Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – An Accra circuit court on Monday issued a bench warrant to effect the arrest of the Chief Executive Officer of UT Financial Services, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, for failing to appear before it.   Amoabeng is standing trial with legal practitioner, John Aidoo, over alleged fraud charges. When the case was called Amoabeng was absent.   Prosecution noted that since July this year that the matter was brought before the court, Amoabeng has not been in court, hence prayed it to issue a bench warrant to effect his arrest.   The case has been adjourned to November 13 by the court presided over by Mrs Naa Adoley Azu.     Amoabeng has been charged with fraud, and John Aidoo, a lawyer, is being held for abetting crime.     Amoabeng is accused of releasing title deed documents of one Naa Otuah Sawyne, which was in the custody of his bank to one Alexander Adjei, now deceased, to secure a loan of GH¢ 1,279,000 from HFC Bank.     In the case of Aidoo, the court admitted him to bail in the sum of GHc 300,000 with two sureties after he had pleaded not guilty to the charge of abetment.     Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aidan Dery, said the complainant; Ms Sawyne is a novelist residing at Dansoman in Accra.     DSP Dery said in October 2005, the complainant decided to sell her house at Number 23 Ringway Estate in Accra; hence she entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the late Alexander Adjei.     Prosecution said the complainant and Adjei agreed on 280,000 dollars as the purchase price, which was to be paid in three installments, in October, November and December 2005.     On October 14, 2005, Adjei paid 100,000 dollars as agreed but failed to pay for the remaining amount, the prosecutor said.      According to DSP Dery, the complainant, being the vendor, was due to travel to UK so she borrowed GHc 25,000 cedis from UT Financial Services and used the title deed of her house as collateral.      The complainant, prosecution said, therefore prepared and signed a deed of assignment conditionally in respect of sale transaction with the understanding that,  the final transaction will be witnessed by her lawyer, one Martin Nwousu, and handed over to the buyer upon full payment of the purchase price.     DSP Dery said, however, on May 22, 2006, Adjei now deceased, used the complainant’s title deed, which was at all the time in the custody of Amoabeng to obtain a loan facility from HFC Bank.      On September 27, 2007, Amoabeng, without recourse to the complainant, wrote a letter to State Housing Company informing them that Adjei had purchased the complainant’s house and requested them to issue their consent to assign the property to Adjei.     Aiddo , the solicitor Secretary of SHC, having records that the complainant owned property in question signed a letter of consent and gave consent to mortgage property on July 23, 2009, an act which he (Aidoo) had no capacity to do so.     GNA...

Sunyani, Nov. 12, GNA – Mr Jacob Yaw Osei, an Independent Presidential Candidate in the coming elections has said Ghana needed a Union Government for rapid socio-economic growth and development.      He explained that under such a system, a national development agenda could be developed for successive governments to follow for accelerated national development.      Interacting with some students of Sunyani Polytechnic and media practitioners in Sunyani, Mr Osei promised the institution of a Second Upper Parliament to eliminate the “tyranny and despot” of the Majority in Parliament.      He explained that the current system of partisan politics was responsible for the problems of ethnocentrism, greed, political polarisation, under-development and poverty.      Mr Osei said building a democratic structure that was rooted in Africa’s own cultural traditions was the only way to set Ghana and Africa on the path of true economic emancipation and independence.      He noted that the current multi-partisan democracy was gradually creating enmity and tearing the nation apart because their formation was not based on any ideological foundation.      This, Mr Osei said, had consequently resulted into personality attacks and the use of indecent languages among opposing political parties.      Dr Sylvester Kwadwo Ankomah, Founder of National Unity Movement, a Non-Governmental Organisation working to promote unity government advised the electorate to vote for the independent presidential candidate.      He said multi-party democracy had only created violent upheavals, disunity and increased foreign influence in the affairs of the country.     “If Africa is to get rid of the massive poverty among her people then there is the need for unity and the people applying their expertise, skills and experience to advance her development,” Dr Ankomah, former Ghana’s High Commissioner to India said.      He explained that this was among the reasons why the movement was solidly behind Mr Osei and working hard to ensure that he won the Presidential elections on December 7.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – The Search and Rescue Team at the Achimota Melcom disaster site on Monday said that about 95 percent of the debris had been cleared and rescuers were likely to wrap up their rescue mission within the day.   