Story: Stephen Sah
Ghana is one country where everything is taken for granted until a tragedy or something serious happens then we hurriedly take ad hoc measures to resolve the problem. However, like the proverbial scavenging bird, which promises to rebuild its nest after every heavy rainfall, we forget everything altogether until we are reawakened or struck by another tragedy.
For this kind of tendency Ghanaians are experts such that the alacrity with which we set up committees et al to handle situations and come up with plausible solutions the moment something happens is unmatched by any other country, to the best of my knowledge.
Just a few weeks ago, a major disaster was averted in Accra when a section of the Cocoa Affairs Courts near the National Lotteries collapsed, injuring two persons; one seriously.
Only God knows what would have happened if the incident had occurred during court session; everything would have been in disarray since our nurses and paramedics were on strike.
Immediately after the incident, the judiciary, led by the Chief Justice and some experts, visited the scene to assess the state of the buildings and the extent of damage. The incident has led to the disuse of some of the courts which have been relocated elsewhere in the city. This exercise has its own problem which is further exacerbated by the fact that some of the courts have to sit in the afternoon.
Many were those who blamed the near tragedy on the lack of maintenance culture of Ghanaians. There is no denying the fact that our attitude is not right yet the experts presented their report to the judicial authorities, as usual.
This article will not attempt a look at intricacies involved in this whole saga of court relocation since that has its problems which will be briefly addressed later. Its thrust is the dilapidated nature of the court infrastructure.
My investigations after the Cocoa Affairs incident revealed that apart from the main Supreme Court building and the cluster of court buildings there, the judiciary has no interest in the majority of the buildings it occupies and that since time immemorial the Service has been occupying these premises as a licensed tenant.
The service often takes charge of buildings provided by local authority administrations or palaces and other areas designated as such. It is obvious that these buildings are allowed to deteriorate because the service does not have the resources to undertake any maintenance or repairs.
A countless number of these buildings are being occupied on licence. These include the Cocoa Affairs Courts building which was originally not owned by the service. As the name suggests, it might have been put up for the administrators of the cocoa industry. So is the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal, which I am told, is owned by the Ghana Armed Forces; the Navy to be precise. These are areas where the courts are centred and one can locate the circuit and high courts here.
For the lower, community or magistrate courts, they are either located in a chief’s palace or a place which is not owned by the Judicial Service. Visits to the Osu, La, Accra Community Centre, Madina and Kaneshie magistrates’ courts reveals their awful states, if you asked me for a description of these court buildings. The odour which emanates from some of them coupled with the excessive heat is enough for one to fall sick.
Recently when I decided to go to the Kaneshie Magistrates’ Court, which is located within the Ga Mantse’s Palace I was told that the court had been relocated in the Regional Tribunal premises. I was told that the Ga chiefs needed the place for the funeral of their late king.
Probably they had planned the ejection long ago because of the lack of maintenance of the building and what an opportune time to eject them than during preparations towards the funeral of the paramount chief of the Gas?
If even under the very prying eyes of the authorities things have been allowed to go so bad then what is the situation in the rest of the country? A judicial staff official, when confronted with this issue was evasive but could only explain that it was the duty of every district or metropolitan assembly to see to the provision of community courts. “What about the other courts?” I asked.
Places that I have visited, such as my hometown, Sefwi Wiawso, Agona Swedru, Ewutu and others, in pursuit of my duty as a court reporter, have confirmed that the judiciary is not a landlord, at least in the majority of towns and cities across the country.
This was confirmed a couple of years ago when I attended the Chief Justice’s Forum where a very gloomy picture was painted of our court buildings during a picture slides show of some of our courts: some were located in noisy areas and even lacked basic facilities such as lavatory, chairs and lighting systems.
Accommodation for staff is an abomination and in one instance the house of a judge was leaking. What a sight we saw! The judge’s clothing hanging loosely somewhere near the bed. Anyway that livened up the seminar room because that provided a spontaneous infectious and uncontrollable laughter in the room.
Some lawyers I spoke to about the relocation of some courts and the shift system were not happy about the fact that some courts had to sit in the afternoon. To them that would deprive them of being in their chambers and attending to other issues or preparing for the next day's court.
