The Chief Executive Officer of Global Solution Outreach Incorporated, Rev. Solomon Badoo, has called on African leaders, especially those in the West African sub-region, to desist from depending on grants and rather compete on the global market. Rev. Badoo, who is based in Indiana in the United States of America, said that during the opening of an organisational leadership conference for some leaders of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Accra.  According to him, Ghana had the requisite expertise, resources and personnel to compete in various sectors on the global market.  Rev. Badoo further expressed concern about the inability of African graduates to explore and compete with their counterparts in the West and the Americas.  He said the time had come for African students to take up their rightful positions both in academia and other fields of the economy to make strides to project the African continent as a platform for development and innovation.  “Until the mindsets of Ghanaian leaders are changed, the economy of the country will continue to diminish,” he said. Rev. Badoo appealed to Ghanaians to develop a positive mindset to be able to embrace change, which is a tool for greatness.  He was of the view that leaders in respectful positions should desist from mediocrity and think outside the box to explore other ways of improving the economy. Rev. Badoo said the training programme would go a long way to equip and also enhance the knowledge and capacity of participants to be able to effectively instill in their members the values that would  help them  promote the growth of the church and the entire society. “Good leaders affect lives through critical thinking and problem solving through teaching of good and quality lifestyle and moral standards,” he said.                                                                                       Rev. Badoo called on the youth to explore other areas of the economy, especially information and communication technology (ICT) to showcase to the world that Africans could move the world to another level if given the chance.  Rev. Christopher Marfo Ahenkorah, the General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church, said church leaders must prepare their mindset to embrace life- transforming training which would go a long way to strengthen their growth of the church.  Dr Daniel Lucero, a transformational speaker, added that God’s promise for church leaders was to see them prosper and be strategically positioned. He noted that leaders should be prepared to leave their comfort zones as a measure to propel them for the work of God.  That, he said, would create an opportunity for them to receive blessings and favour from God.  

  A resident of Kibi in the Eastern Region,  Mr Kofi Akresi, has expressed concern about the sanitation practices of the community which are posing a health challenge. According to him, the waste management system in the community is poor and some of the residents do not observe good sanitation practices either. Mr  Akresi told the Daily Graphic that due to the absence of waste receptacles in the community, residents dumped refuse, faecal matter and other waste matter at unauthorised places. He has, therefore, appealed to the government, the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other concerned bodies to immediately come to the aid of the community to address the challenge. Mr Akresi indicated that the community’s dump site, which is overflowing with rubbish, was close to the chief’s palace, but all attempts to get the chief to take the needed action to rectify the situation had proved futile. According to him, “residents living around the dump site are suffering due to the stench, a situation which worsens when it rains”. This, he added, had prompted many of them to vacate their homes to seek refuge elsewhere. He further disclosed that the community hospital, Kibi Hospital, which was near the dump site, also deposited its waste at the dump site. “It is fascinating how a hospital could be operating close to such a place that is so much engulfed in filth. What is more worrisome is that the hospital also dumps its waste at the place, which is near the houses of community members,” Mr Akresi stated. He mentioned that schools, churches and other important facilities in the communities were all operating near the dump site, yet none of the authorities had questioned their operations.  Mr Akresi indicated that to get the situation rectified, he sought legal action at the Community Tribunal at Kibi against the bodies responsible for sanitation in the community, but since the year 1999 the case had only been called  twice. He called  on the authorities to provide adequate rubbish bins to the community and to also change the current dump site. He has also called for  laws that would sanction offenders who dumped rubbish at unprescribed places in the community.  

    The Minister of  Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, has admonished contractors to always ensure that contracts awarded them are executed to specifications to ensure value for money. He expressed concern over the undue delay in  the execution of contracts and the shoddy nature of some of the works, for which he blamed some supervising engineers for failing to live up to their responsibilities of ensuring the delivery of quality work. Alhaji Sulemana, who emphasised  the need for the timely and efficient execution of projects, further observed that “there are no bad contractors;  there are only bad engineers.” The minister was speaking during an inspection tour of the Dipali irrigation project in the Savelugu/Nanton District in the Northern Region at the weekend. The project forms part of the 21 irrigation schemes being constructed in some parts of the country.  The project is being undertaken by the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP). The programme is an eight-year agricultural initiative that was inaugurated in 2009 by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).  It aims at reducing poverty and ensuring food security among rural households in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions,  as well as five other districts in the Brong Ahafo region. The African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Ghana are co-financing the programme. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Clement Humado, said the project was in line with the policy of the government in helping to improve on the lot of rural farmers in beneficiary communities in the country. He expressed the hope that with the successful implementation of the schemes, it would stem the tide of the migration of the youth in the north to the southern sectors of the country to seek  greener pastures. The minister called on the management and contractors working on the various aspects of the project to ensure that work was not only completed on schedule but was done to specification to achieve its intended purpose. The National Programme Coordinator of NRGP, Mr Roy Ayariga, said his outfit was using a multifaceted approach to address food insecurity in Northern Ghana. The programme is premised on commodity value chain development, rural infrastructural development and improved access to financial services by all stakeholders in the production chain. He, however, expressed concern that the people risked losing all the benefits that came along with the programme if contractors failed to ensure the timely and efficient execution of the work. For their part, the contractors also expressed their frustrations in delays in the issuance of certificates, inadequate  funds and high interest rates on loans as some of the challenges they encountered in the smooth execution of the projects.    

  Metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) in  the 22 districts in the Western Region have deplored the  failure  to complete  GETFund-funded school projects scattered all over the region, which has denied children access to quality education. The chief executives said  the situation was creating a lot of problems and disturbing  their budgets as the assemblies had to construct improvised structures to ease the plight of the children. They said  this in a communiqué read after a two-day end-of-year review meeting by  the chief executives to discuss the state of the region and how to improve its  performance. The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Aowin, Mr Oscar Ofori Larbi, who read  the communique on behalf of his colleagues, said the abandoned projects  were mostly uncompleted GETFund-funded six-unit classroom projects, additional classrooms  and dormitories for senior high schools in the region.  The situation, he said, had resulted in  crowded scenes in classrooms at basic and senior high schools and that did not create the perfect ambiance for effective teaching and learning.  He said the DCEs appreciated the government’s efforts to provide infrastructure for schools in the region. “We are, however, worried over the existence of a large number of uncompleted or abandoned school blocks scattered all over the region, thereby denying children access to quality education as envisioned by the President,” he said. The DCEs attributed the situation to the non-payment of contractors by the GETFund secretariat to enable them to continue the projects. The situation, he said, was making things difficult for the MMDCEs in the region and that something must be done about it. He said,  “we renew our commitments as operatives at the district level to work hard to ensure that in collaboration with the GETFund and the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) solutions are found to the challenges.”  The DCE said it was  the hope of his colleagues that through the collaboration, the uncompleted projects would be completed for communities with inadequate school infrastructure. That, he said, would improve teaching and learning and also ensure that any school shift system practised in any district in the region  would be abolished. Also in the nine-page communique, the MMDCEs said they were further disturbed by the unacceptable degradation of the forest and the pollution of the water bodies in the region He said the chief executives had also noted that the region accounted for the bulk of the nation’s cocoa but had challenges with its evacuation, and  called for more attention to be paid to the roads. They called on the sector ministry to compel the  contractor on the Enchi – Dadieso road  to move to site to resume work to ensure the completion  of the project on schedule.  “Urgent efforts must be made to ensure that the Benchema Junction – Osei Kojokrom road is awarded on contract to ease the difficulty in reaching the two Bia districts,” they said.   

