Genius Creative Media, in collaboration with Mcjoy Advertising and Africa Media Consult, has honoured the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Klass Hospital, Dr Steve Ogbordjor, for his personal contribution to the development of society. Presenting the award to the CEO at his residence at Konongo in the Asante Akyem Central municipality, the CEO of Africa Media Consult, Michael Nana Ampong, acknowledged the fact that Dr Ogbordjor had personally influenced the development of society, mostly in

The Ogbojo Traditional Council has reiterated its commitment to partner the government to bring into fruition development projects that will raise the living standards of residents. The Chief of Ogbojo, Nii Joseph Torgbor Obodai, explained that the government alone could not cater for all the development needs of Ghanaians and so the Ogbojo Traditional Council  would put in place measures to complement the efforts by the government. He indicated that the spirit of self-help was at the highest point

The Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana Prison Service has taken delivery of over 3,000 mattresses to be distributed to prisons in the region. The mattresses were donated by the government and are part of the supportive initiatives which seek to improve upon life in the nation’s prisons. They will be distributed to the Kumasi Central Prisons, the Female Prisons, Obuasi Local Prison, Manhyia Prison, Ahinsan and Amanfrom Camp Prisons. Until the arrival of the mattresses, some prisoners, especially those in remand prisons, slept on blankets. The major challenge confronting the Ghana Prison Service is congestion, with most prison homes accommodating more than the number of people they are supposed to admit. Speaking to the Daily Graphic after receiving the package, the Ashanti regional Commander of Prisons, Mr Emmanuel Yao Adjator, commended the Director General of Prisons for her efforts at ensuring that there was an improvement in life in the various prisons in the country. He also commended the government for its efforts at providing the needs of the service in the form of logistics and other equipment which help them in their day-to-day management of the country’s prisons. The regional commander called for more of such donations to help improve the living conditions in the various prisons. Mr Adjator said the prison service would continue to work hard and put in place measures to improve the standard of living of inmates. “The current reformation measures being implemented by the service are aimed at ensuring that inmates get a holistic reformation,” he added. That, he said, would ensure that they did not return to prison after the completion of their jail terms.    

The Management of the King’s Village Medical Centre at Bontanga in the Kumbungu district of the Northern Region has carried through its threat to close down the facility following the failure of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to pay claims due the centre. As a result, patients who turn up for medical attention at the centre are being turned away because the hospital lacks the necessary resources to take care of them due to the lack of funds.   Only emergency The centre, which currently attends to only emergency and existing cases, is the only health facility in the area that caters for over 237 communities in the Kumbungu and Tolon districts. Last week, the management of the NHIS in the Northern Region expressed concern over the development and blamed it on administrative oversight which they assured had since been corrected. The Regional Manager, Alhaji Huudu Iddrisu, promised that claims for June and July would be cleared this week.    No funds received However, according to the administrator of the King’s centre, Nii Otu Ankrah, “we have not received any funds yet, neither has there been any correspondence to that effect.”  The administrator earlier explained that, “we are resorting to these measures because we have been pushed to the wall as we have exhausted all our finances.” He indicated that, “our major suppliers of drugs have refused to deliver because of the huge amounts we owe them. We have not even been able to pay our salaries as I speak to you now.”   NHIS owes facility Nii Otu intimated that the NHIS currently owed them about GH¢640, 000 (since May last year). “The last time we were paid claims was in May 2013, and even with that, we were only offered 25 per cent of the total amount of GH¢63,000 we were supposed to have received.” He said since they submitted their claims in November last year, it had not been honoured.    Situation is serious Nii Otu described the situation as serious, and added that if measures were not taken to arrest the problem, it could be a major setback to the health of the people. “The people are so deprived that they will not be able to pay for the health services we provide here. As much as we help them as a church organisation, we also need the necessary resources to operate successfully,” the administrator stated. The King's Village Project, as it is called, was established by Rev. Ben Owusu-Sekyere and his wife, Rev. Marion Owusu-Sekyere, in 2003, with support from the Christian Centre of the Assemblies of God Church based in Nottingham in the UK as a charity organisation.