Dr Kwaku Nsiah, a lawyer, said the centralisation of courts was not the best of options because every community was to have a magistrate, circuit and high courts. He said the current situation where all the courts were located at one place and everybody had to travel to the city centre to attend court sessions was not good because criminals could run away while being sent to the court. Furthermore, he said, the safety of dockets could not be guaranteed since they could easily get missing.
Another lawyer who declined to give his name, however, shared a different opinion and said the centralisation of the courts was advantageous except that the court buildings were not in good shape.
"Scattering the courts will be disastrous for both lawyers and clients. A client who does not have a lawyer can get one on entering the court complex. And for us lawyers our workload will be great in the sense that if I have different cases at different courts located elsewhere then it becomes difficult moving about", he said.
For Nii Akwei Thompson, also a lawyer, relocating the courts was problematic and action should be expedited so that afternoon sittings did not become the norm.
"The shift system should not be permanent but a temporary measure because we need the afternoon to attend to other matters", he said.
Mr Joseph Turkson, a lawyer, said the Judicial Service was experimenting with the decentralisation system whereby the courts are scattered but that system is plagued with problems. He said the current system should be maintained and beefed up with more judicial staff.
Maybe, the collapse of the Cocoa Affairs Courts building should be a clarion call for attention to be focused on the judiciary as the main dispenser of law and order in the society.
The infrastructure of the court aside, a serious diagnosis of its problems is urgent if we are serious about stopping the high turnover of its staff to attract the right calibre of staff, especially to the bench and nip in the bud the perceived corruption of the service for the public to have confidence in the administration of justice.
It has been said that a sound mind works in a healthy body so invariably if the judicial staff work under very deplorable conditions their overall output will be affected.
Justice delayed, they say, is justice denied. We should stop toying with the judiciary and be serious about doing something for the service if we want to make any headway in the current democratic dispensation.
I wonder if foreigners who visit the judiciary to learn from its exploits were taken round the various courts. It is obvious that they would have commended us in the face but send a bad image about us when they go back home.
We need to act to save the judiciary from its current mess and if for anything we cannot pay the staff well let us ensure that they work in very safe conditions. Without law and order our society cannot thrive for people to go about their everyday activities and there will be disorder.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Need we run away from third world tag
By Stephen Sah
TWO inspiring statements relating to the current state in which the continent of Africa finds herself, which are attributed to two fine Ghanaian brains, as well as the reactions they generate, make interesting reading.
First, it was a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Mrs Henrietta Abban, who admonished Africans to reject the third world tag because it was debasing and intended by the richer countries to further exploit the continent.
The substance of her argument is that Africa has great potential and opportunities that the developed countries are interested in exploiting, if they can keep Africans perpetually inferior. The learned judge was reported to have urged Africans to not accept the third world tag, which connotes being second rate citizens (Daily Graphic, May 20, 2006).
Second, Mr Ishmael Yamson, the Chairman of the Council of the University of Ghana, also has stated that Africa does not have any excuse to be poor, since the continent is endowed with natural and human resources.
“We Africans should not be talking about poverty now because Africa has more natural resource than any other continent in the world and God has endowed the continent with people with brains”, he was reported as saying (Daily Graphic, May 22, 2006).
It is obvious from these two poignant statements that the destiny of Africa is in the hands of Africans ourselves and that it is only Africans who can redeem the African continent from this mentality.
But the learned judge’s admonition was beyond the point and the responses from Kojo Smith and my senior colleague, Kofi Akordor, go to fuel the situation. The fact is that the third world classification/taxonomy is not about capabilities/ abilities that make people in the third world inferior to any race in the world. Should we run way from the fact that we are a third world country? Should we not be ashamed that in spite of our enormous natural and human resources, our continent is the least developed in the world? The third world tag is about a state of affairs which we cannot run away from. It is and can never be about the capability or capacity of the people of Africa or other third world countries because there have been countless occasions that Africans, or to come home, Ghanaians, for that matter, as Kojo Smith wrote, have out-classed their counterparts from the so-called developed countries in various endeavours.
There is no qualms about the fact that poverty exists and some people are poor, while others are rich. This scenario applies to the classification of worlds into first (developed), second (developing) and third (least developed or developing) countries.