The Board of Directors of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has elected a new Chairman of the Board and appointed a new Executive Director for the organisation. The decisions were made at the Board’s two-day meeting in Accra, held on January 8 and 9, 2014. At the board level, Mr. Edetaen Ojo from Nigeria has been elected as the new Chairman. He replaces Ms. Soyata Maiga from Mali, whose tenure as board Chair has come to an end. Mr. Ojo, who is the Executive Director of the Nigeria-based Media Rights Agenda (MRA), is one of Africa’s leading experts on free expression, media development and access to information. Mr. Ojo is a board member of a number of local, regional and international human rights and media development organisations including the Uganda-based African Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) and the International Media Support (IMS) based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Until June 2013, he was the Convenor (Chair) of the governing council of the Canada-based organisation, IFEX, the world’s biggest network of free expression advocacy organisation.       At the management level, the Board has appointed Mr. Sulemana Braimah as the new Executive Director of the organisation following the retirement of Prof. Kwame Karikari who has been the Executive Director of the organisation for the past 16 years. Mr. Braimah has tremendous experience in free expression and media development issues and has participated in and presented papers at several international conferences on free expression and media development. In the last two years, Mr. Braimah has served as a reviewer of the World Press Freedom Index, an annual ranking of countries on press freedom, conducted by the US-based organisation, Freedom House.  He currently serves on the Governing Council and the Executive Committee of IFEX. Mr. Braimah joined the MFWA in 2010 and until his appointment, was the Deputy Executive Director of the organisation. Prior to joining the MFWA, he worked as news editor of The Chronicle Newspaper in Ghana, and part-time lecturer at the Africa University Colleague of Communications. The Board highly commended Prof. Kwame Karikari for his exemplary leadership of the MFWA for the past 16 years. It also commended the organisation for its tremendous efforts in promoting free expression in West Africa, particularly its work on safety of journalists and media development in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire during the political crisis and in the ongoing democratic recovery processes in those countries. The board issued a resolution at the end of its meeting in which it expressed concern about the falling standards of professionalism in media practice in the West Africa region. The Board also expressed deep concern about the serious challenges posed by extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking to media freedom and practice in West Africa and called on national governments, regional bodies and civil society groups in West Africa to work collaboratively to address the problem,” the resolution stated. Below is the full resolution adopted by the Board:Resolution By the Board of Directors of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)At its Meeting held in Accra, Ghana, on January 8 & 9, 2014.On January 8 and 9, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) met in Accra, Ghana, to discuss and review a number of strategic issues relating to the operations of the organisation as well as the broader issues of media freedom, freedom of expression and media development in the West African sub-region.The meeting was presided over by the Vice Chairman of the Board, Mr. Edetaen Ojo, who is also the Executive Director of the Nigeria-based Media Rights Agenda. At the end of the two-day meeting, the Board unanimously adopted and issued this resolution: The Board welcomes the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2013 of a Resolution on the Safety of Journalists and the issue of Impunity, and for proclaiming November 2, as International Day to End Impunity for crimes against journalists.  The Board  commends the Governments of Nigeria, Ghana and Mali for co-sponsoring the resolution along with other countries and urges the three countries to spearhead efforts to ensure the implementation of the resolution within the West Africa region, in Africa and internationally. In the spirit of the UN Resolution referenced above, and the principles of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy, the Board urges ECOWAS leaders and relevant organs of ECOWAS to ensure the enforcement of the decisions of the  ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in order to discourage acts of impunity within the region. The Board further calls on the ECOWAS Commission to speed up the processes for the adoption of uniform regional legal frameworks on the right to freedom of expression and the right to information. The Board recognises and highlights the importance of internet penetration, affordability and access, for the overall development of the region. Accordingly, the Board calls on national governments and regional bodies in West Africa to prioritise investment in ICTs and work collaboratively to promote internet freedom in the region. Further to the above, the Board also welcomes the adoption by the UN General Assembly in December 2013 of a Resolution on “Right to Privacy in the Digital Age” wherein the General Assembly called on States “to review their procedures, practices and legislation regarding the surveillance of communications, their interception and the collection of personal data, including mass surveillance, interception and collection, with a view to upholding the right to privacy by ensuring the full and effective implementation of all their obligations under international human rights law.”  The Board called on West African nations to give full effect to the Resolution. The Board remains extremely concerned about the serious challenges posed by extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking to media freedom and practice in West Africa and calls on national governments and regional bodies in West Africa to work collaboratively to address the problem. The Board, on behalf of the MFWA, pledges its support for such efforts through collaborative activities, partnerships and other forms of interventions as may be required to effectively respond to these problems. In the face of the numerous challenges to free expression in the region, the Board commends the Secretariat of the MFWA for its tremendous efforts in promoting free expression in West Africa, particularly its work on safety of journalists and media development in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire during the political crisis and in the ongoing democratic recovery processes in those countries. The Board reiterates its deep concern about the falling standards of professionalism in media practice in many parts of the region and calls on media professional bodies and associations as well as the media community in the region as a whole, to develop and implement effective self-regulatory mechanisms to improve professional standards. The Board unanimously elects Mr. Edetaen Ojo (Nigeria) as the new Chair of the MFWA Board, replacing Ms. Soyata Maiga (Mali) whose tenure has come to an end. The Board also appoints Mr. Sulemana Braimah, as Executive Director of the MFWA, following the retirement of Prof. Kwame Karikari as Executive Director of the organisation. The Board highly commends Prof. Kwame Karikari for his exemplary leadership of the organisation for the past 16 years. The Board also commends Ms.  Soyata Maiga, for her contribution to the organisation as Chair of the Board over the years. The Board hereby approves the work plan of the organisation for 2014. Adopted in Accra, Ghana, this Thursday, the 9th day of January, 2014.