The chiefs, elders and the people of Afife Traditional Area have installed Torgbui  Gbewoaza I as their Ngoryifia (development chief). Known in private life as Mr William Kwaku Dogbey, Torgbui  Gbewoaza , until his installation, was the Managing Director (MD) of Wilkado Construction Works Limited, a general building and civil construction company in Accra.  Present at the ceremony were Torgbui Tenukpo Azadagli III, Fia of Tadzewu; Torgbui Agbeve Ayirim III, Dufia of Agbevekorpe, and Regent Yao Avornyo of Dufia Ayivor Stool. At the event, Torgbui Adzaklo V, Dusifiaga of Afife and President of  the Afife Traditional Area Chiefs Association (ATACA), extolled the good works of Torgbui Gbewoaza I and urged him to help develop the Afife area. He expressed the hope that Afife would witness a reawakening, which was long overdue. He pledged the support of all the other chiefs, assembly members, unit committees and people o the area for any initiative that the newly installed development chief would undertake. For his part, Torgbui Gbewoaza I, asked all the people to allow peace to prevail in the area, stating that in the absence of peace, development and prosperity would elude the area.  He also asked all the chiefs and heads of institutions in the area to furnish his office with their contacts and  developmental plans as soon as possible since he was determined to hit the ground running. According to him, he would execute programmes for the development of the Afife Traditional Area by mobilising all resources within his reach to uplift the image of area.      

An armed robber last Wednesday shot and killed the caretaker of a house at Atwima Maakro in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region, for daring to attack his accomplice with a machete. This was less than 48 hours after a similar incident occurred at Babaso on the Ejura-Dome road, also in the Ashanti Region. The deceased, known only as Ibrahim, aka Akonta, believed to be about 35 years, was said to have slashed one of the two armed robbers who stormed the house in the night. His accomplice, who was wielding a gun, had by then ordered the owner of the house and other people to get out of a car and lie on the floor,  but he became angry and shot Ibrahim twice at close range, shuttering his skull.   How it happened Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Crime Officer of Abuakwa District Police, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jeremiah Alala, said the incident occurred around 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday, when a businessman, Mr John Agyei, who had moved to the area about two weeks earlier, returned home and was entering his house in his car. He said the armed robbers who had laid ambush in the area, rushed in when a member of the household opened the gate for the car to enter. The robbers then ordered the people in the car to lie down on the floor, searched their pockets and took their money and mobile phones. ASP Alala said on realising that Ibrahim was not among those who had been taken ‘hostage’, the robbers asked of his whereabouts.   Ibrahim, who was in one of the rooms and was aware of what was happening, came out with a machete and attacked one of the robbers, prompting the other to retaliate by shooting him twice in the head. The robbers then run away. ASP Alala appealed to the public not to try and defend themselves during such attacks to save their lives. He reiterated his call on the public, as much as possible, to abide by the dictates of robbers in such instances and rather look out for tips that would aid investigations. ASP Alala said the police had noted a trend in the operations of the robbers and were studying it to come up with new strategies to combat them.

Government says it remains opposed to the decision of the University of Ghana, Legon, to toll roads used to access the university campus.  Despite the arguments put forward by the University, and reports suggesting that parliament has okayed the decision, Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Mr. Prosper Bani, insists that government will prefer that the motoring public is not burdened by the University authorities. He told Graphic Online on Saturday that as indicated by the Minister for Roads and Highways, acting on behalf of Government, the cost of rehabilitating the university roads could be absorbed into the Ministry’s budget, instead of having motorists pay the tolls.  He said Government had expected that with this offer, the authorities of the University of Ghana would abandon plans to implement the toll collection scheme.  Mr. Bani indicated that government is unhappy with the nuisance, inconvenience and annoyance for motorists generated by the decision. He has accordingly urged the authorities of the University of Ghana to rescind their decision in consideration of the hardship, concern, and disaffection of motorists and the affected general public.  The Chief of Staff reiterated that Government is ready, as already communicated, to work expeditiously with the University on the most effective way for Government to absorb the cost of rehabilitation of the campus roads.

