A young man was shot and killed by the police for allegedly attempting to stop them from providing security cover for an exercise to demolish about 380 illegal structures on a large tract of land at Adentan Aviation in Accra Monday. The incident occurred after the young man, identified as Adjei Akpor, 22, suspected to be a member of a group of land guards, had attempted to attack two of the policemen with a machete. Perceiving danger, one of the policemen fired a warning shot, which hit the right eye of Akpor, killing him instantly. Three of the suspects, who tried to flee upon seeing a team of policemen rushing to the accident scene, were arrested and taken to the Greater Accra Region headquarters of the Ghana Police Service. They are Emmanuel Armah and Nii Aryea, both 32, and Tijani Osman, 30. Land guard cases in Accra Briefing the press, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Christian Tettey Yohonu, blamed some of the chiefs for the land guard cases in Accra. According to him, most of the chiefs who did not have the mandate to sell lands but had done so, solicited the services of land guards to protect such lands. For instance, Mr Yohonu said, an alleged self-acclaimed chief of Adentan, Mr Ernest Nii Oko Kwei, was the brain behind the sale of some portions of the Adentan Aviation lands. He, however, warned that the police would not entertain any land guard cases this year and would deal with any culprit, regardless of his or her position or status in the society. Demolition Meanwhile hundreds of illegal structures and buildings on a 260-acre land belonging to the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority at Adentan had been razed down while the owners watched helplessly. The owners of the structures, some of whom were seen openly wailing, rushed into their structures to salvage their belongings as more than five bulldozers, supervised by heavily armed police officers, demolished them.  Property such as furniture, mattresses, television sets, vehicle spare parts and other personal effects were all littered around. Some of the structures, which were used as residences, churches and shops, were mostly kiosks, metal containers, temporary and permanent structures, all went down. Posted on the structures were notifications dating as far back as August, 2013 warning the residents to vacate the land earmarked for development. Some of the occupants of the structures confessed that they were notified even as late as last week that the demolition exercise would come off but they thought it was an empty threat. Why the demolition According to Mr Frank Tackie, the director of The Consortium, a construction company contracted to redevelop the Adentan Aviation land, the government intended to turn that area into a suburban centre to be called the Adentan Central Business District. “The whole strategy is to help augment Accra’s inadequacies and decongest the region. Places such as Adentan, Ashalley Botwe, Madina, and Legon, would have the necessary infrastructure and social services to improve their living condition,” he said. Mr Tackie also said since the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority is the legitimate owners of the land, part of it would be used for the construction of an International Aviation Training School and other facilities that would enhance the operation of the company. He said once the squatters were cleared from the land and the debris collected, the first stage, which included roads, drains, water supply, and electricity would be provided. “This would be followed by the construction of 3,000 apartments, a shopping mall, hospital, schools, hotels and other business activities that would improve the living conditions of the people in Adentan and its surrounding communities,” Mr Tackie said. Asked when the actual construction would begin, he said work should have started six months ago but as a result of the encroachment on the land, the government had to give the squatters ample time to evacuate hence the delay. “Two weeks from today, the land should be ready for major development,” he said. {gallery}Adentandemolition{/gallery}

