Private pension scheme funds have mobilised GH¢1.1 billion to support national development initiatives since they were established in 2010. The Director of Regulation at the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Mr Amartey Vondee, who made this known at a symposium in Accra yesterday, said 114 private pension schemes had been established so far. Given the relative short time that private pension scheme funds had been in operation, Mr Vondee said the private operators had done extremely well in resource mobilisation. He urged companies and individuals to register with the private pension scheme funds.    Guidelines  Mr Vondee said 13 guidelines had been published to direct the operations of the private pension schemes on issues such as their investment, ICT, corporate trustees, pension fund managers and custodians. He outlined some of the challenges confronting the NPRA as inadequate resources, low coverage of the informal sector, frequent changes in leadership at the NPRA and the lack of financial autonomy for the NPRA. The implementation of the new pension scheme started on January 1, 2010, following the enactment of the National Pensions Act on December 12, 2008.   New pension scheme The new scheme is in three tiers. The first tier is the basic national social security scheme, which incorporates an improved system of the previous SSNIT benefits. It is mandatory for all employees in both the private and the public sectors. The second tier, which is an occupational (or work-based) pension scheme and mandatory for all employees, is privately managed. It is designed primarily to give contributors enhanced lump sum benefits. The third tier voluntary provident fund and personal pension scheme, supported by tax benefit incentives, is for workers in the formal sector who want to make voluntary contributions to enhance their pension benefits and also for workers in the informal sector. For his part, the acting General Manager of the Counsel Division of SSNIT, Mr Peter Hayibor, said the new pension policy needed to be reviewed to make it sustainable.   More funds for NHIS According to him, the 2.5 per cent deducted from the SSNIT contribution income of 13.5 per cent for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would affect the future sustainability of the first tier of the scheme if not reviewed. Mr Hayibor indicated that under the old and the new law,  GH¢642 million was transferred to the NHIS between 2004 and 2012. He said about 1.2 million people had been registered under the first tier, as  well as the second tier, of the scheme.

  The Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) has issued an ultimatum to the government to call a proper stakeholder conference on the nagging issue of book and research allowance in January next year. That, it said, would help avert developments that might lead to distortions in the academic calendar of the polytechnics. The association said the government’s attempt to replace the book and research allowance with a research fund was premature, misplaced and calamitous. According to it, there was a serious misunderstanding of the concepts of book and research allowance by the government. The association gave the ultimatum in a release it issued at the end of its delegates’ conference in Ho on Thursday.  Signed by the General Secretary of POTAG, Mr Oswald Atiga, it explained that the book and research allowance was part of POTAG’s negotiated conditions of service. In August this year, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, indicated the intention of the government to abolish the current book and research allowance being enjoyed by university lecturers. He said the government was considering merging all the research allowances into one, to be known as the National Research Fund. Every lecturer is paid between $400 and $600 a year as book and research allowance. The government spends $7 million yearly on book and research allowance.   Resistance  But the polytechnic teachers vowed to resist attempts by the government to make them worse off through what the release called hasty, premature and desperate efforts to cut down costs. “That POTAG is prepared legally, physically, psychologically and even spiritually to resist the government and any of its agencies which will attempt to make its members worse off,” it said. It said the allowance was negotiated for and agreed upon and, therefore, no single party could unilaterally take it off.   Rescind decision  The polytechnic teachers said they had been patient, reasonable and realistic in their demands for better conditions of service but the government was rather lumping two different items to mean one and same. “We have always strived to engage stakeholders on all issues and, therefore, have a difficulty in understanding why the government is not doing same on this matter,” the release said. It expressed the hope that the Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, understood and appreciated the position of POTAG on the matter and would explain the issue to the government to make it rescind its decision immediately. “We are of the conviction that the government will listen and act appropriately to avert another nine months or longer standstill of tertiary education and research activities in this country,” it said. The polytechnic teachers called on the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) to engage the government to rescind its decision on the matter to avert any potentially prolonged academic calendars.

