The National Security Council has arrested eight persons believed to be from Niger in a police-military operation at the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Acquisition Area who have buried over 800 cannon balls in some dugouts.   The suspects are currently in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) which is investigating to establish the source of supply, disposal methods and what use their customers have for the cannon balls.A source from the Council told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the National Security was undertaking a police-military operation to smoke out hardened criminals, armed robbers and armed land guards who had become notorious and a nuisance to genuine developers and people who wanted to go about their daily activities in peace.“One main objective of the National Security is to ensure that peace and tranquility prevails in the land administration and acquisition in this country,” the source said.It added that the Council had the responsibility to ensure that land and property owners lived in safety and were protected at all times without intimidation, fear and harassment from criminal elements and armed land guards.It said this phenomenon has engulfed land acquisition and ownership in the country especially in Accra and other major urban centres.According to the source, recent events of criminality and encroachment on government lands had given cause for concern for the National Security apparatus, since such phenomenon tended to undermine the national security interests and, by extension, a threat to peace, stability and security. At the centre of land acquisition, administration, ownership and related developments are state institutions like the TDC, Land Valuation Board, Land Commission, Survey Department and other related agencies including the Land Title Registry.It said one such critical entity which had come under public criticism recently was the TDC for the demolition of illegal structures in Communities 23 and 24 of the Tema Acquisition Area.“In spite of TDC’s attempt to operate within the law establishing it, the phenomenon of what National Security would describe as Armed Landguardism has taken root in most of TDC’s land acquired areas,” the source said.It commended the TDC for putting in place a Task Force which patrolled the acquired area in order to address the indiscipline and impunity with which encroachers invaded undeveloped areas. However, the Task Force has come under severe harassment, intimidation, fear and physical attacks from armed land guards who subject them to severe beatings and deadly attacks, wielding AK 47s and machetes among other things.In addition, the surveyors of the Corporation find it difficult to carry out survey of the areas as a result of the activities of land-guards and other encroachers.According to the source, during a routine patrol of the area, the Task Force stopped to caution an illegal developer, only to find about 60 armed land guards surrounding them. In the ensuing confrontation and to escape the wrath of the armed men, a member of the task force had his wrist severely cut by a member of the armed gang while a second person was beaten to pulp.The source said the National Security Council was aware of encroachment in the Free Zone Board’s land area and it was as a result of this that it was sending a stern warning to armed land guards and other hardened criminals to desist from their activities or face the wrath of the security forces.  “The National Security will not compromise on this threat to the nation,” the source said.     It advised nationals from the ECOWAS sub-region and other foreigners to respect Ghana’s laws and avoid getting themselves into criminal activities.Credit: GNA 

A driver’s mate who snatched an amount of GH¢4,070.00 from an ex-soldier has been sentenced to 700 days imprisonment by the Nyinahin Magistrate’s Court in the Ashanti Region. Gideon Agyei, 18, was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the offence. He committed the crime on January 13 at Sreso-Timpom in the Atwima-Mponua District.    The ex-military man, Mr Martin Broni, was carrying the money in a polythene bag and as he attempted to board a bus the convict snatched the bag and fled into the bush.    Police Inspector Daniel Otabil told the court, presided over by Mr Sam Nibi, that some young men in the community chased the convict and arrested and handed him over to the police but that GH¢2,070.00 of the stolen amount was retrieved. Credit: GNA

  Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONEFormer President John Agyekum Kufuor returned home  Saturday after a Month-long consultations with word leaders in his capacity as the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change. He was also at the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was introduced as United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change. A statement signed by his spokesperson, Frank Agyekum said former President Kufuor together with his co-Special Envoy Jans Stoltenberg, ex-Prime Minister of Norway, interacted with the various heads of state and briefed them on their new roles. Among the leaders the two Special Envoys met were, Presidents Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. The statement said former President Kufuor also interacted with Vice-President Kwesi Amissah Arthur, who represented Ghana at the Summit. Before arriving in Addis Ababa, the two Special Envoys attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, where their new roles were spelt out to world leaders and business executives by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon. It said former President Kufuor, among other events, addressed a seminar on ‘Scaling Green Investment.’ “The two Special Envoys had earlier attended a two-day retreat at the Greentree Resort in New York, the United States, where they were engaged by experts from the United Nations and the World Bank on various aspects of climate change” it added. President Kufuor in his capacity as the Global Envoy of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Coalition, attended the second anniversary of the London Declaration on eradication of Non-Communicable Diseases in London, Great Britain. He also addressed the British All-Parliamentary Group on Malaria and NTDS to further deepen their commitment and raise awareness among their fellow MPs in the fight to eradicate the diseases.   Credit: GNA