  A study carried out from January 2009 to 2012 by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) on Residential Homes for Children (RHC) in Ghana has found that the number of RHCs operating in the country had increased by 169 per cent from 55 in 2005 to 148 in 2012 and they catered for about 4,500 children.  This rise has, however, not been matched by increase in funding for the residential homes, a performance audit report of the Auditor-General from a study conducted on four sampled regions (Greater Accra, Western, Northern, Ashanti) and three other homes in the Central Region has revealed.  According to the A-G’s report on the regulation of residential homes for children (orphanages) by the DSW,  the only fund available for use for the DSW’s planned activities was the Government of Ghana (GoG) funds, which excluded salaries and allowances. The funds were categorised into direct Government of Ghana (GoG) funding, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Internally Generated Funds (IGFs). Nonetheless, the report indicates that while the amount of money received by the DSW increased by 43 per cent from 2008 to 2009, it dropped by 65 per cent from 2009 to 2010. Further, GoG funds allocated to the DSW increased by 27 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and 21 per cent from 2011 to 2012. Funding recorded for DSW activities between 2008 and 2012, as indicated by financial files at the department, shows 2008 figures as GH¢107, 690 for direct GoG funding, GH¢468,516 from LEAP, GH¢180,565 from UNICEF and GH¢7,772 from IGFs, all totalling GH¢764,543. For 2009, the figures were: GH¢153, 571 from direct funding; GH¢380,048 from LEAP; GH¢152,898 from UNICEF and GH¢8,425 from IGFs, totalling GH¢694,942. In 2010 direct funding from GoG was GH¢53,499; LEAP funding was GH¢780,331; UNICEF contributed GH¢359,742; IGFs added up to GH¢9,401 and summed up to GH¢1,202,973. Funding received in 2011 was GH¢68,050 from direct GoG funding, GH¢536,897 from LEAP, GH¢347,012 from UNICEF and GH¢8,619 from IGFs, totalling GH¢960,578. For 2012, the DSW received GH¢82,067 as direct GoG funding; GH¢639,700 from LEAP; GH¢165,771 from UNICEF and GH¢9,719 from IGFs; all adding up to GH¢897,257. Therefore, receipts in direct GoG funding for the five years totalled GH¢464,877; LEAP funding added up to GH¢2,805,492; funding from UNICEF amounted to GH¢1,205,988, while IGFs totalled GH¢43,936, with all receipts for the period adding up to GH¢4,520,293.    Child abuse The study, which was carried out to determine whether the DSW’s regulation of the operations of RHCs was ensuring care and protection of the children, also encountered reports of child abuse, trafficking, unreported movement of children, inadequate caregivers, the absence of infirmaries or sickbays, molestation and neglect at the RHCs. It lists notable homes of abuse as the Osu Children’s Home and the Peace and Love Orphanage at Adenta (Accra), while most orphanages in the country were reported to be operating illegally and below the standards set by the DSW.  The study found that the DSW had not regulated the RHCs operating in the country to provide care and protection for children admitted into the homes, therefore placing the lives of the children at risk. While noting that the DSW had not licensed 96 per cent of RHCs operating in the sampled regions, the team found that due to that situation, the DSW was unable to ensure effective supervision of the RHCs, as most of the homes they superintended were not formally registered and recognised. No effective supervision and monitoring It was also established that the DSW did not have the required data on the operating RHCs in the sampled regions, which made it difficult to track progress of the RHCs, as well as the wellbeing of the children in the RHCs, assess the competency of the home owners and managers and also recommend corrective measures to the homes.  The study found that the activity plans of the DSW had no monitoring schedule and district officers could not provide reports on visits they had made to the RHCs. As a result, minimum standards for operating the RHCs, as prescribed by the guidelines, were not met and followed by the RHCs. However, the team found that 17 out of 25 officers did not have activity plans detailing how often inspection of RHCs were to be done. The remaining had activity plans but with programmes such as disbursement of funds and inspection of LEAP beneficiaries, public education on community care and child protection, education on child abuse and domestic violence, other than inspection or supervision of the RHCs.   Official response The district officers explained that they used to prepare activity and work plans but they were always not implemented because of lack of funds. They informed the team that their visits to the homes were more ad hoc than quarterly because they lacked the needed manpower at the district level to undertake periodic inspections.  They also complained of the workload on them. According to them, they are responsible for activities such as providing services for the disabled, LEAP support distribution, settling family issues, inspecting RHCs and day care centres and attending court cases on behalf of the department.    Operating without licence A compilation of records on 85 RHCs operating in the four sampled regions by the DSW, excluding all four government homes in those regions, showed that 82 operated without licenses, while the remaining three worked with expired licences. Also, the audit team found in Gazette Number 34 the names of three RHCs that had obtained licenses as of March 2010, but which were published on May 14, 2010.  According to the audit team, if all the 143 privately owned RHCs had been certified, that would have generated GH¢7,150 at the current fee of GH¢50 and also further revenue from yearly renewal fees. During a survey of 31 of the unlicensed homes to find out why they operated when they had not been licensed, the team further found that 13 homes had Certificate of Incorporation from the Registrar-General’s Department and NGO certificate of recognition from DSW which enabled entities and individuals to operate NGOs, while the remaining 18 homes had Certificates of Incorporation from the Registrar-General’s Department.  Seventy-one per cent, making up 22 of the 31 unlicensed operators (from the sample), did not know they were to obtain licence from DSW and thought the NGO certificate of recognition was enough mandate for them to operate the RHCs. Ten of the 25 district officers interviewed also believed the use of the Certificate of Recognition was enough mandate to operate a RHC.  Recommendations The audit team gave a host of recommendations to rectify the anomalies in orphanages and homes across the country. These included ensuring that all operating RHCs applied for licence and were screened, failure of which should culminate in their being closed down. It was also recommended that the DSW should ensure and insist that activity and work plans were prepared and implemented at the district level, request for all reports due them from the RHCs and sanction RHCs that did not meet the requirements.  