The striking cocoa head-carriers at the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Commodity Village at Apowa have agreed to resume work on Monday, January, 13, 2014 after reaching an agreement with their employers and COCOBOD. However, the head-carriers gave a month’s ultimatum to COCOBOD and labour companies to fulfill all conditions reached under the agreement or they would lay down their tools again. According to the carriers, the labour companies in the presence of COCOBOD have agreed to pay them a daily wage of GH¢35.00, register them for social security contributions and health insurance as well provide them safety wares and First Aid kits. Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the two-day crunch meeting at the premises of COCOBOD at Kadjebiri, one of the leaders of the carriers, Nana Kwabena Ackon Ansah said both sides have reached an amicable conclusion.Among conditions to be improved is the provision of potable water for the carriers and transportation to convey workers to and from Takoradi and other destinations. He said before the carriers went on holidays and broke off into the ‘strike’, they were paid GH¢18.00 which was later increased to GH¢20.00. “We were not provided with the things that were agreed upon now, not even drinking water.”  The impasse between the cocoa carriers and their employers at Apowa commodity, which started before the Christmas holidays has resulted in the grounding of over 1,500 trucks loaded with cocoa. The trucks, which arrived from the hinterland last December still have their loads unpacked, making it difficult for drivers to return to the bush to evacuate more of the produce. At the commodity village, the drivers welcomed the resumption of work by the carriers but said it had been of a great cost to them and their employers.

Four persons were shot dead while a fifth is in critical condition after a musketry went off accidentally during the outdooring of a new chief for Ekumfi Esarkyir in the Central region on Saturday. Sad, tearful faces replaced the joyous countenances that had greeted the colourful procession of Nana Essel VI sitting in a palanquin and responding to excited subjects when one Anthony Forson, said to be an experienced and popular musketry shooter in the community tried to fire a musketry. It failed to fire.The Daily Graphic learned that after the gun failed to shoot, Forson adjusted and reloaded it, however, before he could pull the trigger, the gun went off killing four persons and injuring one.He is in custody with the Saltpond police and could face the charge of either murder or manslaughter.A 10-year-old boy, Paa Kwesi; Kwadwo, a shop assistant, 20; Paa Joe, a student and another person from a nearby community who had come to witness the outdooring were all killed while Maame Araba, a student who was also injured is on admission at the Saltpond Government Hospital.The bodies have been deposited at the hospital.Forson, a citizen of Ekumfi Esarkyir is popular in the town for his skills at firing of musketry on festive occasions was said to have travelled home from Accra where he is based to spice the outdooring with his skills, a feat he is said to have performed for many years.The incident caused the people to rush through the outdooring ceremony at the community centre after which they retreated to their homes, with others discussing the incident on the streets. Meanwhile the Saltpond Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) David Ashong said Forson's gun was registered and that he had a permit to use the gun. However, he said a docket would be sent to the Attorney General’s for advice on the case before he would be put before court.

  American President, Barack Obama, is expected to train more Ghanaians through his Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) programme this year. This follows several applications that have been put in by young Ghanaians to participate in this year’s programme scheduled to take off by June or July and targeted at 500 professionals in sub-Saharan Africa. The disclosure was made during a telephone conference on YALI organised by the United States government and participated in by some African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, DR Congo, Angola, Rwanda and Senegal last Thursday. It was also in response to a question posed by the Daily Graphic on the number of young Ghanaians who had applied to take part in the programme since applications opened in the latter part of 2013. Proffering an answer to that enquiry, Shannon Green, the acting Senior Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council of the United States, and one of two officials who addressed the conference, said a significant number of Ghanaians had applied, although she could not readily provide the exact number. She stated that already, over 40,000 applications had been received from Africa, while the online application would be due on January 27 and determination of the successful applicants done in early April. Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Shamima Muslim, both Ghanaian journalists, and Kofi Asante of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) are among some young Ghanaians that have participated in the YALI programme since it began in 2010. The YALI programme According to Shannon Green, the YALI programme is meant for a high echelon of young leaders already making an impact in their different fields and who are committed to Africa. “We are looking for young leaders who have demonstrated an impact, have positive attitudes and with commitment to return to Africa with their skills,” she said. Successful applicants for the YALI fellowship would participate in a six-week academic programme at a United States university in one of three study areas, Business and Entrepreneurship, Civil Leadership and Public Management. After that, they would have the opportunity to do an eight-week internship in the public, private and non-profit sectors and also attend a presidential summit in Washington DC to meet President Obama and leaders from the private, public and non-profit sectors.   YALI and US Policy Mr Grant T. Harris, Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for African Affairs on the National Security Staff of the White House, who also addressed the conference, said already, processing of 7,000 applications for the YALI Fellowship, which was at the heart of US policy, had been completed. “We see engaging young African leaders as critical to everything that we want to achieve with African governments. Engaging young leaders is absolutely essential to strengthening democratic institutions and supporting economic growth and prosperity and to advancing peace and security,” he stated. Mr Harris said “Engaging young leaders is at the heart of US policy towards Africa. Engaging young leaders is a personal commitment of President Obama. So we see the Young African Leaders Initiative as an important way to be connected to and to support young leaders of every background and every country, and through that, we want to grow this programme; we want to make sure that it is as strong as possible, that it is informed by what young leaders are working to achieve.” He said what informed the YALI programme was a yearning from young leaders across Africa for support in developing specific skills and the desire to network and to meet other young African leaders to know what others were doing. Writer’s email: [email protected]  

  A farmer, Emmanuel Kwevi, who looks older than 60 years but claims to be 48, has been convicted of incest by the Agona Swedru District Magistrate’s Court, presided over by Mr Kwaku Baah Frempong. Kwevi had carnal knowledge of his 11-year-old stepdaughter at Awutu Obrachire. He admitted his incestuous act and said the girl was 12 years and not 11 as had been alleged by the prosecution. Additionally, Kwevi, who was charged with incest and defilement, claimed that he rather committed the crime at Awutu Adawukwa and not Obrachire as the prosecutor put it.  Mr Frempong, however, said a tacit admission of the crime by Kwevi was enough and convicted him on his own plea of guilty. The presiding judge, however, deferred Kwevi’s sentence for a higher court to determine his fate as the Magistrate’s Court lacked jurisdiction. Inspector S. Opoku-Mensah said the victim was Kwevi’s stepdaughter with whom he lived together with her mother, who is Kwevi’s wife, at Awutu Obrachire. According to the prosecutor, the victim’s mother is a teacher at Kasoa and therefore shuttles between Obrachire and Kasoa during the working days of the week. Inspector Opoku-Mensah said whenever the girl’s mother was away at Kasoa, Kwevi sexually abused her. According to the prosecutor, Kwevi’s sexual encounters with the victim began when she was 11 years and on each occasion Kwevi threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone about it. Inspector Opoku-Mensah said in October 2013, however, the girl told a friend of hers in school about the pains she suffered after each sexual encounter with Kwevi. The prosecutor said this information was later relayed to her headteacher, who eventually confirmed the allegation with the girl herself. According to the prosecutor, the headmaster later reported Kwevi’s conduct to the police and he was arrested.  