The police in Kumasi are investigating the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a supposedly stillborn baby at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) last Wednesday. While the hospital maintains that the baby was born dead at dawn that day, its parents doubt the assertion because they cannot find the body.   Stillbirth The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of KATH, Mr Kwame Frimpong, told the Daily Graphic that the death of the baby was not in doubt, as the documents which its mother, Swabia Abdul-Mumin, had thumbprinted clearly indicated that she was aware the baby had been stillborn. He said at a meeting between the family and the hospital authorities last Thursday, Swabia admitted before everybody present, including her mother-in-law, that her dead son had been shown to her. The body of the baby, who, according to the records of the hospital, had been stillborn, was supposed to have been sent to the mortuary by the mortuary attendant but it was rather picked up by the cleaner who tidied up the Maternity Ward that day. According to information gathered from the hospital and the police, the cleaner, Baba Abeley, claimed to have picked up the baby’s body that was in a box, together with two others, to the incinerator for burning.  Mr Frimpong, however, pointed out that the last time the incinerator was used was February 1, 2014, and that Abeley’s claim could not be ascertained. He said that was what compelled the authorities to hand Abeley over to the police. Besides, the disposal of bodies “is the work of the mortuary man and not the cleaner”. The normal practice with neonatal deaths at the hospital, according to the PRO, was that the bodies were usually wrapped in plastic bags and labelled with the names of the mothers and the babies’ weight and times of death and kept at the mortuary for some time before “they are given mass burial”. He claimed that 80 per cent of families did not care about what happened to the bodies after they had been told their babies had died. He promised the public that the hospital would not shield anyone, adding, “We are prepared to collaborate with the police to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the body.”   Police account Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Ashanti Regional Police, Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP) Mr Mohammed Tanko, said the suspect had been released on police enquiry bail, while investigations continued. He said the suspect told the police that on the day in question while cleaning the Maternity Ward, one of the nurses on duty told him to cart the box containing the dead bodies away. According to Mr Tanko, Abeley said he realised that one of the boxes was heavy and when he opened it, he realised that it contained three bodies of babies. Abeley said he took the box to where he normally burnt waste and when he was about to burn it, he was called to do something else.  Abeley claimed that on his return, the box was nowhere to be found. Mr Tanko said the police were trying to establish whether or not the baby had died.

Six schools in the Shama District in the Western Region are to benefit from a one-year free subscription of the Junior Graphic through the sponsorship of an individual, Ms Eunice Yaa Boatemaa Ntim, the Head of the Harbour Branch of Zenith Bank. The sponsorship is Ms Ntim’s contribution to the effort at inculcating the reading habit in pupils of the schools, namely, the Nkwantakesedo Primary, Inchaban Catholic Primary, Aboteriye Ahamadiya Primary, Beposo Borkokope Catholic Primary, Bosomdo Primary and Abuasi Methodist Primary.   Reading clinic Reading the newspaper will form an integral part of the school reading clinic initiated by the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Enoch Kojo Appiah, to help the children form the habit of reading. At a ceremony in Takoradi at which the first subscription copies were handed over to the schools, Ms Ntim said children represented the hope of the country and, therefore, it was important for them to be supported to guarantee their future development. “Going through the contents of the Junior Graphic, I realised that it would serve as good material and one of the learning tools for deprived schools,” Ms Ntim said. She expressed the hope that the support would go a long way to enhance the reading habit in the children. “I hope the institution of the reading clinic will enhance their understanding of various areas covered in the paper,” she added. She was optimistic that the examination questions and the pieces of advice published in the paper would also be beneficial to the pupils. Ms Ntim commended the Junior Graphic for developing content that purely dealt with the needs of children, such as providing solutions to examination questions, offering pieces of advice and offering opportunity for networking.   DCE  Mr Appiah also presented dictionaries to the six schools to help the pupils in reading and understanding of English. He said one of the biggest challenges in the district was the falling standard of education in the past few years, but he noted that through interventions such as the reading clinic, there had been a significant improvement. He said the assembly was seeking sponsorship for a mock examination for the final-year junior high school students in the district to help them answer examination questions properly. Mrs Memunatu Mahama, the Zonal Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), urged the children to pay serious attention to the content of the paper. She commended Ms Ntim and the assembly for the initiative and said the GCGL was ready to partner corporate bodies to reach out to more schools. The GCGL donated 50 more copies to the weekly subscription to the beneficiary schools.