  The unusually large number of vehicles at the DVLA office was as a result of the desire of most people who bought their vehicles mostly in the last quarter of 2013 to lincence their vehicles in 2014. The situation got so chaotic that police officers had to stand in to control traffic flow at the usually quiet street leading to the DVLA offices. On the first working day of the year on Thurday and Friday, the cars massed up on the car parks of the police barracks nearby as DVLA authorities hustled for space to accomodate the large turn out. To control the situation, officials of the DVLA closed their gates and allowed 50 vehicles into their premises at a time. Additionally, 250 vehicles have been scheduled for registration each day to reduce the stress that comes with the exercise. During this time of the year, many new car owners prefer unique car numbers or car licence plates with numbers that end with 14- (coined from 2014 ), hence they wait till the end of the year to register their vehicles. “A car with registration number say GR 1-14 or  GR 111-14 will make my plate stand out,” Mr John Kusi, an applicant,said. He had bought a Toyota Corolla in October last year but waited to register it this year. Other car owners also said the rush for the registration and renewal of their documents was for them to avoid a brush with the law. Complaints Some applicants, who spoke with the Daily Graphic expressed displeasure with the slow pace of the exercise. “I came around 5am to register my car. The process is boring. The queue they asked us to join is also not moving,” Mr Issahaku Andani told the Daily Graphic. He said his interest was not the new plate because he bought his vehicle in the last week of December. He blamed the slow nature of the process on the fact that there was only one customs officer checking the documents of vehicles. “They should have a lot of staff working on the registration process because at this time, there is always a lot of pressure,” he added. The Head of Public Relations of the DVLA, Mr Kwaku Darko Aferi, agreed that the process was slow but maintained, “you can’t ignore certain things and go ahead to issue the number plate.  We have to be sure that the vehicles we are registering are road-worthy. It is important to ensure that once we give the owners the chance to be on our roads, they are not going to compromise safety. We have seen how chaotic the process becomes at this time, that is why we are not allowing all the vehicles in like that,” he added. Commendation Mr Ben Adu, who had completed the registration formalities, told the Daily Graphic that even though the process was cumbersome, there was significant improvement from the past. “There is some form of order and coordination now, unlike in the past when the whole place is usually chaotic.” According to the DVLA figures, in the first quarter of last year, the Greater Accra Region registered the highest number of new vehicles, 26,212, in Accra, Tema, and Weija. The DVLA office in Accra recorded 12,237; Tema  8,141; and Weija  5,834. The number of vehicles registered for the whole country increased from 41,828 in 2012 to 49,537, representing an 18 per cent increase in vehicles between January and April. The numbers also mean more business for the middlemen, popularly known as ‘goro boys’, who take advantage of the system to make money from desperate applicants. The “goro boys” were all over at the entrance, harassing drivers and car owners to assist them to go through the registration and renewal of their documents easily. In that respect, the Deputy Director of Security of the DVLA, Mr Emmanuel Moncar, urged the public to be cautious of people who approached them at the DVLA offices to help speed up the process for a fee. “They should look for the DVLA staff. We all have our ID cards. We have tags.  Any other person you find inside is here for registration and not a DVLA staff. We advise that you deal with DVLA staff wearing tags,” he concluded.  

  Christians have been advised to stop paying prophets to pray for them. The Bishop of the Lighthouse Chapel International in charge of Central Region, Bishop Jake Godwyll said it was time Christians learnt to pray for their needs and stopped paying men of God for prayer. "Pray your own prayer in 2014 and stop going round paying prophets to pray for you," he stated. Preaching a sermon on Pray So You Do Not Enter Into Temptation to usher in the New Year at the Church in Cape Coast, Bishop Godwyll said the life of a Christian who did not pray was left to chance. He said a life of prayer was also subjected to the curses of this world including the curse of Adam, Eve and Ham. Bishop Jake said rather than pay prophets to pray, Christians must develop strong prayer lives to enable them to adjust things spiritually in their favour. He noted that prayer was an expression of ones personal faith in God and an indication that one had a personal relationship with God which was the basis of everyone's Christian faith. He said Christians must learn to pray themselves and believe in their prayer to live victoriously in the new year.  The Church prayed to usher in the New Year and sang praises thanking God to welcome the new year.  

  The 27-year-old suspected kidnapper who was arrested recently has admitted he was the mastermind of the child kidnappings from some churches in the Accra Metropolis. Ernest Kwabena Koomson told the Accra Circuit Court he kidnapped the four children in the recent kidnaps and demanded ransoms from their parents. I did not know the repercussions Appearing before the court, the accused, who was not represented by a lawyer, said he committed the offence without knowing the repercussions. His 19-year-old accomplice, Isaac Ntie, who was represented by Mr Odei Fianko, denied the offence proffered by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Charles Chester. Pleas of not guilty The court, presided over by Ms Ellen V. Amoah, entered a plea of not guilty for the kidnapper mastermind and his accomplice and remanded them in police custody to reappear on January 7, 2013. The court heard that the two were arrested about 8:30 a.m. on December 22, 2013  by police officers from the Greater Accra Regional Police Command who had information that a nine-year-old boy had been kidnapped from the North Kaneshie branch of the Lighthouse Chapel International Church (Quodesh) in Accra. Victim‘s father According to the facts of the case, the father of the kidnapped boy, Mr Kojo Spencer, told the police that his son was at Sunday School on the second floor of the church building with his two other siblings, but about 8:22 a.m., he had a call during the church service  in the main auditorium of the church from a man about the kidnap. Mr Spencer said the caller told him that his son had been kidnapped and that he was to pay a ransom of GH¢5000 before the child would be released. A second call from the kidnapper warned Mr Spencer not to involve the police and directed him to leave the ransom at the Christ Ebenezer Preparatory School at Odorkor Official Town. The father of the victim obliged, while the police, who had already been informed about the developments, wore mufti and monitored the calls and movement of the accused person and his accomplice. The ransom The money was then put in a plastic bag and deposited at the location indicated by the kidnapper. The police looked on as Ntie, the accomplice, picked up the bag containing the ransom. Ntie was arrested together with Koomson while he was handing over the money to Koomson, who was on a waiting motorbike close by. The prosecutor told the police that the house of the accused where the victim was rescued and handed over to his parents was located through intelligence gathering. No bail Counsel for Ntie prayed the court to grant his client bail, but the prosecuting officer opposed it, with the explanation that it would affect the work of the police who were conducting further investigations into the matter. Chief Inspector Chester said the police had retrieved from the accused persons some exhibits, including mobile phones, used in two similar offences they had committed early on. He stated that the accused kidnapper did not have a permanent place of abode.  