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is collaborating with the Korean Organisation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) to address the challenges the authority faces in its efforts at delivering quality health care to Ghanaians. As part of the collaboration, some officials of the NHIA have been to South Korea for policy consultation and to research into how the Koreans have been able to successfully manage their health insurance scheme.  At the end of a three-day policy consultation meeting between the two parties in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, Mr Sylvester Mensah, expressed optimism that by the end of the collaboration, both countries would see a marked improvement in the operation of their respective schemes.  The meeting marked the end of the first year of the six-year-long collaboration. Mr Mensah thanked KOFIH for its support, which he said easily facilitated the research by the Ghanaian team in South Korea. He said the visit had yielded fruits and expressed the hope that the subsequent years would witness even greater collaboration.  Throwing more light on the collaboration, an official of the Research and Development Unit of the NHIA, Ms Adwoa Oforiwaa Twum, said the Ghanaian team identified five areas that it could learn from the Koreans. She listed them as information and data gathering, drugs pricing policy, quality assurance, health literacy and social marketing, as well as premium setting and collection.   Financing NHIS  Ms Twum said one critical thing that Ghana was seeking to learn from Korea was financing of the scheme, adding that while South Korea depended on 85 per cent on the premium to finance its health insurance, the NHIA depended largely on taxes.  The Deputy CEO of the NHIA, Mr Nathaniel Otoo, described the collaboration as fruitful because it was based on mutual respect and was demand-driven.  The President of the Korean Association of Public Health, Prof Soonman Kwon, asked Ghanaians to be proud of the kind of scheme the country operated, adding that his team was in Ghana to also learn about how the NHIA had been successful in paying health providers.  

The German Development Cooperation (GIZ) has wrapped up its Market-Oriented Agriculture Programme (MOAP) initiative in the Northern Region. Under an eight-year implementation period, the 34-million Euro programme sought to improve the overall competitiveness of agricultural and private sector actors leading to the establishment of mango, guinea fowl, chili pepper and fish value chains in the region. It was jointly implemented by the GIZ and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). Addressing members of the value chain committees and other partners in the implementation of the MOAP at a farewell event in Tamale, the Country Director of GIZ, Mr Siegfried Leffler, observed that the GIZ had been in the Northern Region for the past 30 years. He said although the organisation had its own challenges in implementing some of its interventions, partners including value chain committee members were impressed with the MOAP. He noted that although the MOAP was phasing out of the region, there were two more ongoing GIZ programmes, namely, the "Adaptation of Agro-Ecosystems to Climate Change" and the "Competitive African Cotton Initiative". The MOAP Programme Manager, Dr Paul Schuetz, was happy with the pace of development in the Tamale metropolis, describing it as a "very dynamic development". Touching on the successes chalked up by the MOAP, he intimated that members of the guinea fowl value chain committee had, for instance, succeeded in expanding their businesses and one member alone could sell about 5000 birds a year. The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Bede Ziedeng, noted that the region had been deprived and marginalised for a very long time and so it was much appreciated when organisations like GIZ were supporting developmental efforts of the region. In a speech read on his behalf, the Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr William Boakye Acheampong, said the MOAP programme had immensely helped mango farmers in the region to produce to meet international standards. Through MOAP, he noted, farmers had been trained and sensitised to GlobalGap certification and "it is heart-warming to note that some farmers in the region have been certified to produce for the international markets". "Many farmers are also in the process of obtaining the certificate to enable them to produce to meet international standards for increased incomes," the director noted.

 The University of Ghana has introduced a multi-purpose customised card to  help students and lecturers of the university in their daily activities and transactions. Under the initiative of Makyoung Limited, with support from VISA International, Global Technology Partners (GTP) and Zenith Bank, the ‘UG-Cruz card’ serves as identification and facilitates access to libraries, payment for services and access to cash cards globally wherever the Visa brand is seen.  At a ceremony to launch the UG-Cruz card at the University of Ghana in Accra on Thursday, the Director of Makyoung, Mr Henry Benyah, said the UG-Cruz card was expected to present the university community with the flexibility and functionality of using one card, technologically designed and developed for multiple purposes. “This innovation, which is the first to be launched in this country and, indeed with the present functionality design, the first in Africa, has been designed to enable users to utilise the card as a VISA pre-paid card for undertaking financial transactions worldwide on any of the 1.9 million VISA terminals around the world,” he said. Mr Benyah said the innovation was designed to also cater for planned University of Ghana projects such as the toll roads, as well as administering the proposed student feeding programme currently under consideration by the university authorities. According to him, the company decided to partner the University of Ghana because it deemed the university as one that had forward-thinking leadership who thought global and had a vision for the student community. The Visa Business Development Manager for West Africa, Mrs Holly Jones, lauded the initiative of Makyoung for bringing such an alluring enterprise to Ghana. She assured Ghanaians that VISA International would continue to support such programmes to displace cash and assist the country in its drive towards a cash-lite economy. The Regional Director, Customer Relations of GTP, Mr Ike Anison, said Visa and GTP had the objective to spearhead the innovation of Makyoung by collaborating through the processes before the card could work. “GTP is the processor behind this prepaid card that is being launched today. When cards are being used in the electronic payment scheme you need to have a system to process that transaction and that is where we come in,” he said. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, thanked all the companies that had contributed to the introduction of the card.

The Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, a medical postgraduate institution, has so far trained  436 specialist doctors in medicine and surgery in the country. Fifteen of the graduates are fellows. Since the first batch of trainees passed out in 2007, the college turns out medical specialists every year who are offering specialist medical services to Ghanaians. According to the Rector of the college, Professor David Ofori-Adjei, the establishment of the college some 10 years ago had helped to reduce the brain drain in the medical profession by helping the country to retain 84 per cent of its trained doctors. He said the college had created a rare opportunity for training medical doctors locally and that had eased the number of medical doctors who usually left for postgraduate training outside the country and never returned. Prof. Ofori-Adjei made this known on Wednesday during a press soiree as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of the college. He noted that between 2000 and 2004 only 40 per cent of doctors trained were retained in the country, as a majority of them left, but said as of 2011 and 2012, as a result of the establishment of the college, majority of the doctors stayed and practised in the country. The rector hinted that the model being used by the college had become very attractive to other African countries, as doctors from other parts of Africa were currently pursuing postgraduate training in the college.   Challenges facing the College He said even though the funding the college received from the Consolidated Fund was insufficient and irregular, it had managed to apply its internally generated funds appropriately. Prof. Ofori-Adjei, however, said the college did not have adequate facilities to absorb the potentially high number of Ghanaian doctors being trained locally and internationally. According to him, most trainees had to leave their duty posts for Accra for the training, thereby creating inconvenience for them and their families.   The Way forward The rector said the college was exploring the possibility of training specialists outside the teaching hospitals by using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and video conferencing to offer training to the doctors at their locations, while they continued to offer services to their communities. He added that with the support of MTN, the college had acquired the necessary facilities and would soon start training the doctors online.

 The Odumase Krobo Circuit Court has sentenced a driver’s mate to 48 months imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful entry, causing damage and stealing. Stephen Nartey was sentenced to 48 months on each count, but the sentences are to run concurrently. The facts of the case as presented by Chief Inspector Monica Anku in charge of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) at Akuse were that the complainant, Maku Kodjo, was a drinking bar operator at Nuaso, a suburb of Odumase Krobo, whilst Nartey resided in the same area. According to the prosecutor, the two were in a relationship for a year until Maku ended the romance about six months ago. Nartey, who the prosecutor said was not happy about the breakup of the relationship, was alleged to have threatened  Maku’s life.  It was also alleged that Nartey insisted that Maku should compensate him with GH¢200 for wasting his time.  According to Chief Inspector Anku, at about 4 a.m. on November 6, 2013, Maku, who had gone to sleep at the mother’s house, received a phone call from one Francisca Martey that Nartey had gone to the house where she runs the bar and had left some food in her room. Chief Inspector Anku said Maku, on hearing the message, was not happy and therefore rushed to the drinking bar only to find out that Nartey had caused damage to the door, entered the bar and broken the bottles of drinks which amounted to GH¢1,987, as well as stolen GH¢400 in cash. The case was reported to the Nuaso Police and Nartey was arrested. Nartey, the prosecutor said, admitted in his caution statement that he went to the house and caused damage to the drinks in the bar,  but denied stealing the money. Passing sentence on Nartey, the presiding judge, Mr Asmah Akwasi Asiedu, remarked that the sentence should serve as a deterrent to other like-minded young men who would take the law into their hands without any provocation.