The six-storey Melcom Shopping Mall, which collapsed last Wednesday, had claimed at least 14 lives  whilst about 77 were rescued with varied degrees of injuries.   During a visit to the site, Ghana News Agency observed that some security personnel, personnel from the National Disaster Management Organization NADMO, volunteers and a few onlookers were still at the disaster site.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - Isaac Ahinkra, a 19 year old unemployed, on Monday broke down in tears when an Accra circuit court handed down 20 years imprisonment on charges of conspiracy and robbery.   Ahinkra and his accomplice Kwame Ntim, 24, also unemployed, were sentenced to five years imprisonment each on a charge of conspiracy while they were to serve 20 years each on the charge of robbery.   The two convicts, whose sentences were to run concurrently, pleaded guilty on all the charges.   Soon after Ahinkra was sentenced he wept uncontrollably in court but intensified his weeping as he moved out of the court room saying he was young and that his mother recently passed away.   The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (ASP) Reindolph Agyemang, told the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri, that the complainant was Mr Isaac Kodi Annang, a 53 year old resident of Agbelezaa, near Teshie in Accra.   According to DSP Agyemang the convicts also reside at Ayorkorwor, a suburb of Teshie in Accra.   On November 8, this year, at about 17:20 hours, the complainant was in his room watching television when two masked men armed with knife and a hammer entered his room and ordered him to surrender all his money.   Prosecution said Ntim, who held the hammer, stood at the gate.   The complainant managed to struggle with Ntim as he screamed for assistance, sensing danger, the convicts took to their heels but neighbours chased them and Ahinkra was apprehended and handed over to the police.   DSP Agyemang said Ahinkra led the police to pick Ntim from his hideout at Ayorkorwor, Teshie.   Prosecution said in cautioned statements during investigations that the convicts admitted their offences.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Five Civil Society Organizations (CSO) from Upper East, Eastern and Greater Accra regions have undergone training in monitoring and evaluation of grant management.    The training aims at strengthening the project management competencies of participants to enable their organisations effectively manage the grant received from the French Embassy and also provide them with flexible skills to better monitor and evaluate the project they have implemented.   It also seeks to assist the CSOs to deliver on projects supported by the Fund for Social Development Project of the French Embassy in Ghana.   In all 13 representatives took part in the five-day training workshop organised by West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).   In an interview with the Ghana News Agency some of the participants recommended periodic training for CSOs, saying that it had addressed their challenges in the areas of managing grants as well as in monitoring and evaluation of projects.   “We appreciate the participatory approach adopted by the facilitators. It will enhance our understanding of the technical component involved in the process of monitoring and evaluation, as well as managing grants.   “The training is very good and an eye opener… WACSI is doing great in identifying the needs of CSOs and making valuable efforts to address them,” Ms Patience Essibu Treve from Global Mama’s said.   Mr Nab Afulang, Board Chairman of the Foundation for Information and Strategic Development, said he had learned a lot and was now equipped to better monitor and evaluate the project he was working on.   Dr Christian Joly, Cooperation Attaché at the French Embassy, commended WACSI and the facilitators for the excellent job done and urged participants to make good use of the knowledge and skills acquired to ensure that the project fund are judiciously utilized to promote social development in the local communities.   Each year the French Embassy in Ghana supports small and medium scale development projects in Ghana by providing financial support to community-based CSOs through its special project - the Fund for Social Development.   The beneficiary organisations include Global Mama’s from Ningo Prampram, Hunger Aliance of Ghana, Centre for Alternative Development, Children We Care Foundation and the Foundation for Information and Strategic Development.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - Expresso Ghana has marked the second anniversary of its high speed CLIQ modem with special packages on voice calls and data usage to its valued customers.   The initiative is say “thank you” to its existing customers and to give them extra value for their money.   Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, Mr Eyome Ackah, Product and Prepositions Manager of Expresso, said the company was offering its customers free calls to all networks plus 100% bonus for every recharge from GH¢ 1 to GH¢ 20, for both calls and browsing on November 12 and 13.   He explained that the bonus airtime could be used to browse and to make calls to other networks as well saying “this is something that competition does not do because of the interconnectivity regulations which require every network to pay up to 4.5Gp to the network on which the call terminated”.   