  The Police in Bekwai in the Ashanti Region are searching for three women who stabbed a taxi driver and stole his Toyota Corolla Taxi cab at Senfi on the Obuasi road. The driver Sakibu Kadril sustained deep knife wounds. According to Kumasi-based Luv FM’s Erastus Asare Donkor, the women took him on several rounds before attacking him in one of their errands: he claimed they were at Kumasi and Kokofu. Kadril said one of the ladies tied a rope around his neck while on their way to Anwia Nkwanta and ordered him to stop and get down from the car. He said he resisted their order which infuriated one of them who slapped him from behind. While he struggled with the ladies, he recalled that one of them reached the ignition key and stopped the engine; the car finally landed in a ditch. He said he was forced out of the car after being stabbed in the wrist and several parts of the body. While weak, helpless and bleeding, the driver said his attackers abandoned him and drove off with the car. The police is yet to make any arrest. ASP Thomas Owoahene Acheampong, Bekwai District Police Commander said though women are known to be accomplices to male armed robbers, he finds it surprising for women alone to stage such a robbery. He said the police would ensure that these suspected robbers are apprehended.  

  Grace Community Outreach (GCO), a nongovernmental organization, has donated books worth GHC 480,000 to 10 community libraries in the Shama District of the Western Region. The 800 boxes of books, will be distributed to eight GCO established community libraries which include, Yabiw, Inchaban, Esoko Essaman, Konfeku, Dwomo, Ituma, Nyankrom and Nkwanta-Kesse community libraries and two already existing libraries in the Shama, and Aboadze communities. The donated books cover a wide area of study such as Religion, Information Communication Technology (ICT), History, Science, Literature as well as motivational and inspirational books from bestselling American authors. Speaking at an event held to officially handover the books to the district, the Country Director of Grace Community Outreach, Reverend Stephen K. Fosu said the purpose of donating the books was to provide the communities with reading materials that could enhance their educational development. He said GCO had established eight libraries in the district and that plans were underway to establish 10 more libraries in the other communities in the district which would be stocked with books upon completion. He said GCO was committed to creating educational and social development opportunities for children in selected deprived communities in the country. This, he said would be achieved by offering community focused programmes which included the establishment of community based libraries. He expressed his gratitude to the management of Lower Pra Rural Bank for paying for the clearance of the books from the port. In his speech at the event, the Chairman of the Board Of Directors of Lower Pra Rural Bank, Mr. Nathaniel Arthur, said the bank was grateful to had played a role that aided in the successful donation of books to the communities. He said the bank treated the payment for the clearance of the books as part of its corporate social responsibilities which was aimed at improving the lives of the people in the communities within which the bank operated. Speaking on the benefits of reading, the Board Chairman said it had been established that knowledgeable people read a lot and that reading was an activity of getting info. He said reading would help a person achieve personal development, adding, “There is no substitute for reading and that an informed person is not easily deceived.” He said there was a growing concern about the falling standards of English language in the country’s educational system and that there was the need to do more to salvage the situation. Receiving the books on behalf of the district, the District Chief Executive of Shama, Mr. Enoch Kodjoe Appiah expressed his gratitude to GCO and Lower Pra Rural Bank for their collaborative effort of donating the books to the communities. He assured the GCO that the books would be put to its rightful use and that measures would be put in place to provide maximum care for the books as well as avoid pilfering. GCO is a Ghanaian based nongovernmental organization committed to improving on educational standards and Christian teachings in communities in the country.  

    Fire, yesterday, broke out in a wooden structure close to the Kokomlemle Police Barracks in Accra, reducing two of its five rooms into a pile of ashes and rubble. The fire also caused considerable damage to the remaining three rooms, rendering them inhabitable. No human casualty was reported. The fire was said to have started in one of the rooms at about 7:30 a.m, and within minutes engulfed the whole structure. It took fire fighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), security personnel and residents with the aid of two fire engines nearly two hours to bring the fire under control. When the Daily Graphic reached the scene, there was smoke everywhere and some victims looked helpless since they could not recover anything from the fire.  Others, however, were busily salvaging the little they could from the debris, as the fire fighters got ready to leave the scene. Following the incident, some victims have been forced to sleep in the open while others are putting up with their relatives. How the fire started A victim, Madam Matilda Atipoe, who had lived in the area for close to 30 years, said she noticed smoke coming out of one of the rooms in the house at about 7:30 a.m. “I rushed to my room to be sure it wasn’t coming from my own room because my other neighbour had travelled. When I came out of my room, I realised that the smoke was rather coming from that neighbour’s room.” Madam Atipoe said she rushed to get a crowbar to get her neighbour’s door opened but by the time she got it, the fire had engulfed the whole place. She told the Daily Graphic that police personnel from the barracks helped in quenching the fire, while others made calls to the GNFS. “Now I have lost everything including my travel documents and money. For clothing, the one I am wearing is all I have now,” she added. GNFS The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Prince Billy Anaglate, said the office received a call at about 8:11 a.m. and fire fighters reached the scene six minutes later. “When we got here, the whole place was on fire and we first had to disconnect all electrical connections before quenching the fire,” he said. He said preliminary investigations gathered at the scene revealed a rice cooker with rice in it, but they were yet to investigate whether it was the cause of the incident. Prince Anaglate expressed worry that the initial number, 999, which the victims used in their attempt to get to the GNFS, was not the correct number and advised that the general public should have emergency numbers on speed dial on their phone at all times to prevent them from calling wrong numbers. Meanwhile, the victims have appealed to the government to come to their aid.    