  A 26-year-old fisherman has been sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court for escaping from lawful custody. Atsu Datsumor pleaded guilty to the charge but pleaded for leniency which was not accepted. The Presiding Judge, Mr Asmah Akwasi Asiedu, took a rather serious view of the behaviour of Datsumor, since the officers who were supervising him would have either lost their jobs or would have been reduced in rank, if he had not been re-arrested. He, therefore, sentenced him to serve as a deterrent to other prisoners who would want to follow his footsteps. According to the court, the punishment had nothing to do with his previous sentence by the Ada Magistrate Court. Chief Inspector John Akuetteh, the prosecutor, said the complainants were prison officers from the Akuse Prison, while Datsumor was a convict serving a prison term at the same prison. He said in November 2012, Datsumor was arrested by the Kasseh Police in Ada for stealing a motorbike.  He was, therefore, arraigned before the Ada District Magistrate Court, convicted and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment with hard labour. The prosecutor said on May 6, 2013, Datsumor and three other prisoners were assigned to undertake an external labour under the supervision of the complainants to dry rice in Akuse town. According to Chief Inspector Akuetteh, during the course of the work, Datsumor asked permission to attend to the call of nature but escaped  and went home. He said a wireless message was sent to all the police stations to be on the lookout for Datsumor. The prosecutor said Datsumor was re-arrested on May 30, 2013 and handed over to the Ada Police. He said on hearing of the arrest, the prison authorities at Akuse dispatched a team of officers who went for him. Datsumor, who was identified by the prison officers, admitted committing the offence in his caution statement and was put before court.  

  Hearing of the case involving the 414 kilogramme cocaine bust resumed in camera at the Fast Track High Court in Accra yesterday. This was because a witness from the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) had sought permission from the court to testify in camera on the ground that the issues to be spoken on were delicate because they boarded on national security. Subsequently, the Presiding Judge, Mr Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a Court of Appeal Judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, moved the court to his chambers. Information later gathered by the Daily Graphic indicated that the witness had since completed the evidence-in-chief and was expected to be cross-examined by the defence team on January 16, 2014. Those standing trial are: Percival Junior Court, a Guyanese engineer; Samuel Monty, a Guyanese seaman and Singh Primchand, an Indian seaman. They have been accused of illegally importing 414 kilogrammes of cocaine with a street value of $60 million into the country. The accused persons, who initially did not have legal representation, now have lawyers to defend them. Change of plea The court on January 7, 2014, reversed a guilty plea entered by the three accused persons.  According to the court, considering the explanations given by the three, it was incumbent to enter a not-guilty plea on their behalf. On January 7, 2014, the court slapped Miller Ronald O’Neil, the Guyanese captain of the vessel that carted the narcotic drugs, with a 20-year jail term, while Seth Grant, a Ghanaian based in Brazil, got a 15-year sentence. They both pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in criminal conspiracy, importation of narcotics without lawful authority and possession of narcotic drugs and were convicted on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently. Substance was cocaine Prior to the conviction, the Head of Drugs and Forensic Laboratory of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Martin Adarkwah Yiadom, had conducted a random test on three slabs and two tested positive outright for cocaine. The result of the third slab, according to him, needed further analysis because it tested partially positive for cocaine. The court permitted officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency of the Department of Justice in Virginia, USA to pick 30 different samples, each weighing one gram, for further testing in the USA. Meanwhile, 413 slabs of the seized cocaine have been destroyed. Per the court's orders, the remaining slab is being kept in the registrar’s custody until the final determination of the case. The burning of the cocaine, which took place on January 7, 2014, was witnessed by the trial judge, officials from the NACOB, the Environmental Protection Agency, GSA and media. Facts of the case In November, 2013, NACOB received information on the suspicious movement of a vessel, Atiyah Ex-Alisam, with registration number 000471, which was heading towards Ghana. According to the said information, the vessel was from British Guyana-George Town.  As a result, the security agencies, including the Ghana Navy,  Police and National Security, were alerted. The vessel was eventually intercepted on November 19, 2013 by the Western Naval Command in Takoradi. A search on it revealed 21 fertiliser sacks smeared with engine oil containing 414 slabs of compressed substances. A field test indicated that the substances were cocaine. The prosecutor said O’Neil, the captain, had told them the drugs were to be delivered to someone in Ghana, but they could not mention the name of the recipient, adding that he had the contact of the recipient. According to O’Neil, the drugs were to be delivered on the high seas for a fee of $50,000, while other members of the crew were to take various sums of money.  