Adam Szirmai (2005) in “The Dynamics of Socio-economic Development” traces the genesis of the third world to after World War II, when the term came into vogue as a designation for developing countries. This third world was contrasted with the first world of the advanced capitalist countries and the second world of the industrialised socialist countries in Eastern Europe.
So, in effect, what this means is that in the third world countries development is nothing comparable to that of the advanced countries. Most of the third world could be found in the entire of Africa but Africa is not alone in this exclusivity - countries in Latin America and Asia are also inclusive of this category.
The patent or common characteristic and interest of these countries have to with the widening gap between them and the rest of the affluent industrialised world. The same is implied by such terms as “North” and “South” divide.
And these characteristics include the ineffective bureaucratic structures in operation, the inability to provide the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter, how to handle disease, epidemics and any natural disaster when they occur, impoverishment and malnutrition, poor health, illiteracy, living in environmentally degraded and filthy areas, little political voice and political participation and the lack of personal and political power.
This is not to say that these do not occur in the developed countries such as the USA, UK, Canada or France. They do but in those countries, the predictability of and attachment to these phenomenon are excellent, whilst the reverse is what prevails in the third world generally.
Should a natural disaster like an earthquake occur in Africa and the US, for instance, the difference will be the structures and institutions put in place to tackle the issue.
While the structures will be non-existent in the third world and for that matter Africa, they will be readily available in the US such that the impact of the disaster there will be minimal and might not be felt as much.
It is a truism that conditions of poverty are particularly desperate in Africa, for instance, where real income on the average is abysmal. The real income of the average American is more than 50 times that of the average person in sub-Saharan Africa and the amount of food that go to waste in the US can feed famished people in the world’s poorest countries like Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Therefore, what we must admit is that we are what we are just because the necessary structures to tackle the basic necessities of life to make things better for us as a people are lacking in our part of the world. However, if all of us have been graciously endowed with those resources or the same structures and institutions, the difference will not have to do with capacity or the thinking ability of us as a people. Maybe, we would do much better than people in advanced countries.
We need not hammer the classification and all that but rather critically look at how to ensure that this predicament does not ensnare us forever. Fortunately for us, we have made some gains, as far as ending the scourge of poverty is concerned. We are blessed with the enormous human and natural resources, as Mr Yamson rightly pointed out.
We are also aware of the basic facts about the predicament that faces us. This is supported by an anonymous poor man (a Ghanaian), who was quoted by Stephen C. Smith (2005) in his book “Ending Global Poverty” as saying that “ Poverty is like a heat: You cannot see it, you can only feel it; so to understand poverty, you have to go through it”. For me this is a strong indication of our awareness and a starting point of fighting the scourge.
The story of poverty so far is one of both good and bad news; the progress so far made and what remains to be done.
In spite of the enormous human and natural resource, we need to have visionary leaders, as Kofi Akordor rightly wrote, who will be transparent in their dealings and be accountable to the very people who put them at the helms of affairs Our leaders should let the people’s well-being be cardinal to their policies. Without good leadership to harness these resources, nothing better can happen in the lives of the people in the third word.
Our leaders should eschew parochial and selfish interests. They should fashion out policies that will not gag and suppress the people but make them active participants in the governance programme because suppression can breed revolution or conflict, which have become hallmarks of our part of the world.
Since most of the third world are emerging democracies, they need to nurture these paths with care and patriotism devoid of corruption. We should take advantage of globalisation and forge closer regional relations among ourselves. The existing regional barriers to free trade, movement of goods and people should give way to a common socio-economic and political ties to fight external hegemony.
Besides, education of the highest quality should be our priority and it is incumbent on our educational institutions to ensure that our people are provided with the best of education, which is not interested only in making graduates pass out of schools without benefiting the country. I mean practical education which develops critical and analytical minds for solving pressing societal problems.
Our educational institutions should encourage more researches from students and use some of these in lieu of written examinations which create the “chew, pour, pass and forget” syndrome. When a student conducts a research, he would always remember the substance of his studies more than the lecture notes he has to cram to pass an examination and forget everything thereafter.
With improvement in education, the stage will then be set for catching up with the advanced countries in terms of narrowing the gap between us. The patient-doctor ratio, for example, will be reduced and our people will be enlightened about the way to go about things concerning the environment, job creation, new techniques of farming, sanitation, media freedom and pluralism and existence of fundamental human rights, fighting corruption and making very informed decisions that will affect our lives positively and these, hopefully would let us out of the poverty trap because we are 200 years behind the advanced countries.