  The Acting Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Brigadier General Martin K.G. Ahiaglo has said that the company was ready to pay special attention to its customers with the aim of impacting positively in the revenue base, to achieve the raising revenue of the government. This development, he said, the company would operate within the domain of the National Lotto Act, 722 of 2006 to guide its operation through an essential regulation, monitoring and supervision to achieve the core goals set for 2014. Mr Ahiaglo made these initiatives known when he was delivering a speech at a press soirée held on Thursday in Accra. The press soiree sought to review the performance of the NLA in 2013 and the vision for 2014 as well as its contribution to the Consolidated Fund. Speaking on the theme, “Consolidating the Gains Made in 2013 For Increased Revenue Generation in 2014” the NLA Boss said, although the company had faced numerous challenges, it was able to rise in the second half of last year. He pointed out challenges such as Information Technology Fraud by operators, frustrations suffered by patrons of game with respect to WINS payment in 2013 and operating below optimal capacity. Mr Ahiaglo said the company was able to contribute into the Consolidated Fund, an amount of GHC 25.00 million representing 56.25 per cent more than the target of GHC 16.00 million in 2013. The Way Forward for 2014 Confronting the challenges of NLA, Mr Ahiaglo said the organisation would be re-energised and accelerated onto a more dependable and secure platform. “IT system would be fortified by a conducting system audit, authority matrix and access control to eliminate or reduce the high rate of fraud in the company” he said. He added that an initiative would be launched to address customer relations, customer care issues in the area of WINs Payment and also to improve the image through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activates. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Touching on the Corporate Social Responsibility Activities (CSR), the General Manager in charge of Security of NLA, Lt. Col. Dzotefe Mensah said the CSR was an initiative that pursued sustainable community projects that bonded communities and NLA as development partners. Mr Mensah noted that through the CRS initiatives, the NLA had supported the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital with an amount of GHc20000.00 and the TV3 Social Support Fund with an amount of Ghc 5,000.00. The gesture is to enable a 17-year-old, Richard Kusi Yeboah and Ms Jemima Ekwam to undergo treatment for a year. He assured the general public that playing NLA games ensured that one was a winner at all times.  

  Two days into the New Year, the usual brisk activities at the ministries, departments and state agencies (MDAs) were virtually absent. Even though many workers reported for work on January 2, 2014, members of the public who normally trooped to the ministries to transact business were very few. When the Daily Graphic visited the ministries in Accra, it observed that the usual traffic congestion at the car parking spaces were absent.Some of the institutions visited included the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and  Ghana Education Service. At the Ghana Education Service (GES), it was observed that some staff were packing and arranging old files. “Some of the staff are not back from the holidays but others are here and we are working as usual”, Nana Ofori Ansah at the Public Relations Office at the GES said. A receptionist at the Ministry of Trade and Industry also said work was moving on but at a slow pace. Business activities The slow pace of activities has also affected hawkers and traders who are usually seen around the ministries engaging in one business or another. Although few of the hawkers and traders were seen doing business, they complained that business was very slow. Madam Obaa Yaa, who sells fruits, said patronage was very poor, but expressed the hope that business would pick up in due course. The situation was not different for Madam Afasatu Mohammed who sells provisions. She lamented that many people were still in the holiday mood, while others were yet to report after the break. Expectations On the expectations of the staff, Nana Ansah expressed the hope that the economy would improve this year. He said the GES would continue to work hard to ensure quality education. A civil servant, Mr Nicholas Amarboye, expressed the hope that the economy would get better this year as compared to that of last year, saying; “we hope for a better year.” Ms Ruby Ntim of  the Ministry of Health expressed the hope that health workers would work harder this year to ensure that Ghanaians received the best healthcare.  