  It took a mountain to climb in a  Daewo Tico taxi; a river to cross on a pontoon; and a lake to traverse in a small canoe, to discover the Dwarfs Island in the Afram Plains, and all those experiences are indelible. It is an island of very friendly people with peaceful atmosphere, beautiful weather, fertile lands, green vegetation, plenty of food and the abode of ‘dwarfs’. But, sadly, it is a neglected island where politicians never dream of going, except for votes during election time. “After election, the people are neglected; nothing is coming from the government,” says a disappointed Assembly Member for Edavokope Electoral Area in the Dwarfs Island, Mr Raymond Amelewu. Some of the islanders say for more than 20 years under the Fourth Republic, no President of Ghana has visited the Dwarfs Island and that it was Professor J. E. A. Mills (then Vice-President in the Rawlings administration) who visited the island. Apart from politicians, teachers, health workers, agricultural extension officers and other essential service providers decline posting to the island or abandon post after a short stay. Nonetheless, after staying on the Dwarfs Island for three days, I have no doubt in mind that it is a dreamland to visit and a veritable tourism potential yet to be explored. The Dwarfs Island The Dwarfs Island is located in the Afram Plains North District in the Eastern Region. According to historical accounts, the island used to be the abode of dwarfs, and although nobody can tell of any personal encounter with the small imaginary humanoids, there are tales that they cause people who cross their path to get lost in the forest. As a result of increased human settlement on the island, the dwarfs are said to have either abandoned the land or moved further into the bush. Currently, there are at least 869 villages on the island with many of the inhabitants hailing from Battor in the Volta Region. The people are mainly farmers and fishermen, undertaking their fishing activities on the Volta Lake and cultivating the fertile land for cassava, yam, vegetables and other crops. “Here, even if you don’t use fertiliser, your crops will do well,” they claim. The evidence of that claim is clear from the abundant food and fat locally bred fowls walking leisurely around.There is also a large presence of cattle and mass population of bush meat on the island. Indeed, it is a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’. But the people need help, such as tractors to increase their yield, and gari-processing machine to enhance the production of gari. Journey to the island My journey from Accra to the Dwarfs Island was breath-taking and a mixture of fun, anxiety and discomfort. The island can be reached from many entry points, but going through Nkawkaw and Donkorkrom presents an awesome experience to me, having to climb the Kwahu Mountains in a taxi, cross River Afram on a pontoon and traverse the Volta Lake in a small canoe. I have had all three experiences on separate occasions in the past, but this time, they come as a single mouth-watering package of tourism experience that many tourists, especially foreigners, will relish. As usual, it is fun climbing the Kwahu Mountains (my hometown), regardless of the bad nature of some portions of the road, as I make my way to Adawso to catch the pontoon to cross River Afram to Ekye. Sailing on the pontoon for the second time after almost a decade, is also refreshing. But the two-hour journey from Ekye to Donkorkrom on a Metro Mass Transit bus is rather discomforting. Some portions of the road are terrible, and having to stand for almost two hours in a position that makes it impossible to turn the neck because of overloading, and in a bus with dead shock absorbers on that terrible road, is really a bundle of discomfort. But the anxiety to see the Dwarfs Island revives me the next day for a bumpier journey on a motorbike from Donkorkrom to Bruben, to catch a boat to cross the Volta Lake. Although it is just a one-hour ride, the journey from Donkorkrom to Bruben appears to be endless because of the rough nature of the road. Crossing the Volta Lake Tales of boat disasters on the Volta Lake and the pleasures of adventure keep waging a fierce battle in my mind, but the latter prevails on the prodding of a faint sense of hope procured by the wearing of a life jacket. With my co-sailors, Francis and Christian, in charge of affairs, we set off smoothly. The beautiful light blue skies, the calmness of the water and the melodious whistles it blows beneath the canoe, as we sail gently, offer a lot of confidence. But at the same time, the many tree stumps scattered throughout the lake present a constant reminder of danger. Shortly, in about 55 minutes, we have landed at Sinafukope on the Dwarfs Island, as Francis and Christian escort me to the regent of the village, Kodzo Amegbanu, who becomes my host. Initial experience A meeting of the elderly in the village is quickly assembled to welcome me and ask of my mission as tradition requires. They are so excited that I have come all the way from Accra to visit and spend Christmas with them when even people at the district capital, Donkorkrom, who have the responsibility to do so, do not desire to visit them. Having won their hearts, I have to quickly satisfy my foremost curiosity by asking whether there are dwarfs on the island. That question draws long laughter from the gathering and a chorus response in the affirmative. But none of them is able to give a personal experience of an encounter with a dwarf on the island. They, instead, recount tales of how dwarfs cause people to lose their way after the people have crossed their path. Drinking water As tradition demands in many Ghanaian communities, water is first served after the visitor is offered a seat. The inhabitants of the Dwarfs Island are strong adherents of this tradition and so, as soon as I am offered a seat on my arrival at Sinafukope, they serve me water. I take and drink the water; not because I am thirsty, but essentially to indicate that I have come with clean hands and heart. I later learn the water the people drink is fetched directly from the Volta Lake, without boiling or treating it. The lake is their only source of potable water; for drinking, cooking, washing and doing everything. Some of them say it is better to drink the water raw because, in that state, it is heavy and in the absence of food, a good gulp can assuage hunger. I have carried along with me, some sachet water, but I keep drinking the raw water from the lake, as I am welcomed to various communities, because I cannot break tradition and have to adhere to it. Access to healthcare Apart from drinking water, the inhabitants on the Dwarfs Island face other chronic challenges such as lack of access to healthcare. Whenever someone is sick or there is an emergency, they have to rush the victim to Donkorkrom by crossing the Volta Lake on a small boat to Bruben. That takes about one hour, before they continue another one-hour journey from Bruben to Donkorkrom on a rugged road. But the more daunting task is to find money to hire a canoe at the cost of GHc30 to cross the lake and arrange for an ambulance to come from Donkorkrom to Bruben to pick the victim to hospital at the cost of GHc50. In the absence of an ambulance, the alternative is to hire a taxi from Donkorkrom at a cost of GHc30 to transport the sick person. In such a poverty-stricken community, the Dwarfs Islanders, invariably, find it extremely difficult to raise that kind of money. Even when there is money, they still require fervent prayer for the availability of pre-mix fuel to power the outboard motors for quick transportation across the lake since the supply of pre-mix fuel to fishermen in the area is irregular. When that happens, the only option is to contend with the manpower paddling of the canoe to transport the sick person across the lake. The implication is spending more time on the lake and risking the loss of the sick person with each passing minute. In many instances, the people have abandoned such emergency evacuations mid-way because they lose their dear ones. Pregnant women go through similar transportation challenges to attend ante-natal clinic at Donkorkrom. I ask one pregnant woman whether she’s been attending ante-natal clinic, and her response is only a wry grin. “When women go into labour, sometimes the idea of rushing them to Donkorkrom is not even contemplated,” Mr Amelewu remarks. He says the people need at least three clinics in his electoral area, considering the large number of people living there. In the desire to reduce the burden of the people, a concerned citizen has donated his house at Cidekope for use as a temporary clinic to serve about 80 villages on the island but the health worker posted there is said to have abandoned post at the time of my visit. Education Education is another major problem on the island. At the Sinafukope D/A Primary School, which serves about 80 villages, there are only three teachers handling eight classes. The head teacher, Mr Richard Vudugah, handles KG1, KG2, Class 1 and Class 2, while another teacher handles classes 3 and 4, with the third teacher handling classes 5 and 6. Mr Vudugah thinks under the circumstance, it will be helpful to post national service persons to the school to augment the teaching staff strength. Since the establishment of the school in 1974, national service persons have been posted there only once; in the 1980s. “Because there are no roads, electricity and mobile telecommunication network, teachers don’t want to come here,” Mr Amegbanu explains. What is worse, as the community members complain, some of the teachers in various schools on the island are “drunkards” and report to school very late. In other instances, the teachers allegedly attend funeral frequently outside the island, and they often spend about one week before returning to post. “It is a challenging situation,” Mr Vudugah asserts. Indeed, it is a challenging situation because circuit education supervisors at Donkorkrom may not desire to cross the lake to check the waywardness of teachers, and even if they do, withdrawing or transferring the teachers is not an option. In view of the lack of teachers and the negative attitude of the few at post, many parents have withdrawn their children from the school, crippling it gradually. The enrolment in classes 4, 5 and 6 at Sinafukope D/A Primary School has reduced drastically to between five and 10. A vibrant junior high school (JHS) stream has now collapsed with the building overgrown with weeds. The national school feeding programme, which is designed to increase enrolment in schools, has not done the trick because the meals are served only twice in a week, and so many children go to school only on days the meals are served. Mr Vudugah says due to the lack of school uniforms, many children feel reluctant to go to school. According to him, the supply of free school uniforms to the school is inadequate. Transportation Many of the schoolchildren walk long distances to and from school, and that alone is a big disincentive to schooling. There are no roads on the island and the only means of transportation are motorcycle, bicycle and walking. Several appeals by the people to the district assembly to construct a road to link the island and the mainland have not yielded positive results. According to the people of Sinafukope, on several occasions, the district assembly has requested them to clear some areas for the construction of a road, but all to no avail. “Now, we have lost confidence in them (district assembly) and if they ask us to weed again, we will not do it,” the regent of the village said in a disappointing tone. Negative effects The lack of roads on the Dwarfs Island is having a serious negative effect on the livelihood of the people. After harvesting their crops, they have nowhere to sell them on the island.  A once vibrant market at Sinafukope died many years ago because of the difficulty farmers faced in transporting their farm produce there. The farmers are, therefore, compelled to travel elsewhere to market their produce, crossing the Volta Lake in canoes/boats. Oftentimes, the canoes/boats are overloaded, and in the process, many people perish on the lake, as the small vessels capsize. Social life The inhabitants of the Dwarfs Island have strong communal bonds but they have no social life. There are no recreational facilities, especially for the youth. It is even a luxury for one to own a television set, essentially because of poverty and lack of electricity. The use of mobile phones may be in vogue in many parts of the country, but for the inhabitants of the island, it is a big challenge to use mobile phones. That is because reception is either non-existent or very poor. On the compound of the regent of Sinafukope, Airtel is the only network received, but the reception behaves like the traffic indicator light of a vehicle for about a minute and then it goes dead. The only place the inhabitants can get a fairly stable reception is on a school park, about 60 metres away. And even there, one has to stand close to a particular tree, sometimes virtually embracing it, before one can get reception for Airtel and Vodafone. The tree serves as a natural mobile telecommunication mast, while its immediate surrounding serves as a communication centre where privacy and secrecy are not rights and guarantees. Environmental and other concerns The Dwarfs Island used to be a thick green belt in the past. That may explain the presence of dwarfs and wild animals on the island. But that beauty of nature is fast fading due to rampant bushfires on the island allegedly caused by farmers to clear their lands and some unscrupulous people on grasscutter hunt. Apart from the bushfires, there is also wanton felling of trees for charcoal burning. “I know cutting the trees is not good but there is no job for the youth and that is the only job I do to survive here,” Atsu, a charcoal burner explains. Some people also cut the trees for fishing in a practice called ‘Atigya’. Under that practice, trees are cut and dried together with the leaves. Later, they are put into a particular spot beneath the lake and left for a period of time. As the trees and leaves get rotten and become dark, they are said to attract fishes for trapping and harvesting. In spite of the poverty, seclusion and official neglect, the Dwarfs Island still holds a lot of promise for agriculture development that can save Ghana from Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) foods, and tourism transformation that can greatly attract tourists into the country. Journey from Dwarfs Island It is an interesting experience going to the Dwarfs Island and staying there for three days, but my return journey is equally intriguing. A few minutes after setting sail from the island, the outboard motor powering the small canoe goes off, and for the next 10 minutes, it would not start. We have about 45 minutes to cross over to Bruben, and looking at the vastness of the lake, it is not a pleasant moment to relish at all. Fortunately, the outboard motor comes back to life and the apprehension turns into confidence, as I begin to appreciate the gentleness and beauty of the lake. But I have another interesting experience ahead at Donkorkrom, as I board a taxi to Ekye to catch the pontoon. I am the fourth passenger to sit in the taxi, and according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) standard, that saloon car, with five occupancy seats, is full. But the driver keeps calling for more passengers and eventually two passengers come to join, making the number of persons in the vehicle seven– four at the back and three in front. I am torn between shutting up and ‘enjoying’ the ride, or complaining and getting down, which comes with missing the pontoon, or picking a ‘dropping’ for the one-and-half journey. Under the circumstance, I prefer to shut up, as I ponder over the popular local mantra, “Travel and see”.   Writer’s Email: [email protected]  