He said there was another offer known as “CLIQ Bundle Roll Over”, which would refund every unused data capacity on its CLIQ modem from the previous month after the customer tops up for the current month.   “This means that if the 30-day validity period expires and a customer still has some unused data capacity on the CLIQ modem and the customer top up or buy another 30-day bundle for this month, Expresso will restore the unused capacity from the previous month and add it to the one you bought this month,” he said.   Mr Ackah said customers would be allowed to buy extra bundle unto their existing bundle ahead of the expiry date on the ‘Bundle on Bundle’ package.   “Normally, one can only buy another bundle when a previous one runs out or expires. But this time, customers would be allowed to buy another bundle on top the existing bundle to ensure a seamless data experience,” he said.   The occasion was also used to announce the unlimited free call for expresso customers on December 7.   The Expresso CLIQ modem comes in five different bundle packages each designed to suit the needs of various categories of customers.   Expresso is the only CDMA in Ghana with a subscriber base of a little over 178,000, representing some 0.7% mobile voice market share in Ghana and has about 800,000 data customers.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) seeks to promote effective affirmative action programmes that would allow women to increase their representation in national decision making,  as gender policy directives to woo voters, information available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday indicates.   The CPP considers gender inequality as it manifests in all aspects of human life such as the economy, security, education, health, and politics as compromise on the nation’s developmental drive.   The CPP Election 2012 manifesto, available to the GNA, states that it will promulgate affirmative action legislation as a basis for monitoring and holding public organizations to perform.   The CPP government proposes to reward companies and organizations that offer equal employment opportunities to both men and women.   The manifesto further states that women would be given 30 per cent representation across board in all public and private decision making sectors.   CPP promises to make institutional arrangements at all levels to achieve gender mainstreaming such that both men and women would equally occupy positions without discriminating against women.   Meanwhile a survey conducted by the National Commission for Civic Education ranked women and children issues as the number four out of 14 matters of concern to the Ghanaian voter in election 2012.   On regional ranking of women and children issues; the Western Region ranked it third; Volta, Eastern, Ashanti, Central, Northern, Upper East, and Upper West consider it as the fourth highest priority in Election 2012; while Brong Ahafo ranked it fifth.    According to the survey, overwhelming majority of 71.6 per cent were females whilst 27.9 per cent were male.   The survey revealed that most people recommended that government should provide women with soft loans and that women and children issues should be given priority attention by the government.   Other issues raised in the survey are that government should educate women and children on their rights and privileges, government should give free education to children, create more employment opportunities for women, offer higher positions and appointments equal to men, and women and children should be given free health care.     GNA...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Monday called on players in the insurance industry to work hard to restore public trust and confidence in their operations. He said premium undercutting, unbridled granting of credit that resulted in unethical competitive practices that limited the insurance company’s ability to meet claim obligations and improved services had resulted in serious “reputational challenges and mistrust” for the insurance industry. Dr Duffuor said this in a speech read on his behalf at the opening ceremony of the two-day West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) 2012 Educational Conference held in Accra. The conference, dubbed: “WAICA Accra-2012” aims at encouraging the development of the insurance market in each member country on sound and technical basis and to stimulate exchange of business among member companies operating within West Africa. Members of the WAICA include Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Dr Duffuor, however, expressed dissatisfaction at efforts made by the insurance companies to comprehensively introduce and popularize micro-insurance products that target the informal sectors. “If we continue to pay lip service to these critical segments of our economy and society, we will continue to record low insurance penetration which has been the experience in all WAICA member countries and the rest of Africa for all these years, except South Africa”, he said. Touching on life insurance policies, Dr Duffuor stressed that more could be done through innovative product designs, adoption of effective marketing strategies and the reliance on mobile telephony services for the collection of premiums and other related service. He expressed the optimism that foreign direct investment both in the insurance