  The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana, Rev. Dr Paul Frimpong-Manso, has urged Ghanaians to purge themselves of all social vices, such as corruption, greed and selfishness. He also stressed the need for Ghanaians to bury their differences and prejudices and “love our neighbours as ourselves.” “Let us live a new life of peace, love and harmony with one another,” he said in a Christmas and New Year message issued in Accra. Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso prayed that 2014 would bring Ghanaians new hope, opportunity and renewed vigour to serve God better than before. He also invoked divine peace on Ghanaians and the entire nation in the New Year. Essence of Christmas Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said Christmas was characteristically a season of great joy and jubilation celebrated all over the world to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. He said during that period, people generally made extra efforts to cleanse their homes and offices of all filth, whitewash them and adorn the walls and doors with colourful decorations. Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said commercial activities also reached their peak during the period, as many traders took advantage of the season to make more money. “I personally have no qualms about these activities during Christmas, but I am concerned about the undue hikes in these activities and the shifting of people’s focus from the real reason for Christmas to these peripherals. “Quite similar to the biblical account of Luke 2:7, where the people of Bethlehem had no room in the inn for Jesus and His parents, many people in our day and age tend to crowd out Jesus during Christmas with many activities which are only incidental to the occasion,” he said. According to Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso, “Christ, indeed, is the reason for the season, and without Him, there would be no Christmas in the first place.” Honest reflection He said in order to make the occasion complete and meaningful, “we must make it a season of honest reflection on the cause for which Jesus was born and for which He sacrificed His life; and this remembrance should cause us to order our lives accordingly.” Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said the amazing thing to remember during Christmas was that God entered the world of man by becoming a man capable of relating with man not only as creator, mighty God and saviour, but also as friend, brother and beloved. “Our reflections should also help us to cherish the paradoxes of Christmas, the incarnation and our redemption,” he noted. Gift-giving Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso said Christmas was also a time for gift-giving in memory of the magi and the gifts they presented to Jesus Christ. But he was quick to point out that God was the ultimate Gift-giver in the Christmas story by demonstrating how to give, not sparingly and selectively, but lavishly to all. “God did not require that we first demonstrate our worthiness or earn His affection; He found us while we were yet sinful and brought us grace and forgiveness. “God did not give objects and artefacts; He sacrified Himself, restored us to a right relationship with Him, and bade us to reconcile with one another,” he remarked.  

  The Eastern Regional Police Command has described as false reports  that Nkwantanang, a town near Kade in the Akyem Abuakwa paramountcy, was last Thursday engulfed in mayhem due to a chieftaincy dispute. The story, which was aired the same day (January 2), indicated that a lot of people sustained injuries while the queenmother, Nana Abena Frempoma, fled the town. The Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Akuriba Yaagy, and his deputy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr James Abass Abaa, expressed disgust at the report, which, according to them, had caused fear and panic in the area. They, therefore, cautioned the media, especially the private radio stations, to desist from such acts. According to them, some journalists in the region, especially those working for private radio stations, “go to town” with any information, especially security issues, without cross-checking with the police, and added that it was time owners of the private radio stations and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), sanctioned reporters who engaged in unprofessional conduct. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Koforidua yesterday,  Mr Yaagy said when he heard the story on one of the private radio stations, he immediately ordered the Kade District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police, Mr Stephen Delaporte, to deploy policemen to the scene.  “It turned out to be false when our men got there; the place was peaceful but we have some men still there for any eventuality,” he said. Throwing light on the issue, Mr Delaporte said what was perceived to be mayhem was the destruction of a vehicle windscreen by someone believed to belong to a faction in a long-standing chieftaincy dispute at Nkwantanang, which the police are currently investigating. Giving further details, he said on December 27, 2013 at 6 p. m. he heard on Oman FM that judgement on the long-standing Nkwantanang chieftaincy dispute had been given, declaring the chief of the town, Barima Omane II, destooled. He said on December 31, 2013 at 3 p.m., the Abusuapanyin, Nana Adansi Ewusi, the queenmother and two others reported to his outfit that when they were returning from Kyebi, where they had installed a new chief for Nkwantanang, Nana Gyan II, somebody destroyed the windscreen of the vehicle that brought them. Mr Delaporte said the police, after listening to the complaint, pointed out to them that because they had not informed the police about the installation of Nana Gyan, which was in contravention of the Public Order Act, they would also be dealt with. “We are currently investigating both cases and we shall deal with the issues in accordance with the law,” he said. He added that nobody fought at Nkwantanang, was injured or had run away from the town, which had been peaceful throughout the Christmas and New Year celebrations.  

  A book titled “Coming Home from Agege” that vividly captures the period 1983 to 1985 when many Ghanaians migrated from the country to Nigeria to seek greener pastures has been launched in Accra. The reasons for the migration were varied, but Nigeria’s oil find, availability of jobs and the scarcity of essential commodities in Ghana at that time attracted many Ghanaians to that country. Speaking at the launch, Commodore Steve Obimpeh (rtd), Senior Presidential Staffer, Office of the President, said the book recounted the event of the repatriation of Ghanaians deported from Nigeria at the time, an operation that was code-named Exodus I & II. The 242-page book, authored by Mr Kwasi Oduro-Agyekum, recounts the work done by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government during the period, as it tried to evacuate over two million Ghanaians who were stranded at various borders, airports and harbours in neighbouring West African countries, after they had been given an ultimatum to leave Nigeria. Commodore  Obimpeh said the book, divided into three parts, provided a historical overview of the reasons for Ghanaians’ migration to Nigeria, the expulsion orders and their consequences. “Coming Home from Agege’ narrates the odyssey of energetic Ghanaians who left Ghana for neighbouring Nigeria after the latter had discovered oil,” he observed. Commodore Obimpeh, who is also a former Secretary of Agriculture, said the book narrated and illustrated the story of the African ties, and provided deep insight into the dimensions of its shared history, close relations between cultural and colonial heritage, as well as its interconnected languages. He asked Ghanaian youth to work hard and build the nation, adding, “you may travel out if you must, for education, better skills in new technologies but when you do, please return to Ghana your motherland and contribute your quota to her development.” Author speaks Being a victim of the repatriation exercise, the author, Mr Oduro-Agyekum, stated that the book gave a vivid eyewitness account of the horrifying effects of the ‘go home’ (Ghana must go) orders of 1983 and 1985. He added that the book recorded the dehumanising conditions that resulted from the expulsion orders.  