For persons infected by the HIV virus, disclosing one’s HIV/AIDS status to one’s close family members still remains a big challenge, in spite of the massive national educational campaign that is ongoing across the country. There are many people living with the virus who have refused to tell their spouses, immediate family members or church leaders due to the fear of being stigmatised. This group of persons end up not seeking  proper medical care and rather go about infecting innocent women and men till they die. Currently, only 280,000 people living with the virus have boldly opened up, thereby forming the National Network of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (NAP+ Ghana). Tomorrow, December 1, is World AIDS Day and it will be celebrated globally and nationally. The global theme is: “Getting to Zero New HIV/AIDS Infections, Zero Discrimination, Zero AIDS-Related Deaths”, while the national celebration, to be climaxed in Wa in the Upper West Region, is on the theme, “Accelerating the national response towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”. The National Ambassador of the HIV/Heart-Heart, Rev John Azumah, in an interview with The Mirror, said the HIV/AIDS virus had been with us for some time now, yet people were always scared to go for voluntary testing to know their status. “It is very necessary for all and sundry to know their status. If you test and you are negative, you refrain from all promiscuous acts or use condoms. However, when you are positive, like me, you condition your mind and go for medical advice on where to get anti-retroviral drugs to enable you to stay strong and healthy till your Maker calls you,” he said. Rev Azumah said most of the time people claimed that not “knowing your status is better than knowing it, which will push you to your grave”, noting that that claim was far from the truth. He called on the government to always ensure that anti-retroviral drugs were available to people living with HIV. “Apart from a few instances when there is shortage of the drugs, most often when pharmacists embark on an industrial action, it affects most of our people because we need these drugs to survive,” he said. He urged people living with the virus not to listen to fake men of God or herbalists who often claimed they could deliver them and cure them of the virus. “Most of our people sometimes abandon their retroviral drugs and visit religious camps and herbalists for spiritual treatment. Unfortunately, they end up coming in a worse state and then lose their lives in most cases,” he added. However, a report from the Ghana AIDS Commission, puts the estimated HIV population for last year at 235,982.  The breakdown is as follows: 87,524 (37.1 per cent) were males; 120,724 (51.2 per cent) females, and 27,734 (11.8 per cent) were children. The estimated new HIV infections are 7,991, out of which 7,139 (89.3 per cent) are adults, while 852 (10.7 per cent) are children. The estimated number of children orphaned by AIDS is 192,193. The region with the highest HIV prevalence is Eastern, followed by Greater Accra, Ashanti, Volta, Western, Upper East, Brong Ahafo, Central, Upper West and  Northern in that order. As part of the national five-year strategic plan, the Ghana AIDS Commission and its implementing partners are doing all things possible to reduce by half the infections by 2015, with priority on virtual elimination of mother-to child-transmission of HIV and sustaining and scaling up the proportion of People Living With HIV (PLHIV) who are on treatment as a prevention strategy. 

 The Builsa Traditional Council has resolved the Sandema chieftaincy dispute which was referred to the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs by two claimants to the skin. A delegation from the traditional council announced this at a meeting of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs with the Minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Henry Seidu Daanah, at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. Following the resolution of the dispute, the delegation disclosed that December 12, 2013 had been set as the tentative date for the enskinment of a new chief for Sandema, who would serve as the overlord of the Builsa Traditional Area. The position became vacant following the death of Nab Dr Ayieta Azantilow on November 14, 2006 after he had reigned for 75 years. He was one of the longest-reigning chiefs in the country. The Minster of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Henry Seidu Daanah, said the government recognised the important role chiefs played in the socio-economic development of the country; it was, therefore, taking steps to resource them to facilitate their work. He also said steps were being taken to get lawyers to serve as counsels for the houses of chiefs which did not have counsels, and added that the government would continue to pay the allowances of paramount chiefs. He, therefore, called on metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to pay the allowances of divisional chiefs in their jurisdictions. According to Dr Danaah, the survival of the chieftaincy institution depended on how it was managed today, adding that the representation of queens in the regional and national houses of chiefs must be taken seriously since their opinions could not be ignored. The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru, said chieftaincy was either at the centre or one of the  causes of disputes or conflicts. Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru said for chiefs to avert conflicts, they must take the lead as agents of the needed socio-cultural change and fight questionable and inappropriate cultural practices such as banishment, female genital mutilation, trial by ordeal, and advised that abusive rites and rituals must be eradicated through deliberate influence and authority by the chiefs. The President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Sakote Traditional Area, Naba Sigri Bewong, said the house was facing numerous challenges, and called for the intervention of the ministry. He said their guest house was in a deplorable condition and needed renovation, adding that the house had two official vehicles but one driver and requested that another driver be employed for the other vehicle. "Some paramount chiefs have applied to this house for some of their divisional chiefs to be elevated. They are many and we need clear-cut guidelines on this issue. When I raised this issue at the Standing Committee of the National House of Chiefs, I was put off. I was told it was up to each paramount chief to decide what he should do to his divisional chiefs".  Dr Henry Seidu Daanah, in the company of the  Directors of Administration and Traditional Affairs, Mr Constant Gladzah and Mr  Emmanuel Addoquaye Tetteh respectively, who are also on a three-day working visit to the Upper East Region, earlier on paid courtesy calls on the Sakote Naba, Bawku Naba, Bonga Naba, Nangode Naba and the Paga Pio at their palaces.