sector and in other productive sectors of the economy would improve the capital base and the financial capacity of insurance companies to underwrite bigger risks as well as create more insurable businesses for insurance companies. Mrs Nyamikeh Kyiamah, Commissioner of Insurance, explained that the presence of foreign companies on the Ghana Insurance Market have had undesirable effects adding that the influx of the companies had led to fierce competition for growth and survival. “It is rather sad to note that some of the companies have resorted to unethical marketing and underwriting practices as well as bad credit management practices to manage the competition”, he added. Mrs Kyiamah said some companies conducted their businesses in a manner that led to premium flights saying “in a number of instances, huge premiums which hitherto had been retained in Ghana and can be retained are sent overseas through pseudo reinsurance arrangements of some foreign insurance companies”. She called for a regulatory and supervisory system that addressed the increasing presence of insurance groups, financial conglomerates and financial convergence. Mrs Kyiamah said “this is necessary in order to harmonize regulatory practices and avoid or minimize regulatory arbitrage”. She called for supervisors in the West African sub-region to increase their collaborative efforts to ensure that regulated entities were effectively supervised for the protection of the interest of policyholders. Mrs Kyiamah added that “this will also ensure that the insurance industry in West African sub-region remains stable, that the risk of contagion from one country to another is minimized, that supervisory gaps are reduced, and that unnecessary supervisory duplications are avoided”. Mr Kwame-Gazo Agbenyadzie, President of the Ghana Insurers’ Association, called for a strong, efficient and effective national and sub-regional associations as well as local and regional co-operation. “We must build the financial capacity of our local and regional insurance institutions by ceding more business to them and ensuring prompt payment of reinsurance premiums to them as we do to international reinsurers”, he said. Mr Agbenyadzie said “by so doing we would be helping them to help us when we need them to support us meet our obligations to our clients when they are in distress”. The conference would be on the theme: “Harnessing the effects of Foreign Direct Investments for the Development of the Insurance Industry in West Africa.” It is being organised by the Ghana Insurance Association in collaboration with WAICA, NIC and Ghana Insurance Brokers Association. WAICA was formed in May 1973 to foster collaboration and co-operation among insurance companies in English speaking West Africa countries.   GNA ...

Kumasi, Nov. 12, GNA - The Right Reverend Professor  Osei Safo-Kantanka, Methodist Bishop of Kumasi, has blamed the slow pace of Africa’s progress on the lack of effective and strong leadership. “In all spheres of our lives, Africans continue to lag behind as most of our leaders are not being given good advice on what is expected of them in attending to the needs of the people, particularly by their close associates and advisers”, he noted. Most of them, he said, did not have vision, political will and qualities needed to transform the lives of the people and make things better for them. The Rt Rev Prof Safo-Kantanka was speaking at an induction service held for the Very Rev Christopher Andam, the Diocesan Synod Secretary, at the Adum Wesley Cathedral. He spoke on the theme: “The leader and his team”. The Bishop of Kumasi asked him to be guided by the tenets of the church in his activities saying he should be truthful, honest and transparent. He said the expectation was that he would help to provide the right leadership to grow the church and that he should focus on drawing more people, especially the youth to God.   GNA ...

Bibiani (W/R), Nov. 12, GNA – A gang of robbers, wielding AK 47 rifles and other deadly weapons, on Monday morning attacked a metro mass transit bus and three other vehicles on the Sefwi-Asawinso-Bibiani road, beating and robbing travellers of valuables.     They also shot and injured the driver of the bus, Mohammed Karim, 45, and one other passenger, John Tawiah, in the right arm.     The two were sent to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and the Bibiani Government Hospital, respectively, for treatment of the gunshot wounds.     Police Superintendent Francis Enorh, the Bibiani District Commander, confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency and said the robbers struck at about 0600 hours.     They had blocked the road near Nanboro, a farming community, and as the bus driver attempted to drive through the blockade, the vehicle came under a hail of bullets, hitting Karim in the right ankle and Tawiah in the arm.     Karim lost control of the steering wheel and veered off into the bush, putting the passengers at the mercy of the robbers. They violently assaulted, seized monies, cellular phones and other valuables from the victims.    Superintendent Enorh said travellers on three other vehicles that emerged at the scene also suffered the same fate.    The robbers fled after the attack and no arrest had been made.    The Commander said the police would do everything to arrest and bring the criminals to justice.   GNA ...

