residents of Kumasi to educate them on signs to look out for in order to avoid falling victim to criminals.  

  The Chief of Pakyi No.2, Nana Kyei Asiamah Aduakwa II, has celebrated his first Akwasidae at Pakyi No. 2 in the Atwima Kwawoma District of the Ashanti Region, after he had sworn the oath of allegiance to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi. The people of the traditional area greeted their new chief amidst pomp and pagentry for ascending the stool which had been vacant for the past 20 years. The occasion also attracted a large number of people, including government officials, chiefs and queens from the traditional area, the clergy, the Muslim community and many others. In his address, Nana  Aduakwa II, who was the former Presiding Elder of the Church of Pentecost, Bompata Area in Kumasi and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Feliben Pharmacy in Kumasi, expressed his gratitude to God and commended the chiefs and people for their support in giving the traditional area a new chief after the stool had been vacant for 20 years. He appealed to the chiefs and people of the traditional area bury their differences and to  forge ahead in peace and unity, saying, “with God on our side, we can bring change and development to the area.” Nana Aduakwa II expressed his gratitude to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his patience and concern that had helped to unite the people of the traditional area to install a new leader.