Tragedu hits Akyem Wenchi and Akyem Swedru in the Eastern Region last weekend when two schoolboys drowned in the two communities. Seventeen-year-old Bismark Tibuah, a form two pupil of Akyem Wenchi Methodist Junior High School (JHS), drowned in the Birim River at Wenchi last Saturday when he and his two friends had gone there to  swim. Briefing the Daily Graphic at Wenchi yesterday, Nana Kwadwo Ayim, the grandfather of the deceased, said Tibuah and his two friends were returning from farm last Saturday when he met his untimely death. He said after crossing the river by canoe  around 2 p.m, they left their headloads at the bank of the river and swam in it to cool off. According to Nana Ayim, while swimming in the river, Tibuah drowned so his friends rushed home to inform his relatives who quickly organised a search party to retrieve the body, but their efforts proved futile until the next day. In a related incident at Akyem Swedru, the Daily Graphic gathered from the District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Richard Gyebi, that another boy, 10-year-old Richard Owusu Apau, a class five pupil of the St Andrews Roman Catholic Primary School, decided to go for a swim in the Kosiko River after he had closed from school last Friday afternoon, and he also drowned. DSP Gyebi stated that Apau’s parents, who were alarmed about his unusual long absence from home, mounted a fruitless search for him until 12 midnight when they found his clothes at the bank of Kosiko River. He said as the parents suspected that Apau might have drowned in the river, they engaged seven divers, led by one Samuel Nyamkeh Yankey, to search for his body. DSP Gyebi said the divers managed to retrieve the body in the presence of police personnel, who examined it and declared that there was no foul play concerning the death. Meanwhile, the bodies of the two schoolchildren have been released to their relatives for burial after autopsy at the Oda Government Hospital.

 Eleven people died in two separate accidents on the Kumasi-Obuasi highway and at Mfensi in the Atwima Nwabiagya District in the Ashanti Region yesterday. Twenty-three others sustained serious injuries. In the first accident, nine people died, while12 sustained serious injuries, when an articulated truck collided with a Mercedes Sprinter bus on the outskirts of Dominase on the Kumasi-Obuasi highway yesterday. In the second one, four persons died on the spot and 11 others sustained injuries when a KIA Prado Mini bus on which they were travelling from Kenyasi in the Brong Ahafo Region to Kumasi crashed into a tree at Mfensi in the Atwima Nwabiagya District yesterday. All the dead in the Kumasi-Obuasi accident, including a pregnant woman and a child, were in the Mercedes Sprinter, with registration number AW 1420-13. Of the dead, only one person — the driver of the Sprinter bus — had been identified as of press time. His name was given as Ernest Nketia and the police said a voters identity card and a bank ATM card that were in his pocket helped them to identify the driver. The injured persons were sent to the Dominase SDA Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). The bizarre accident, which happened about 2 p.m., momentarily caused vehicular traffic, as many vehicles plying that route pulled up for their occupants to rush to catch glimpses of the scene. The personal belongings of the occupants of the bus were scattered along the road and traffic built heavily on both ends of the busy road as rescue and recovery work was carried out by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to remove the dead bodies, some of them mutilated. Several bystanders shed tears as the operation went on. The Bekwai Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Kwasi Akomea Apraku, who was at the accident scene, told the Daily Graphic that the articulated truck, belonging to the Takoradi Floor Mill, was heading towards Kumasi from Takoradi, while the Sprinter was travelling from Kumasi to Assin Fosu. On reaching the outskirts of Dominase, about 25 km from Kumasi, the Sprinter burst a tyre. The driver swung the bus to the extreme left, lost balance and collided head-on with the oncoming articulated truck, with registration number WR 1552 -09. The impact of the collision was so great that the mangled Sprinter bus got stuck under the truck, killing the nine on the spot. Some Good Samaritans immediately managed to send some of the injured to hospital before the GNFS came in to complete the rescue and recovery mission. The bodies of the deceased in the Mfensi incident, whose identities are yet to be established, have been deposited at KATH. Some of the passengers who sustained minor injuries were treated at the Mount Sinai Hospital at Atwima Koforidua and discharged. Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Abuakwa District Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr Thomas Badu Poku, said the accident occurred about 8 a.m. He also said the minibus, with registration number AW 6168–13 which was carrying 15 passengers, was heading towards Kumasi when a motor tricycle, popularly called “Aboboyaa”, crossed its lane at Mfensi.  The bus swerved in a bid to avoid crashing into the tricycle, but in the process it veered off the road, crashing into a tree. Mr Poku said the rider of the tricycle quickly took to his heels but efforts were being made by the police to arrest him to assist in their investigations.  