Tarkwa (W/R), Nov. 12, GNA - The Ghana Evangelism Committee in Tarkwa has called on the youth to exercise restraint and tolerance and avoid all forms of temptations to foment trouble.     This was contained in a communiqué issued after their Prayer for Peace.     The committee is made up of diocesan and area heads, district ministers, bishops, pastors, church elders and lay leaders.     The communiqué said the various political parties should be prepared to accept the final outcome of the election results as it is God who makes kings and government.     It said parties on their campaign platforms should stick to their manifesto and avoid unnecessary criticisms and insults and urged everyone to begin talking about peace with each other.     The prayer for peace program brought together officials of the electoral commission, police and the clergy.     GNA ...

Twifo Praso (CR), Nov. 12, GNA - Mr Samuel Ato Amoah is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) accredited Parliamentary Candidate for the Twifo-Atti-Morkwa constituency, Mr Samuel Adu Yeboah, Chairman of the Central Regional  branch of the NDC said at the weekend.     He, therefore, appealed to supporters of the constituency to vote President John Mahama  as president and Mr Ato Amoah as member of parliament for the constituency during the December 7 general elections.      Mr Yeboah was speaking at the launch of a political campaign for Mr Amoah at Praso, where he and Mrs Elizabeth Amoah Tetteh, a Deputy Minister of Education, jointly introduced Mr Amoah as the accredited parliamentary candidate for the constituency.      Mrs Amoah-Tetteh said even though she lost in the primaries she would lend her support to Mr Amoah to enable him to retain the Atti-Morkwa seat and urged all her supporters  to massively vote for  Mr Amoah.     Mr Amoah commended Mrs Amoah-Tetteh, Member of Parliament for the area, and  executives  of the party for assisting  in the campaign launch  and pledged that he would ensure accelerated  development of the area when voted into power.     GNA ...

New Atuabo (W/R), Nov. 12, GNA - The Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem Constituency, Mrs Eugenia Gifty Kusi, has donated building materials at a cost of 4,100 Ghana Cedis to New Atuabo John Tailor Basic School in Tarkwa.     The materials include four packets of roofing sheets, 4 boxes of roofing nails and 167 pieces of woods. Presenting the items at a short ceremony, Mrs Kusi said the donation was in fulfilment of a request made by the authorities of the school.     Mrs Kusi said the items are to help the school roof a two unit classroom block which has gotten to the roofing level adding she promised to ensure that the building is completed on time.     The Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association of the School, Mr John Mapii Laari, thanked the Member of Parliament for the kind gesture. GNA ...

Accra, Nov 12, GNA -  Aduana Stars brought Ashgold flying back to earth after pushing a 1-0 defeat down the ‘Miners’ throat in their week-seven Glo Premier League duel played at the Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi.      Despite the visitors’ numerical disadvantage, Alex Aryee’s 55th minute strike was all Aduana Stars required to run away from Obuasi three points richer.      Ashgold had looked invincible with impressive outings especially, at home and looked the favourite to win the fixture, but the visitors played beyond themselves to pluck all the points. The victory, Aduna’s second in the season brings them to fourth place on the log, just behind the losers.          In Wa, All Stars were served their second home loss following a 1-2 defeat to Ebusua Dwarfs.  Three goals within ten minutes wrapped up victory for the visitors, proving to be good travellers this season.          Dwarfs had their plans well cut out when Kwame Frimpong put the visitors ahead on the 70th minute from a spot kick.  Four minutes on, All Stars drew level through a nice finish from Seidu Salifu.       However, the winners were back in the driving seat after six minutes of parity when Kwabena Twumasi scored what proved to be the winner for Dwarfs and jumps them to sixth on the standings.      The defeat means All Stars, now slips into the relegation bracket on the standings.        At the Tema Stadium, Berekum Arsenals picked up their fourth defeat in seven outings after  Selasi Adjei’s goal gifted host Amidaus Professionals all points.       Adjei found the back of the net six minutes after the hour mark to rewards the debutants second half hard work in a game the Gunners comfortably dominated the opening half. The win has lifted Amidaus from the relegation zone but leaves Berekum Arsenals firmly rooted at the foot of the standings.        The Essipong Stadium was the venue of drama in the fixture involving Real Tamale United (RTU) and Tema Youth.  Bright Adjei drew first blood for Tema Youth before Salim Sakara's levelled on the 77th minute to end the game one all.        Elsewhere at Kpando, King Faisal handed their new Coach, Mallam Yahaya, a sore start to his campaign following a frustrating lone defeat to Heart of Lions. Benjamin Fadi's second half goal sent Lions to ninth place on the log and gives the Faisal trainer a poor start to his coaching spell with the returnees.       At Dansoman, in-form striker Kennedey Ashia scored the match winner at the Carl Reindorf Park as Liberty Professionals defeated Medeama 2-1.        The defeat is Medeama's second-straight despite drawing first blood through a 13th minute goal by Theophilus Anobaah.         The homers rallied to bag all three points with goals from Ebenezer Asifouh and Ashia's late winner.  Ashia’s goal, his sixth in seven outings takes him to the apex of the scorers chart.     At the Golden City Park, Latif Salifu stroke late to give host Berekum Chelsea all three points in their 2-1 win over New Edubiase United.      Latif, fluffed a first half penalty but made amends with a solo effort late in the game to elevate his side to atop the table.         Both sides finished the first 45 minutes goalless but five minutes from recess, Solomon Asante put the host ahead. Ebenezer Ofori leveled  for Edubiase who held on well until they were undone by the injury time winner.   GNA  ...