Of course, we should not expect these to happen without recourse to changing our ways of doing things, but since to be poor, according to Nobel Laureate Armatya Sen, is to lack the basic capabilities to function, development has to be more concerned with enhancing the lives we lead and the freedoms we enjoy. That is what we need and we should aspire to achieve this for our people. This is what will bridge the gap betweeen us and the rest of the world.
TWO inspiring statements relating to the current state in which the continent of Africa finds herself, which are attributed to two fine Ghanaian brains, as well as the reactions they generate, make interesting reading.
First, it was a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Mrs Henrietta Abban, who admonished Africans to reject the third world tag because it was debasing and intended by the richer countries to further exploit the continent.
The substance of her argument is that Africa has great potential and opportunities that the developed countries are interested in exploiting, if they can keep Africans perpetually inferior. The learned judge was reported to have urged Africans to not accept the third world tag, which connotes being second rate citizens (Daily Graphic, May 20, 2006).
Second, Mr Ishmael Yamson, the Chairman of the Council of the University of Ghana, also has stated that Africa does not have any excuse to be poor, since the continent is endowed with natural and human resources.
“We Africans should not be talking about poverty now because Africa has more natural resource than any other continent in the world and God has endowed the continent with people with brains”, he was reported as saying (Daily Graphic, May 22, 2006).
It is obvious from these two poignant statements that the destiny of Africa is in the hands of Africans ourselves and that it is only Africans who can redeem the African continent from this mentality.
But the learned judge’s admonition was beyond the point and the responses from Kojo Smith and my senior colleague, Kofi Akordor, go to fuel the situation. The fact is that the third world classification/taxonomy is not about capabilities/ abilities that make people in the third world inferior to any race in the world. Should we run way from the fact that we are a third world country? Should we not be ashamed that in spite of our enormous natural and human resources, our continent is the least developed in the world? The third world tag is about a state of affairs which we cannot run away from. It is and can never be about the capability or capacity of the people of Africa or other third world countries because there have been countless occasions that Africans, or to come home, Ghanaians, for that matter, as Kojo Smith wrote, have out-classed their counterparts from the so-called developed countries in various endeavours.
There is no qualms about the fact that poverty exists and some people are poor, while others are rich. This scenario applies to the classification of worlds into first (developed), second (developing) and third (least developed or developing) countries.
Adam Szirmai (2005) in “The Dynamics of Socio-economic Development” traces the genesis of the third world to after World War II, when the term came into vogue as a designation for developing countries. This third world was contrasted with the first world of the advanced capitalist countries and the second world of the industrialised socialist countries in Eastern Europe.
So, in effect, what this means is that in the third world countries development is nothing comparable to that of the advanced countries. Most of the third world could be found in the entire of Africa but Africa is not alone in this exclusivity - countries in Latin America and Asia are also inclusive of this category.
The patent or common characteristic and interest of these countries have to with the widening gap between them and the rest of the affluent industrialised world. The same is implied by such terms as “North” and “South” divide.
And these characteristics include the ineffective bureaucratic structures in operation, the inability to provide the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter, how to handle disease, epidemics and any natural disaster when they occur, impoverishment and malnutrition, poor health, illiteracy, living in environmentally degraded and filthy areas, little political voice and political participation and the lack of personal and political power.
This is not to say that these do not occur in the developed countries such as the USA, UK, Canada or France. They do but in those countries, the predictability of and attachment to these phenomenon are excellent, whilst the reverse is what prevails in the third world generally.
Should a natural disaster like an earthquake occur in Africa and the US, for instance, the difference will be the structures and institutions put in place to tackle the issue.
While the structures will be non-existent in the third world and for that matter Africa, they will be readily available in the US such that the impact of the disaster there will be minimal and might not be felt as much.