The notorious robber, Johnson Kombian, who once broke jail and suffered penalty for it, has been accused of murdering two policemen. Kombian is facing two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy. The Fast Track High Court, which was billed to hear the case yesterday, adjourned proceedings to March 4, 2014 because the accused person was absent. The presiding judge, Mr Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh, directed officials of the Ankaful Prison in Cape Coast to bring the accused person to court on the next adjourned date. A Chief State Attorney, Mr Anthony Rexford Wiredu, had prayed the court to adjourn proceedings to enable the prison officers to produce Kombian at the next hearing.   Nature of Offence  Kombian, alias Garkun (meaning “death fears”), and his accomplices, who are currently on the run, are alleged to have ambushed three policemen on October 17, 2010 and succeeded in killing two of them. The deceased are Constable Prince Agyare and Constable Owusu Frimpong.  The third policeman, Corporal Osei Bonsu, who sustained gunshot wounds, survived.   Facts of the case The facts of the case are that Kombian allegedly conspired with his friend, Kofi Naaman, alias Accra Boy, to rob Djato Mathias and then attempted to kill him. Kombian was arrested, tried and sentenced to serve six years in prison by the Circuit Court in Tamale but he escaped while serving his jail term     Nakpanduri Terror According to the prosecution, Kombian sought refuge at Nakpanduri in the Bunkprugu Yunyoo District in the Northern Region, which happened to be his home town. On October 17, 2010, the accused person and his accomplices received information that a number of policemen had been detailed to perform duties at the Nakpanduri Scarp. Suspecting that the policemen had been assigned to pick him up, Kombian and his friends, who were also labelled as notorious robbers by the prosecution,  ambushed and attacked the three policemen. They allegedly fired gunshots at the deceased policemen who were then on a motorbike. The policemen fell into a 10-metre long valley in the process. The accused person and his group continued to fire sporadically into the valley, with the hope of killing the policemen, who also retaliated with occasional gun fire. Agyare made a distress call while firing back at Kombian and his gang from his hide out.   More fire After 30 minutes of firing, Kombian and his gang stopped, and on realising that the gunshots had ended, Agyare and his colleagues mistakenly thought their attackers had left. They, therefore, came out of their hideout and were subjected to more gun fire.  Help finally came for Agyare and his colleagues while Kombian and his accomplices bolted. The wounded policemen were conveyed to the Nalerigu Hospital but Agyare was later pronounced dead. Frimpong died later, while Bonsu was transferred to the Police Hospital in Accra where he was treated and discharged.   The escape Kombian escaped to Togo after the incident but he was later picked up by the Togolese authorities and handed over to the Ghanaian authorities. The accused person was convicted by the Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Justice E. Kyei-Baffour, and sentenced to serve five years’ imprisonment for escaping from lawful custody. The accused person, who is currently serving an 11-year jail term, was subsequently put before the District Court which committed him for trial at the Fast Track High Court. Writer’s email: [email protected].

Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has advised the public to assist the police in their quest to maintain peace and order in the country. Though the police are the lead institution charged with maintaining law and order in the country, the Vice-President said “the fact remains that this responsibility does not rest with the police alone. Citizens are equally enjoined to assist the police achieve the goal”.   Get-together  In a speech read on his behalf at the end-of-year get-together at the Police Headquarters in Accra yesterday, dubbed West African Security Services Association (WASSA) 2013, Mr Amissah-Arthur noted that the performance of the police in the recent past had received very appreciable public commendation and rating. Attributing the good work of the service to innovations such as the visibility and accessibility patrols introduced in February 2013, he urged the police not to rest on their oars but strive to become a world-class service. On the welfare of police personnel, the Vice-President said the government was concerned about it, since “a sound mind resides in a sound body”. The WASSA get-together is an annual celebration during which members of the security services interact, relax, reflect on and strategise for the year ahead. It can be traced to the Gold Coast era when security services socialised and made merry after a tedious year’s work.   2013 was eventful  In a welcome address, the Director-General of Services, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr James Oppong–Boanuh, said 2013 was eventful in the field of crime combat, protection of life and property and police services in general. He entreated the police to remember that innovation and change had become part of policing “and if we fail to innovate, we will be left behind,” and reiterated the call on the public to support the police in the discharge of their duties.  Mr Oppong–Boanuh also stated that it was the responsibility of the police to court the support of the communities in which they served in order to win their trust and confidence.  “Our clarion call for this year is for massive public support for our operational strategies to enable us to discharge our duties.” He advised police personnel to eschew all negative practices which dented the image of the service.   Honouring fallen heroes  The occasion, which saw top police officers dancing to tunes played by the Ghana Police Band, the leading police gospel musician, Superintendent of Police (SP) Kofi Sarpong and the ace highlife musician, Kojo Antwi, was also used to honour police officers who died in the course of duty in 2013.  Writer’s email: [email protected]