Odoben (C/R), Nov. 12, GNA – The Odoben Mount Olivet Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana on Sunday celebrated its centenary anniversary with the dedication of a new church building. The GH₵300,000 building has a sitting capacity of 750.      Rev S.E. Ampiaw, Central Presbytery Chairperson in a sermon on the theme, “watch and pray while you wait for the Lord”, said some members of the congregation have moved the “candle stand to the prayer camps” and is about time they brought it back.     He said members instead of sending their problems to the presbytery for prayers and counseling rather go to the prayer camps to receive alien doctrines which later leads them astray.     He called on Christians to remain steadfast and patient until the final coming of Christ and urged the members to stay in the church saying “the kingdom of heaven is within us now and leaving the church and roaming in other churches would not help you.”     Rev Ampiaw advised Christians to emulate the shining example of the widow in the Bible who offered her last money for offertory by supporting the church with the little that they have and God in his rightful time would reward them.     “We should work hard to serve the Lord and be righteous while we wait for His coming,” he said.      Rt Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, challenged the present generation of the church in and around Odoben not to relent in their efforts to hold aloft the banner of Christ.     He said whiles the church is celebrating its 100 years anniversary, the  country remains divided in a bitter partisanship, politics of insults and ethnocentrism.      He said such a situation would not help the people and urged the church to use the occasion to unite the people of Odoben area.     Rev Herbert Anim Opong, Clerk of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, encouraged the congregation to allow the Holy Spirit to empower them for the task ahead of them.     Rev Noah Mante-Arku Bekae, District Minister, advised the members to identify their spiritual gift and walk in it to face the challenges of modernity, social change, pluralism of religions and the different strands of Christianity.     Rev Eric Roger Addae, Minister in-Charge of the Odoben Presbytery, challenged members not to relent in their efforts to hold up the banner of Christian discipline, dedication, fearless and determined evangelism.       “As we celebrate 100 years of existence, let us allow the Holy Spirit to equip us to give our strength and wealth to support the church,” he appealed.     The theme for the occasion was: “The Holy Spirit and The Believer: Building Sustainable Future.”     The Mount Olivet Presbyterian Church of Odoben came into existence through Nana Kofi Nkansah, a native of Agona Nsaba and his wife, Maame Ama Kwakyerewaa on November 11, 1912.      GNA ...