  Reverend Father Benjamin Baiden, the parish priest of the Ajumako Bisease Parish of the Catholic Church, has set up an educational endowment fund. The fund – ‘Kojo Baiden Memorial Education Endowment Fund’ – is in memory of the priest’s father and is intended to raise GH¢500 million in the near future. For a start, it is meant to meet the educational needs of brilliant needy children in the Ajumako Bisease and Twifo Praso parishes of the Catholic Church. It was launched at a eucharistic thanksgiving service held at the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church at Twifo Praso recently to climax the 10th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. Father Baiden into the priesthood. Preaching the sermon at the thanksgiving service before the launch of the fund, the Chaplain of Sekondi College, Rev. Father Ebo Sam, charged all religious adherents, particularly Christians, to use their virtues to influence the world for the betterment of society. “And for the faithful in Ghana, use your virtues to stem the rot like greed, cheating, murder, stealing, ego-centrism and corruption and revive and preserve our country from evil,” he said. Rev. Sam charged his colleague Rev. Father Baiden to serve his congregants and others in his parish well. “Because that way you may be influencing others to come into the light of God and use the fear of Him to guide their deeds,” he said. The service was attended by Catholic faithful from Twifo Praso, Ajumako Bisease, Breman Asikuma, Breman Essiam, as well as other people, including the District Chief Executive of the Twifo-Ati-Mokwa (TAM) District, Mr Osei Hyiamang Jnr. Launching the fund, Mr Hyiamang thanked Rev. Father Baiden for setting up the fund, which would support children from his district and elsewhere to get educated and in the end enhance the development of the nation. He appealed to all people in the district to close their rank and rally behind him to develop it. “Don’t read politics into every issue as that undermines development,” he said. Mr Hyiamang disclosed that the TAM District had agreed to pay GH¢2,000 into the fund’s account and appealed to citizens of the area, both home and abroad, to contribute to the fund. Rev. Father Baiden said his siblings and even his pensioner mother, Mrs Margaret Baiden, had agreed to make monthly contributions to the fund and asked others who loved to see children lead meaningful lives to contribute to the fund. He then thanked all those who had supported him through the first 10 years of his priesthood and, appealed for more prayers and support for the years ahead.  

  Inmates of the Cherubs Children’s Home at Apire, near Kumasi, were full of smiles on Christmas Day when the Asanteman Kuo of Dusseldorf, Germany,  presented a number of items to them at a short ceremony at Apire. The items, which were presented in line with the association’s resolve to give true meaning to Christmas as an occasion to support the needy in society, included four large boxes of used clothing, footwear, toiletries and soft drinks among others. Presenting the items, the Vice-President of the association, Mr John Arhin, said since Jesus Christ came for the poor and the down-trodden, it was important that on the occasion of Christmas, attention was focused on the needy. He said the association  whose membership is made up of Ashantes living in Dusseldorf, made a similar donation to the Kumasi Children’s Home last year. He said the Asanteman Kuo planned to drill boreholes and construct other projects in some communities in the region. The director of the home, Mr Nicholas Osei Bonsu, who received the items, thanked the group for the gesture, saying it would go a long way to improve their operations. Opened in 2005, the home currently has 40 inmates, including orphans and street children. The director said two inmates had completed university while others were in senior high school, junior high and primary schools. He appealed to the public to come to the aid of the home to enable it address the myriad of challenges it faced.  