A 29-year-old policeman stationed at Agona Nyakrom in the Central Region has been remanded in prison custody for allegedly defiling an 11-year-old primary schoolgirl. The accused, Escort Constable Dickson Nyame, is said to have forced  the victim’s two other siblings aged seven and five to caress and suck his penis in a bush. After that, he allegedly grabbed the 11-year-old and defiled her, as her siblings looked on helplessly. He was charged with three counts of defilement and indecent assault but he pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was subsequently remanded to reappear on February 20, 2014.  Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Ivy A. Agadia told the Swedru Circuit Court, presided over by Atta Sampong, that the victims were all pupils of a primary school at Agona Nyakrom and lived with their parents.  She said about 3 p.m. on January 12, 2014, the victims were with their 15-year-old brother, a bar attendant, when the accused, who was a regular patron at the drinking bar, went there to buy GH¢1 worth of the local gin, popularly known as ‘’akpeteshie’’. She said that after the accused had finished drinking the gin, the bar attendant asked the victims to collect the money from him. The accused, however, demanded that the victims follow him to his house for the money, since he had no money on him, to which they obliged. Chief Inspector Agadia said that the accused, on his way home, took the victims through a bush, having in mind the intention to abuse them sexually. She added that the accused quickly sat on the ground in the bush, pulled out his manhood and asked the victims to caress it, after which he forcibly had sexual intercourse with the 11-year-old girl and drove them away. The victims, on reaching home, narrated their ordeal to their parents, who lodged a complaint, leading to the arrest of the accused.  

The University of Ghana, Legon acted within the law in its imposition of tolls for the use of its roads, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport has said. The Vice-Chairman of the committee, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, told the Daily Graphic that the University of Ghana Act, 2010, (Act 806) empowered the institution to impose the tolls. He said after a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, and some members of the University Council on Thursday, the committee had arrived at a decision and would forward its recommendations to the House for appropriate action. He said it was revealed during deliberations with officials of the university that it (university) secured a loan of GH¢1.3 million to rehabilitate the roads and, therefore, in the opinion of the committee, if the government or the public was against the collection of the tolls, then the government must absorb the loan. Alternatively, he said, the government could initiate moves to have the law which empowered the university to charge the tolls repealed or construct the road behind the Gulf House in Accra and the Haatso Road to ease pressure on the university’s roads. If those two roads were constructed and drivers still wanted to use the university’s roads, he said, they would not complain if they were asked to pay tolls.                                 Mr Chaie, who quoted copiously from  Act 806 during the interview, said those were part of the recommendations that the committee would make to the House for a decision.   Act 806 Article 16  (1) of Act 806, which deals with the powers of the University Council, states: “Subject to the provision of this Act, the University Council shall have the power to do or provide for any act or thing in relation to the university which the council considers necessary or expedient in its capacity as the governing body of the university.“ Section 16 (2) states: “The conferment of particular powers on the University Council by other provisions of this Act shall not be taken to limit the generality of this section.” Section 23 (1) (a) states that the university shall have power for any purpose which the council considers necessary or expedient, or (b) for the purpose of the performance of the functions of the university, to acquire and hold movable or immovable property, sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise alienate or dispose of that property and to enter into any other transaction.  Section 24 (1) states: “The funds of the university include (a) subventions from the Government of Ghana; (b) moneys that accrue to the University in the performance of its functions consisting of (i) fees paid by students duly registered by the University; (ii) fees, charges and dues in respect of services rendered by or through the university;(iii) proceeds from the sale of publications of the university (iv) grants, subscriptions, rents and royalties; (c) interest from investments; (d) endowments, donations and gifts; and (e) moneys from any other source approved by the council.” Mr  Chaie relied on those clauses, among many others, to drive home his point.  “They are free to acquire property, enter into contracts, secure loans and devise ways to pay back the loans,” he said, adding, “This law was passed to enable them to expand infrastructure and not rely on the government for funds to embark on projects,” he said. He  quoted Section Three Subsection Two of the  act, which states: “ A person who is not a member of the university shall not enter the premises of the university or have access to the facilities or privileges of the university without the permission of the university” and said clearly, most people who passed through the university daily had no business there and there was nothing wrong with the authorities exacting tolls or charges on them.   1992 Constitution Mr Chaie’s position notwithstanding, Article 174(1)- (2) of the constitution states:”No taxation shall be imposed otherwise than by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament.”  “Where an act, enacted in accordance with clause (1) of this article, confers power on any person or authority to waive or vary a tax imposed by that act, the exercise of power of waiver of variation, in favour of any person or authority, shall be subject to the prior approval of Parliament by resolution.”   Legon could still charge tolls after payment of loan According to him, the university’s roads deteriorated severely during the construction of the N1 Highway because the Ministry of Roads and Highways prevailed upon the university authorities to allow its premises to be used as a thoroughfare and it was time for the institute to raise money to repair its roads and devise measures to recoup its investment. “Even after the loan secured by the university is paid,”  he said, it could still charge the tolls if it wanted to because the roads would have to be maintained.