It is a truism that conditions of poverty are particularly desperate in Africa, for instance, where real income on the average is abysmal. The real income of the average American is more than 50 times that of the average person in sub-Saharan Africa and the amount of food that go to waste in the US can feed famished people in the world’s poorest countries like Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Therefore, what we must admit is that we are what we are just because the necessary structures to tackle the basic necessities of life to make things better for us as a people are lacking in our part of the world. However, if all of us have been graciously endowed with those resources or the same structures and institutions, the difference will not have to do with capacity or the thinking ability of us as a people. Maybe, we would do much better than people in advanced countries.
We need not hammer the classification and all that but rather critically look at how to ensure that this predicament does not ensnare us forever. Fortunately for us, we have made some gains, as far as ending the scourge of poverty is concerned. We are blessed with the enormous human and natural resources, as Mr Yamson rightly pointed out.
We are also aware of the basic facts about the predicament that faces us. This is supported by an anonymous poor man (a Ghanaian), who was quoted by Stephen C. Smith (2005) in his book “Ending Global Poverty” as saying that “ Poverty is like a heat: You cannot see it, you can only feel it; so to understand poverty, you have to go through it”. For me this is a strong indication of our awareness and a starting point of fighting the scourge.
The story of poverty so far is one of both good and bad news; the progress so far made and what remains to be done.
In spite of the enormous human and natural resource, we need to have visionary leaders, as Kofi Akordor rightly wrote, who will be transparent in their dealings and be accountable to the very people who put them at the helms of affairs Our leaders should let the people’s well-being be cardinal to their policies. Without good leadership to harness these resources, nothing better can happen in the lives of the people in the third word.
Our leaders should eschew parochial and selfish interests. They should fashion out policies that will not gag and suppress the people but make them active participants in the governance programme because suppression can breed revolution or conflict, which have become hallmarks of our part of the world.
Since most of the third world are emerging democracies, they need to nurture these paths with care and patriotism devoid of corruption. We should take advantage of globalisation and forge closer regional relations among ourselves. The existing regional barriers to free trade, movement of goods and people should give way to a common socio-economic and political ties to fight external hegemony.
Besides, education of the highest quality should be our priority and it is incumbent on our educational institutions to ensure that our people are provided with the best of education, which is not interested only in making graduates pass out of schools without benefiting the country. I mean practical education which develops critical and analytical minds for solving pressing societal problems.
Our educational institutions should encourage more researches from students and use some of these in lieu of written examinations which create the “chew, pour, pass and forget” syndrome. When a student conducts a research, he would always remember the substance of his studies more than the lecture notes he has to cram to pass an examination and forget everything thereafter.
With improvement in education, the stage will then be set for catching up with the advanced countries in terms of narrowing the gap between us. The patient-doctor ratio, for example, will be reduced and our people will be enlightened about the way to go about things concerning the environment, job creation, new techniques of farming, sanitation, media freedom and pluralism and existence of fundamental human rights, fighting corruption and making very informed decisions that will affect our lives positively and these, hopefully would let us out of the poverty trap because we are 200 years behind the advanced countries.
Of course, we should not expect these to happen without recourse to changing our ways of doing things, but since to be poor, according to Nobel Laureate Armatya Sen, is to lack the basic capabilities to function, development has to be more concerned with enhancing the lives we lead and the freedoms we enjoy. That is what we need and we should aspire to achieve this for our people. This is what will bridge the gap betweeen us and the rest of the world.
Globalisation and consumption patterns in Ghana
Story: Stephen Sah
AS I walked the street in Accra the other day, a cousin of mine whom I least expected to meet in town patted me from behind. He had slung a huge bag around his neck and was sweating. I did not know the bag’s content but before I could ask him what had brought him to the national capital, Yaw, frustrated as he was, told me that he had come to the Russian Embassy.
His mission? He had received a sound system from his friend who was domiciled in Russia. After fidgeting with the machine in order to operate it, he realised it would not work. He had to rush down to Accra to send the brochure which was written in Russian for interpretation.
He was told that the machine could no longer work and he either had to throw it away before going back to Sefwi or just send it back as a decorative piece in his room to sort of show off.
That was the story of my cousin. And as I continued my journey, I asked myself whether that was where globalisation had taken us? Instantly, I decided to do a piece on this globalisation thing and the new consumption patterns, especially taking into consideration the fact that globalisation has turned the world into a small village and yet making the developing countries be at the receiving end; they have virtually become dumping grounds for all manner of products.