  A wave of turpitude is sweeping across the leadership of Christendom, as some pastors are caught in bizarre rape and defilement cases that have been described as signs of the end time. In one instance of such moral decadence, the Head Pastor of Grace Powerhouse Ministries, Pastor Ebenezer Asare Kumi, was last December remanded in police custody by an Accra Circuit Court for having sex with his 12-year-old daughter. Pastor Kumi was alleged to have defiled his daughter while his wife was on admission at the Ridge Hospital in Accra to deliver their last child.In another instance, a Tema-based pastor was put on trial for defiling a 14-year-old boy and infecting the teenager with Human Immuno Virus (HIV). At Akyem Achiase in the Eastern Region, the Head Pastor of the African Faith Tabernacle, Rev. Paul Nkansah, was arrested by the police and charged with raping five sisters. He was alleged to have confessed to the crime, but explained he had acted on the orders of some celestial powers. In yet another instance that fits into a popular local mantra, “No mercy for a cripple”, a 38-year-old pastor of the Abuakwa branch of Miracle House Ministry in the Ashanti Region, raped a 19-year-old deaf and dumb woman who was seven months pregnant. Pastor Philip Osei Tutu was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Tarkwa Circuit Court. These cases show the extent to which some pastors have gone morally bankrupt, as they let lose their sexual arsenal in a manner that even the devil himself would envy. “This is disturbing, heartbreaking and worrying,” the Head Pastor of Cedar Mountain Chapel, East Legon (Assemblies of God Church, Ghana), Rev. Stephen Wengam remarks. An elder of the Church of Pentecost, Mr Ernest Owusu Aboagye, says: “Personally, I believe we are in an era of serious moral crisis”. End time The increasing spate of rape and defilement cases involving some pastors does not come as a surprise to Rev. Wengam because, as a student of the bible and eschatology, he knows they are signs of the end time. Mr Aboagye believes such people are not real men of God, but charlatans who are only fulfilling the biblical prophecy about the end time. He says society looks up to the church to lead the way out of such moral crisis, but pastors engaging in rape and defilement, rather deepens the moral crisis in society. Negative impact Mr Aboagye says the Bible stipulates in Daniel 9:19 “… your city and your people bear your Name”, but pastors who indulge in rape and defilement denigrate the name of God. He adds that such conduct by pastors has the tendency to make people lose trust in the church and Christian faith. Making reference to 1 Timothy 3:1 to buttress his point, Rev. Wengam says anyone who aspires to be a minister of God desires a good thing and must be blameless. “Our responsibility is to protect the vulnerable and represent Christ well,” he notes. Rev. Wengam says it is important for the media to give more details about pastors involved in defilement and rape cases in order to establish whether they are ordained or self-styled pastors. Criminal activities As ministers of the gospel, pastors are accorded enormous respect and reverence in society even when they sin. And that is based on the biblical admonition in Psalm 105:15 and 1 Chronicles 16:22 which states: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” (NIV). But Mr Aboagye, who is a legal practitioner, does not share that opinion and contends that rape and defilement are criminal offences that must be dealt with as such. He says pastors who commit crime are worse, adding, “That goes beyond morality and ethics”. In his opinion, society must not leave such pastors to the forgiveness of God, but should deal with them according to the law. He advises victims of rape and defilement to resort to legal, instead of religious redress. In the view of Rev. Wengam, stiffer punishment should be meted out to pastors who indulge in rape and defilement because, as ministers of God, they are expected to live exemplary lives. Way forward Considering the manner in which many pastors have descended from the high moral grounds where they are expected to reside, the biblical injunction in Matthew 7:15 is something that Christians should ponder over. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (NIV). Taking a cue from this biblical caution, Mr Aboagye urges Christians to hold their leaders to high standards and character. “We should bring common sense approach to the church,” adding that the call to ministry is sacred and so pastors should not position themselves in a manner that would open them up to temptation. Rev. Wengam says it is important for Christians to learn and understand the bible so that they will not follow charlatans. He says although the constitution guarantees freedom of association, there is the need for a legislation that will ensure that all pastors belong to an association to help regulate their activities.Writer’s Email: [email protected]  

  About 32 children and young adults between the ages of one and 25 are suffering deprivation at the Gambaga Witches Camp, where their mothers and/or grandmothers are seeking refuge for allegedly being witches. While some of the children followed their female guardians there after they were accused of being witches and banished from their respective communities, others were accused alongside their mothers and/or grandmothers and were, therefore, forced to also seek refuge in the camp. All the children attend school. The Gambaga Witches Camp is one of six such facilities in the Northern Region that currently serve as a refuge for people who have been accused of witchcraft and subsequently banished from their communities. About 76 of the women, who are mostly aged, are currently at the facility. It is made up of clustered circular huts of various sizes, thatched with woven straw. Although there are street lights within the area, the huts do not have lights. Drinking water is within a walking distance. The Co-ordinator of the Presbyterian Church's Go-Home Project, Mr Samson Laar, told the Daily Graphic that two out of the 32 children at the camp had completed senior high school (SHS) while six were still in SHS. The remaining, he said, were in basic school. Mr Laar added that the Go-Home Project, which was initiated by the Presbyterian Church in 1994 to help reintegrate the alleged witches into their communities, as well as cater for their welfare, had been helping with the educational expenses of the children. That help, he says, augments the meagre earnings of their guardians, mostly from menial jobs such as firewood fetching, working for residents of the Gambaga town and the chief for cash and/or kind, among others. Dampened spirits  When the Daily Graphic visited the facility to observe how Christmas was celebrated there, scores of the children were seen playing around the camp, which is a few steps from the Gambaga Market. Except for a donation from the First Lady, Lordina Mahama, through the East Mamprusi District Assembly in which the camp is located, the happiness that Christmas normally bring to children, was absent at the camp. The children shared in the donation to their guardians. They enjoyed a bottle each of soft drinks. It was realised that all the dependents slept with their guardians in the round huts, which are almost the size of two large-size Polytank containers put together. Twenty-two-year-old Mable (not her real name), who had completed SHS, told this paper that she and her three other siblings came to the camp after their mother was accused of being a witch and chased out of their  home. The mother pointed to a scar on her neck as a mark she suffered from her attackers in the course of the allegation. Another victim, 20-year-old Hafisha (not her real name), was alleged to have benefited from her mother's witchcraft hence her exceptional brilliance in school. She and her mother were banished from their community two years ago after Hafisha's accuser, who is her neighbour and mate in junior high school (JHS), alleged that Hafisha's mother had removed the accuser's brain for her daughter; hence, Hafisha's exceptional intelligence in school. Hafisha scored aggregate 31 when she wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and is currently in SHS. She did not accept she was exceptionally brilliant, during a chat with her, Hafisha believes her mother was innocent of the allegation. "The one who said my mother removed his brain and added it to mine went to Kumasi, stayed for sometime and returned to say those things," she said. Like Mabel, Hafisha says she dreads showing her friends and schoolmates where she lives. "If they know, it won't be good for me, they will laugh at me," she said with tear-filled eyes. Ambitious dreams Although dozens of the children dislike their current places of residence, they have not allowed it to entirely hold back their happiness and ambitions. As is the case with most children, many of them were seen loitering around cheerfully, with their parents and/or helping with house chores. Some of those the paper spoke with said they would pursue their education with seriousness in the hope that they would one day become people of prominence to help give normal lifestyles to their mothers and grandmothers. Ten-year-old Haruna, who is in Primary Six, said he wanted to be a doctor to help give medical care to his ailing mother. "She falls sick always and I want to be able to give her injection," he said. Hafisha, the high school girl, also said her ambition was to become a nurse while Mabel, who recently completed SHS, wants to continue with her education. The ambitions of the children notwithstanding, the Daily Graphic realised that they risked growing up into timid adults because of their circumstances. Their ability to pursue further education is also in doubt, particularly so, as their guardians—the accused witches— eke out a living from doing menial jobs.   writer’s email: [email protected]  