  Sixty-five people died while 44 others sustained injuries in 4,171 fire outbreaks recorded in 2013, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has said. Eight hundred and thirty-six out of the fire outbreaks occurred in the Ashanti Region, with the Brong Ahafo Region recorded 553 cases, with the Greater Accra and Central Regions registering 547 and 405 cases respectively. According to the acting Head of Public Relations of the GNFS, Mr Ellis Robinson Okoe, periodic fire safety audit conducted by the service had found out that most companies did not adhere to fire safety advice, which caused fire outbreaks. He also said the service had formed a market safety taskforce that moved round the markets to educate market women on fire safety. Mr Okoe said investigations had revealed that market fire outbreaks in 2013 were caused by inferior cables and illegal electrical connections. He said that the service would review all the safety audit reports for the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to ensure that they met safety standards. He advised property owners to provide fire safety gadgets on their premises. Mr Okoe further advised the public to be safety-conscious and take measures to protect themselves against preventable fire accidents. He said the service had established a rapid response team comprising the Police, Fire Service, the Ambulance Unit and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to ensure fire safety. He advised farmers and palm wine tappers to be cautious in their activities, especially in the dry season since a lot of them used fire. Mr Okoe appealed to employers and organisations to ensure that employees were taught basic fire safety measures periodically, adding that the government must provide the needed logistics to combat fires.  

    All the 109 Malian and Guinean citizens who were arrested at Tinga in the Bole District in the Northern Region for illegally prospecting for gold have been deported to their respective countries. According to the Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Alhaji Mahama Arhin, Immigration Service officials in Tamale requested that the suspects be handed over to them for further interrogation. Alhaji Arhin said the suspects were subsequently questioned and deported through the Hamile border in the Upper West Region.They were arrested on December 21, last year at Tinga, a farming community, where they were  prospecting for gold. The police also retrieved some mining tools, including 66 gold detectors, from the suspects who entered the country without valid travelling documents. According to Alhaji Arhin, the suspects had been engaged in the illegal mining activities for a week. He explained that the arrest was successfully carried out in collaboration with Immigration Service officials in the Bole District, which shares borders with Cote d’Ivoire.    

  A traffic light on the Mpamprom intersection on the Kaneshie road that was destroyed in a motor accident about half a decade ago has not been replaced, thus exposing motorists and pedestrians to danger. Ironically, the danger zone is right behind the Accra Metropolitan Office of the Department of Urban Roads. When The Mirror visited the Acting Accra Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Benjamin Kusi Adoma, in his office at Kaneshie on Monday, December 23, to find out what had caused the delay in replacing the fallen traffic light, he said he was not aware that “the very important” warning signal had been knocked down and taken away by unknown persons. He immediately called one of his lieutenants and together with this reporter, visited the spot where the warning light used to be. He confessed that though the “missing” traffic light used to stand at the intersection right behind his office, he and his officers had not noticed its absence. It was also observed that the intersection had no zebra crossing as the wiped-out road marks on the entire Accra-Mallam road had not been redone, exposing motorists and pedestrians to more hazard. When this reporter questioned the engineer about the numerous broken down road furniture (traffic light, railings, bollards etc.) in the city of Accra, he said his office was aware of some of them but was unable to repair or replace them due to lack of funds. He, however, pointed out that the department of urban roads had embarked on an exercise to identify them and replace or repair them under an upcoming traffic management project being sponsored by the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), (The French Development Agency). The works will involve junction improvement at selected intersections, road line markings and installation of signs in Accra. There will also be junction improvement works at selected intersections in the Tema Metropolis, Ga West District and the La, Nkwantanang and Adenta Municipalities. The Mirror also found out that contractors had actually been invited through the Wednesday, December 18 edition of the Daily Graphic to submit bids for the contract, which is expected to be awarded this month (January, 2014). According to Mr Adoma, works were expected to begin immediately after the contract had been awarded and would be completed in about six months. The project will cover about 38 major roads. The Metropolitan Roads Engineer said there would be asphalt overlay and curb rearrangement on some roads while some roads might be completely redesigned. He reminded motorists that destroying road furniture attracted a fine and appealed to the police to help arrest motorists who knocked them down, as well as the scrap dealers who stole them. A policewoman on duty at Mpamprom, who pleaded anonymity, complained that the numerous faulty and broken down traffic lights and the absence of road markings and other signals on the city’s roads made traffic control very difficult. She charged the Metropolitan Roads Engineer and his team to expedite the traffic management works to make traffic control easier and also prevent accidents on the roads.  