In shops and on the streets all kinds of products are being offered for sale. There have been many occasions that people have bought products and have not been able to use them, especially electronic gadgets . Undoubtedly, this normally happens to those who purchase on impulse.
The fact that globalisation has turned the world into a small a place cannot be underestimated. Anyone without even an e-mail, which will one day give way for other innovations, may be described as being old fashioned.
So one has to be caught in this trendy thing and the niceties that go with globalisation. Now there isn’t anything much a secret, not even with personal e-mails and the like, because people in other countries can make orders for goods from abroad through the Internet and pay for them to be shipped to them without stepping a foot forward.
Similarly, others, through the same means, embark on fraudulent activities and steal credit card numbers of others to transact similar businesses. This can go on for long until the theft is detected by the victims.
A village the world has become indeed. What an instant communication with a relative or friend in a far away country via telephone, the Internet or video can do cannot be described; in fact, serious problems can be solved with that and make things happen in people’s lives. That is globalisation for you.
However, at the flip side of this trend is the gloomy picture of how businesses and individuals are being taken for granted through fraudulent cyber activities, unreliable and malfunctioning 'robot' systems, as in the case of my cousin, the production and supply of shoddy goods and you mention the rest.
The above notwithstanding, globalisation and modernity have come with them very sophisticated and improved ways of doing things, particularly in industry, marketing, medicine, music, and consumption, among others, bringing into sharp focus the rationality of bureaucracy, at least, in the advanced economies. In those economies the new consumption patterns are very efficient, predictable and convenient.
In the light of the impact that globalisation and modernity had on the world, this article is looking at their impact on our national economy and how Ghanaians, in our modest way, are faring , particularly in the areas of marketing and new consumption patterns.
These are clearly manifested in the emergence of highly improved advertising strategies and products in the country. In the banking sector, for instance, the introduction of electronic and or online banking have become buoyant with the use of debit and credit cards, and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) providing banking (or is it cash?) out of ‘town’.
There is also the sprouting of wayside fast food joints, popularly called ‘check check’ in Ghana, competing alongside conventional restaurants and supermarkets or malls (referred to as one-stop shops). Unlike in the past when there were departmental shops in the cities and bigger towns where only very few people, especially the affluent or those on monthly salaries, could go for shopping, now all sorts of products, albeit shoddy, are being offered for sale everywhere, including the streets, and even pharmacies and fuel pump stations have become good sources of one- stop shopping.
These malls provide all kinds of products and services, including salons or barbering shops and even in some designated pharmacy shops one can get anything from toiletries and cosmetics to food and drinks. But can the attributes of the new consumption patterns in the advanced communities, namely efficiency, predictability and convenience, be found in Ghana?
Somehow, these attributes could be said to be making strides but not very firmly rooted on the ground. What accounts for the non-existence of such attributes stems from the fact that the system of accounting in this country is completely at variance with what pertains in the advanced economies where transactions heavily subsists on non-money payments.
The credit cards, cheques and the like do the business with very little money changing hands. So one hardly finds someone with plenty of cash.
Consumption patterns over there are predictable because in one breath one can easily predict what one wanted to buy and get them within the shortest possible time, with security on even the car parks assured. The opposite is what prevails here in Ghana. The unavailability of parking lots with a not-always-assured security for customers in most cases makes shopping unsafe in some of the so-called malls or marts?
Besides, while there is very minimal use of credit cards and the like, the manual counting of plenty of cash makes shopping stressful and where they are used transaction is delayed by the number of people that have to queue.
The idea by the various banks to provide various banking outlets in ‘town’ to avoid customers being left to the mercies of ATM machines, is laudable as some customers experience difficulties understanding the language of these machines. The machines simply won’t work when their services are direly needed. They easily break down and will not dispense with cash. For weekends, it is better one does not attempt. Those days are virtual holidays for the ATM machines. These are the vicissitudes or the irrationalities of rationality.
Strong measures are needed in the accounting system of the economy for it to measure up to the demands of modernity and globalisation. There is the need to have an accounting system to take care of these sophisticated banking products like the credit and debit cards so that individuals will not have to even carry with them large sums of money. This way even armed robbers and confidence tricksters or their like could be damned.