  The Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service is working out further measures to implement the policy of spot fine as penalty for minor traffic offences. Although the date for the start of the exercise was not given, the Education Director of MTTD, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Alex Obeng, said the department was working to get other government agencies and private partners on board to ensure the effective operation of the system. Background The MTTD announced that the exercise was to have started in May last year but it did not. Later in September, the department announced that it was to start in November, but the exercise did not take off till the year ended. Failure to renew driver’s licence, driving on the shoulders of the road, failure to use seat belt, driving vehicles without reflectors, among similar offences, will attract spot fines. The spot fine system is intended to quicken the administration of justice for minor traffic offenders and promote compliance with road traffic regulations and reduce indiscipline by drivers. Equipment ready Mr Obeng indicated that the equipment for the take-off of the exercise was ready and that efforts were being made to ensure a smooth and efficient implementation. He reiterated that the system would help to reduce the carnage on the road, since it would force motorists to abide by the road regulations. Mr Obeng said this year the MTTD, in collaboration with its stakeholders, would intensify efforts to considerably reduce road accidents. A total of 2,096 people died in 14,390 accidents nationwide in 2013, while 2,249 deaths resulted from 14,914 cases in the previous year. Last year’s accidents involved 22,208 vehicles with 12,655 persons suffering injuries.  Also 2,642 pedestrians were knocked down. Mr Obeng attributed the comparative reduction in accident cases last year to the slow but gradual change in the attitude of motorists. He said that not withstanding, drivers and stakeholders needed to do more to drastically reduce road accidents.  

  With the start in implementation of the new Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of 17.5 per cent, industry players are asking the government to reduce other costs of doing business locally. Such dispensation, they contend, would create a congenial atmosphere for them to survive and become more competitive. Speaking to the Daily Graphic , the Executive Director of AGI, Mr Twum Akwaboah, said “even if VAT becomes so critical for the government to generate revenue and support development, the best way is to reduce costs in other areas so that the businesses become more competitive.” In the view of Mr Akwaboah, a reduction would help to address the challenge of added cost to their products, which would inform reduced purchases by consumers. Impact of New VAT Touching on the impact the new rate was going to have on the operations of the over 1,200 companies belonging to the association, he said; “That is sales tax, so naturally, in principle, it is not the company that is supposed to pay so it is passed on to the consumers of the product.” Mr Akwaboah explained that although usually when there was VAT increment, it was for the consumer to pay. “Once it is a tax it adds to the cost of your product and once the cost of product is going up, consumers with their limited income, may begin to be more prudent in their expenditure. “For example, interest cost is still very high – it is still 25 per cent and that is a major cost of operation to businesses. Electricity cost has gone up, water is going up and then even the inefficiencies in the system in terms of bureaucracy, in terms of traffic, fuel all add to the cost of operation, he said. The new Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of 17.5 per cent took off on January 2, 2014, following the presidential assent given the VAT Act 2013 (Act 870) on December 30, 2013, and its subsequent gazetting the following day. Under the regime, the standard rate, which was 12.5 per cent, moves up to 15 per cent, whilst the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) remains at 2.5 per cent. Mr Akwaboah further said that the association’s members were initially confused about when to start implementation of the new rate, as that was not made clear when the Minister of Finance delivered the budget statement last year. “I know some have called and we were not sure of when it was starting and then they got to know that it was indeed starting on January 2, 2014. That was when some of them got to know so it created a bit of confusion,” he stated. The AGI Executive Director added that as a result of the uncertainty, members were still charging the old rate when the New Year began and suddenly they got to know that implementation was starting on the second day. Sharing similar sentiments in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Isaac K. Adjei, Senior Accountant of Woimex Limited, a grocery shop in Accra, said the 2.5 per cent increment was virtually an increment in the price of goods and services. He acknowledged that even though there was nothing wrong with the increment, it was necessary for all stakeholders to be given enough notice to do the necessary adjustments before its implementation. Mr Adjei explained that because they were not aware of the date of implementation of the new rate, they were using the old rate from the beginning of the year, while they were required to file returns on goods they had sold before actual implementation began. “So that we don’t scare our customers away, increment has not been made promptly but management will decide on the price change soon,” he added. Way Out On steps the association takes to deal with the high cost of doing business, Mr Akwaboah said the best way out of the quagmire was a constant battle of regular advocacy, surveys to monitor the effects of some of the factors on businesses and their impacts. Mr Akwaboah divulged that the AGI business barometer came out with a ranking of the top 10 factors that militated against businesses every quarter, out of which they focussed on the top three for the necessary action, by informing and dialoguing with policy makers on their challenges. He cautioned that some of the challenges like the high interest rates were long term in nature and couldn’t be solved overnight, while others could be solved in the medium term.  

  Fire gutted the top floor of the Crystal Rose Hostel at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on Thursday evening. There were no casualties but many items such as television sets, fridges, a gas stove and cylinders belonging to the students were destroyed and it took fire personnel more than two-and-half hours to bring the fire under control. Investigations have begun to establish the cause of the fire. According to reports, the fire started around 5.30 pm on the third floor of the four-storey building. No water At the time of the incident, only a few students were occupying the hostel because majority of the students were on vacation. Fire personnel were said to have responded to a distress call but they ran short of water. In an interview, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Mr Philip Arhin-Mensah, attributed the inability of his personnel to quench the fire to lack of water in almost all water hydrants in Kumasi during the incident. He explained that during the operation to bring the fire under control, almost all fire hydrants in the metropolis could not supply them with water, with the exception of two at the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) and the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA). Mr Arhin-Mensah, who is also the Ashanti Regional Commander of GNFS, said looking at the distance between the sources of water and the fire outbreak, they had no option than to depend on the two sources for all their water needs since the KNUST water hydrant had no water in it. The Regional Commander said due to the magnitude of the fire, coupled with the water shortage, nothing could be salvaged from the fourth floor but the fire officers managed to evacuate all the occupants of the building.  

  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.