What previously seemed a blissful marriage between former Ghanaian star Nii Odartey Lamptey and Gloria, his wife of nearly two decades, has hit the rocks and is set to end in divorce. It is one of the most bizarre cases of alleged infidelity which has left the football community stunned, after a teammate of the player was rumoured to be a father to one of the three children. The Lampteys’ case comes on the heels of a recent divorce case being heard at an Accra High Court involving a former Black Stars captain, John Mensah, whose wife of 10 years, Henrietta, is seeking a break-up of their marriage on the grounds of infidelity, among other accusations. Gloria Lamptey has reportedly filed for divorce at the Accra High Court on the back of marital problems arising out of alleged infidelity on her part, after the football star discovered through paternity tests that he was not the biological father of their three daughters. The Lampteys are blessed with three girls namely, 19-year-old Khadija, Moyesha, 18, and Latifa, 7.  Apart from the three children, the couple lost two of their children during their marriage.  Inside sources revealed to the Daily Graphic that Mrs Lamptey went to court to dissolve the marriage, following accusation of infidelity by 38-year-old Odartey Lamptey  against Mrs Lamptey. The enraged wife, according to close sources to the Lampteys, threatened to divorce her superstar husband who delayed his response ostensibly to carry out a DNA test to confirm his suspicion. He allegedly secretly took vital samples of his three daughters and performed the paternity test whose results left him shattered after learning he could not be the biological father of his daughters. In her suit, Mrs Lamptey is said to be seeking a 50 per cent share of Lamptey’s estate as settlement which the 1991 world’s best juvenile player is contesting. The couple has a number of joint business ventures, notable among them is the Glow Lamp International School, near Baatsonaa, along the Spintex Road. Attempts by the Daily Graphic yesterday to reach the former Black Stars midfield star by phone could not materialise as his phone was switched off. Similarly, attempts to get his estranged wife for comment was unsuccessful. The former Aston Villa and Coventry City player seems resigned to losing his children and marriage. “The issue is in court... it is a legal issue I don’t want to go into it now....but I am 100 per cent sure that the children are not mine after 20-years,” he told Accra-based NEAT FM. However, Mrs Lamptey allegedly claimed the husband was infertile and it was upon his consent that she proceeded to undertake In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), a claim the footballer is contesting. Lamptey was a member of the Black Starlets team which won the 1991 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and went on to win a historic Olympic bronze medal with the Black Meteors at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and a silver medal at the 1993 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Australia.  

 Three Nigerians who allegedly cloned visa cards and unlawfully withdrew money from the bank accounts of several individuals have been arrested by the Cantonments District Police in Accra. The suspects — Tony Anderson, businessman; Seun Okhon, student, and Kelvin Benedict Aesida, a car dealer — are said to have illegally withdrawn a total of GH¢22,450.  Cloning of cards means the creation of identical cards. Illegal immigration status Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Cantonments District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Alex Kumangtani, said the suspects had so far failed to prove their professional status with the requisite documents. He further stated that the suspects did not have passports or any documents from the Ghana Immigration Service, making their stay in Ghana illegitimate. According to Mr Kumangtani, the suspects belonged to a complex criminal network that specialised in cloning visa cards for criminal activities.   The modus operandi He said the suspects executed their illegal but well-crafted plan by installing electronic devices at several automated teller machine (ATM) centres. These included a rectangular-shaped device that contains two mobile phone batteries, a camera lens and some wires. Mr Kumangtani said that particular device was installed at the upper section of the ATM and it captured the code number of an ATM card when it was being used by an unsuspecting ATM subscriber. Another device, which he said was green and oval shaped, was installed at the card insertion point on the ATM. He said that device retrieved all the security data on the ATM card used by the unsuspecting card user. Those two devices, according to Mr Kumangtani, enabled the suspects to transfer all security details of an original ATM card onto another fake card for onward illegal money withdrawals and purchases.      Arresting the criminals According to Mr Kumangtani, on November 23, 2013, the three suspects went to a mobile phone shop at the Accra Mall and purchased five phones, valued at GH¢22,450, using nine cloned visa cards. The Retail Manager of the shop, on satisfying himself that the suspects were acting suspiciously, called the police. When they were arrested, a thorough search was conducted on them and items suspected to be cloned visa cards were found on them.