  About 1,450 trucks loaded with cocoa beans are stuck at the terminal of the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) at Apowa, Takoradi in the Western Region. This is as a result of the refusal of loading boys at the terminal to unload the cocoa into the CMC’s Commodity Village Warehouse over poor wages and working conditions. Each truck is said to be carrying at least 600 bags of cocoa beans Apart from the increasing cost to the truck owners, the delay is also believed to be affecting the quality and weight of the beans as the state in which the cocoa beans were loaded into the trucks were not the best. The Head of Public Affairs of COCOBOD, Mr Noah Amenyah, confirmed the problem in an interview and indicated that COCOBOD was doing everything possible to resolve the situation. He explained that besides Apowa, a similar problem existed in Tema in the Greater Accra Region. The congestion, he said, should be partly blamed on the carriers who left for the Christmas holidays and were yet to report for work. Some of the loading boys, who refused to give their names, told the Daily Graphic,“We will not carry the cocoa bags until they give us good wages.” When the Daily Graphic visited the terminal, the drivers said there were as many as 1,450 trucks waiting to discharge their load. Master Kwaku Atta, a driver, said he arrived from the Enchi areas about a month-and-half ago but the truck was yet to be attended to. “I am carrying 600 bags of cocoa, and I cannot do anything now because I cannot take the truck anywhere unless the beans are unloaded. But here we are, the boys have refused to attend to the trucks,” he complained. A visibly troubled truck owner, Mr Baba K. Awudu Issah, said in spite of the delay,  the truck owners were not paid for the period the trucks were kept inactive.  

The Judgement Debt Commission says a new office accommodation currently under renovation will serve its offices in Accra.   The Commission which previously occupied parts of the Old Parliament House building in Accra Central along with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice as well as the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), had its offices gutted by fire which destroyed several documents and equipment at about 4:00 am on Thursday, December 19 last year. A statement issued Friday by the Public Relations Officer of the Commission, George William Dove noted that renovation works were in progress to enable the Commission resume public sittings soon. “The date for the resumption of public sittings will be communicated to the general public as soon as possible.  “The Commission of Inquiry into Judgment Debt is also grateful to the general public for their concerns and unflinching support since the commencement of its work,” the statement said. 

  The government of Ghana says it is optimistic that the maritime dispute with the Ivory Coast will be resolved peacefully by the end of June. Both countries are claiming ownership of a territory in the maritime border of the two countries which experts say holds about two billion barrels of oil reserves, as well as 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Ghana was the first to strike oil in the disputed C100 area along the Tano Basin and believed it had exclusive rights over that maritime boundary until April last year when Cote d’Ivoire also announced that it had struck oil in a block off its shore and adjacent Ghana’s Jubilee Field. Although the Ghana government has, since the dispute broke out, sent a team to hold talks with the Ivorian authorities, indications are that Ghana’s neighbours have renewed their claim to the territory. However, speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseni noted that a joint committee has visited the site to ascertain the geographic coordinates of the boundary post. He said subsequent meetings would be held in Ghana and Ivory Coast to study the options, after which the various options would be weighed to help resolve the matter amicably. “We are not doing it out of the blue, there have been a customized boundary that has been respected by both parties and that is the basis upon which we are progressing, even though that boundary has been disputed by Ivory Coast but it is the starting point of the negotiation between the two countries,” he said. Alhaji Fuseini explained that whatever approach would be adopted by government would be within the framework of international law that recognizes that maritime rules and boundary issues are resolved by negotiations. He further explained that failure to abide by the framework of international laws would require that a forum is set up by a tribunal to take a decision on the matter. “So, if we fail to resolve the maritime issue with Ivory Coast on a peaceful and consensual manner, we can resort to the national tribunal and invite a Neutral Party to help us resolve the matter,” he said.  

  A 39-year-trader, Nancy Opoku, who impersonated a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the Ghana Police Service attached to the Narcotics Unit in Kumasi, could not spend the Christmas and was unable to take part in activities that ushered in the New Year in the comfort of her home. Nancy, who succeeded in defrauding a pensioner of GH¢2500, was remanded in custody by a Kumasi Circuit Court on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 to reappear on January 14, 2014. Presenting the facts of the case to the court, presided over by Mr William Boampong, Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang, the prosecutor, said the complainant in the case was a resident of Adoato Adomanum in the Kumasi Metropolis. Chief Inspector Tenkorang said in August, last year, Nancy approached the complainant and introduced herself as a DSP who had been transferred to the Narcotics Unit in Kumasi and that she resided at Adoato Adomanum. According to the prosecutor, Nancy again told the pensioner that besides her work as a senior police officer, she was also an elder of the Methodist Church at Asawase, a suburb of Kumasi, and was in charge of recruiting church members to travel overseas for church programmes. Under such false pretence, the prosecutor said Nancy collected GH¢2500 from the complainant under the pretext of securing a Canadian visa for his son, one Rashid Kofi Amoakwa, but she failed to honour her part of the agreement. According to Chief Inspector Tenkorang, Nancy also took the passport of Amoakwa but never returned it. The prosecutor said in May, last year, Nancy moved to a different location without informing the pensioner. Chief Inspector Tenkorang said the complainant, at this point, became suspicious and mounted a search  for Nancy whom he later spotted at a drinking spot at Asafo, another suburb of Kumasi. The pensioner raised an alarm and Nancy was subsequently arrested  and sent to a police station. In her caution statement, Nancy admitted committing the offence and after investigations, she was arraigned before court.