Bolgatanga, Nov. 12, GNA - A two-day tripartite meeting of security personnel of neighbouring Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana has ended in Kombissiri, Burkina Faso, with a call on countries to strengthen closer tides in dealing with trans-border crime. It was to develop new perspectives and strategies for practical trans-border cooperation in the area of security, free movement of goods and people, child trafficking, drug smuggling and small arms proliferation. The three regions, Savanna Region of Togo, Central East Region of Burkina Faso and the Upper East Region of Ghana, have since September 2009, been meeting annually to develop new approaches to effectively fight high banditry, trans-border crimes and ultimately promote cohesion and peaceful coexistence between the three countries. Speaking during the opening of the meeting at the weekend, Dr Jerome Bougma, Burkinabe Minister of Territorial Administration and Security, said trans-border crimes such as the proliferation of small arms and weapons in the West African sub-region stifled the socio-economic development of countries. He said engagements like annual tripartite meetings, offered the three regions the opportunity to deliberate on the way forward in dealing with trans-border crimes such as the proliferation of small arms to further promote integration in the sub-region. Dr Bougma said the dangers of illicit proliferation of small arms in the West-African sub-region were enormous and appealed to security agencies in the three countries to collaborate effectively in dealing with the menace. “Most conflicts in West Africa are facilitated by the illegal importation and exportation of these illegal small arms,” he said, and urged countries in West Africa to continue with the collaboration to curb the use of arms since it was alarming and posed serious threats to the security of countries. Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, who led a delegation of security personnel, including officials from the Ghana police Service, Customs Exercise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana Immigration Service and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to the conference, expressed optimism that collaborations among the three countries would be fortified to check trans-boundary crimes and improve trade relations. She recounted collaborations between security agencies that led to the arrest of criminals seeking refuge in other neighbouring countries, citing the arrest of Kombian, a notorious criminal, in neighbouring Togo. Mr Allahidi Diallo, Governor of the Central East Region of Burkina Faso, and the Governor of the South East Province of Burkina, Madam Tchombiano Maimouna, both expressed gratitude to Ghana and Togo for their concerted efforts and renewed commitment in ensuring that trans-border crimes were reduced to the barest minimum. ASP Abdul-Latif Nbonwura, Kassena Nankana Municipal Police commander, in an interview with the GNA, said the meeting had enhanced his capacity in the fight against trans-border crimes. He said the emerging trends of trans-border crimes called for serious attention and that the reinforcement of regulations by security agencies from the three countries was the way forward. ASP Nbonwura the movement of livestock, especially cattle, had become a threat in recent times, saying, “the activities of some Fulani herdsmen pose a serious threat to the security of the country". Some of them have fomented trouble in parts of the country with many crop farms devastated by the cattle of these herdsmen,” he said.     He said such collaborations would enable security personnel to deal ruthlessly with the complexities of their duties and stem security threats at various borders.     GNA ...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA - The Ghana Golf Association, (GGA), has taken delivery of a completed Golf Academy at Achimota in Accra. The academy, estimated at 1.5 million dollars, which was unveiled at the Achimota Golf Course last Friday, was provided by Tullow Oil Ghana Limited. The project seeks to deliver world class facilities and to promote the game of golf in Ghana through youth. According to the GGA, Tullow Oil will provide technical equipment and training to two more golf clubs in the country, namely the Tema and Royal Kumasi Golf Club. In addition, GGA and Tullow will partner to provide similar golf academies in Tema and Kumasi which will consist of driving ranges and coaching as well as training facilities. Clement Kofi Humado, Minister of Youth and Sports, who unveiled the facility, pledged government's support in improving the standard of the game in the country and announcing plans for selected schools to have golf as part of the physical education curricula. "We are excited by initiatives such as these, which can only be immensely beneficial to the people of Ghana, at a time that our kids need variety and exposure in their play". He noted. "Golf is a sport that we have long been interested in and I am delighted that we are working with all these stakeholders to improve access in Ghana." Dai Jones, President and General Manager of Tullow Oil Ghana.   GNA ...

Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, incumbent and National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma Central, on Saturday launched his campaign with a call on the constituents to refrain from voting “skirt and blouse”. Nii Tackie Kommey, MP for Odododiodoo who made the appeal, said “I have worked with Theophilus in Parliament for the past 12 years and I know of his dynamism and calibre which is what President John Mahama needs in his administration to continue with the Better Ghana Agenda so please vote for Theophilus and the NDC come December 7. He said if Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag-bearer, knew of free SHS education why for the eight years that they were in power he could not implement the “so-called policy and even build a single school block.” Nii Tackies Kommey urged the people to be wary of the NPP as they could not turn “salt into sugar” for them. He said the free and compulsory education is enshrined in the Constitution but the NDC is saying that it has to be implemented gradually because there was the need to provide the basic infrastructural challenges from the foundation – kindergarten, the primary and to the Junior High School. “The NDC says it should be done in a gradual process so as to ensure that the books, teachers and the infrastructure are there,” adding that government has started establishing additional teacher-training colleges and also attaching kindergartens to the primary schools. The MP called on those who contested in the NDC parliamentary primaries and could not succeed and are now going independent to rescind their decision because it would not help them. Mr Fritz Baffour, Minister of Information and MP for Ablekuma South, said the party and for that matter the government has a lot of work to do so the electorate should not let go a dynamic, quality and good candidate like Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie in fulfilling the mandate of the government. Alhaji Saeed Sinare, Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt and National Vice Chairman of the NDC, asked the Zongo communities to reject religious and ethnic sentiments being expressed by the opposition NPP. He said the Zongo people voted for former President Rawlings, former President Kufuor and the late Atta Mills who are not Muslims and why this time round they are whipping religious and ethnicity saying “you should let the NPP know that they have no space in the Zongo communities.” Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Greater Accra Regional Minister, advised the people to be intelligent and smart to know the different between the NDC and NPP and if they make mistake and vote Nana Akufo-Addo to power there would be injustice in the country. He said because the flag-bearer of the NPP desperately want power he went to visit the Rawlings and that because some Ghanaians believe in obvious lies, Nana Akufo-Addo is lying for them to vote for him.  Mr Thomas Ashong, Greater Accra Youth Organiser, said the government is providing skills training through the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) to the youth especially those from the north to make them self-employed. He said “the promise of the NPP to build hotels for kayayie is a gimmick and they are not to be trusted because hotels are not the immediate and lasting solution to their problems.” Mr Tetteh Chaie, told the gathered crowd that there is much work to be done in uplifting the face of Ablekuma Central and that the government had secured a 670-million dollar facility to tackle the Mataheko storm drain system. “Come December 7 we are going to vote again and I entreat you to vote for me to continue with the Better Ghana Agenda so that we can work to change the face of the area,” he said.   GNA ...

Ho, Nov. 12, GNA - Three new District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the Volta Region were on Monday sworn into office in Ho. Mr Solomon Kuyon for Krachi-Nchumuru District Assembly, Mr Samuel Ewode, Ho-West District Assembly, and Mrs Angela Alorwu Tay, Afadjato-South District Assembly took   the oath of office, allegiance and secrecy. Mr Henry Ford Kamel, Volta Regional Minister, reminded the DCEs that they were servants and not lords over the people, and cautioned them that “power is sweat but don’t allow it to rule you”. He asked the new DCEs to be fair and courteous to everybody and reciprocate the trust the President reposed in them. Mr Henry Ametepe, Deputy Volta Regional Minister, advised the new DCEs to operate an open door policy, be transparent to win the trust of the people and work towards  the development of their districts. Mrs Tay on behalf of the other DCEs praised the President for giving them the chance to serve their people, and promised that they would justify the confidence reposed in them.     GNA ...

Cape Coast, Nov. 12, GNA - Professor Dowini Dabire Kuupole, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) on Monday said  language and culture were indispensable ingredients in any meaningful national development effort. He said it was therefore imperative that language experts made their contributions  to national development through research activities that focused on language policy and planning, language education, translation and literature. Prof. Kuupole said this when he opened the Ninth Inter-University conference on Co-existence of Languages in West Africa at the UCC under the theme: “Language, Culture and National Development”. The four-day conference, which is being organized by the UCC Faculty of Arts and the fourth it is hosting, is being attended by about 50 participants from the UCC, University of Education, Winneba, as well as the Universities of Ouagadougou, Kara-Togo  and Abidjan. Prof. Kuupole said the theme for the conference was very appropriate since the important role played by language in national development was not much touted and was hopeful that its critical role, particularly in West African nations, would be brought to bear. He stressed the need to regularly bring together scholars in language related disciplines in West Africa educational institutions  to exchange ideas on issues affecting the region in terms of the role language plays in the development of the various regions. He said such conferences helped participants to learn about current works in the fields of research so as to keep them abreast of literature and also build relationships with other researchers which could lead to the establishment of important research and social networks. Prof. Kuupole said despite the fact that the conference had tremendous importance to the language departments of the participating institutions, funding had now become a major problem and added that the conference should come out with a sustainable means of funding future conferences. Some of the topics to be treated at the conference include Language and Development, General and Applied Linguistics, Literature and Development as well as Translation and Development. GNA ...