The ‘check check’, no doubt, have brought easy food to the working city dweller, although what is always provided has become one way. Their side effects are a different thing altogether, since it is a fact that cooking for a large number of people normally affects the quality. No one knows where the food is prepared before being brought to the market where it is heated.
Ghanaian consumers do not have much say in determining what bothers them, since there isn’t any strong consumer association in the country that can fight for consumers’ welfare. In the absence of any such association, it is incumbent that producers, manufacturers and importers critically make sure that while they safeguard their interests, the interest of consumers is equally protected to ensure a win-win situation for all.
More innovative ways to encourage the use and acceptance of credit or debit cards and cheques are needed so that the current trend of subsisting heavily on hard cash would be discouraged. It is silly on our part to demand cash for the purchase of such things as cars, or even houses. We need not have to present cash when we purchase things worth more than even ¢1 million, considering the units of our money.
AS I walked the street in Accra the other day, a cousin of mine whom I least expected to meet in town patted me from behind. He had slung a huge bag around his neck and was sweating. I did not know the bag’s content but before I could ask him what had brought him to the national capital, Yaw, frustrated as he was, told me that he had come to the Russian Embassy.
His mission? He had received a sound system from his friend who was domiciled in Russia. After fidgeting with the machine in order to operate it, he realised it would not work. He had to rush down to Accra to send the brochure which was written in Russian for interpretation.
He was told that the machine could no longer work and he either had to throw it away before going back to Sefwi or just send it back as a decorative piece in his room to sort of show off.
That was the story of my cousin. And as I continued my journey, I asked myself whether that was where globalisation had taken us? Instantly, I decided to do a piece on this globalisation thing and the new consumption patterns, especially taking into consideration the fact that globalisation has turned the world into a small village and yet making the developing countries be at the receiving end; they have virtually become dumping grounds for all manner of products.
In shops and on the streets all kinds of products are being offered for sale. There have been many occasions that people have bought products and have not been able to use them, especially electronic gadgets . Undoubtedly, this normally happens to those who purchase on impulse.
The fact that globalisation has turned the world into a small a place cannot be underestimated. Anyone without even an e-mail, which will one day give way for other innovations, may be described as being old fashioned.
So one has to be caught in this trendy thing and the niceties that go with globalisation. Now there isn’t anything much a secret, not even with personal e-mails and the like, because people in other countries can make orders for goods from abroad through the Internet and pay for them to be shipped to them without stepping a foot forward.
Similarly, others, through the same means, embark on fraudulent activities and steal credit card numbers of others to transact similar businesses. This can go on for long until the theft is detected by the victims.
A village the world has become indeed. What an instant communication with a relative or friend in a far away country via telephone, the Internet or video can do cannot be described; in fact, serious problems can be solved with that and make things happen in people’s lives. That is globalisation for you.
However, at the flip side of this trend is the gloomy picture of how businesses and individuals are being taken for granted through fraudulent cyber activities, unreliable and malfunctioning 'robot' systems, as in the case of my cousin, the production and supply of shoddy goods and you mention the rest.
The above notwithstanding, globalisation and modernity have come with them very sophisticated and improved ways of doing things, particularly in industry, marketing, medicine, music, and consumption, among others, bringing into sharp focus the rationality of bureaucracy, at least, in the advanced economies. In those economies the new consumption patterns are very efficient, predictable and convenient.
In the light of the impact that globalisation and modernity had on the world, this article is looking at their impact on our national economy and how Ghanaians, in our modest way, are faring , particularly in the areas of marketing and new consumption patterns.
These are clearly manifested in the emergence of highly improved advertising strategies and products in the country. In the banking sector, for instance, the introduction of electronic and or online banking have become buoyant with the use of debit and credit cards, and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) providing banking (or is it cash?) out of ‘town’.
There is also the sprouting of wayside fast food joints, popularly called ‘check check’ in Ghana, competing alongside conventional restaurants and supermarkets or malls (referred to as one-stop shops). Unlike in the past when there were departmental shops in the cities and bigger towns where only very few people, especially the affluent or those on monthly salaries, could go for shopping, now all sorts of products, albeit shoddy, are being offered for sale everywhere, including the streets, and even pharmacies and fuel pump stations have become good sources of one- stop shopping.
These malls provide all kinds of products and services, including salons or barbering shops and even in some designated pharmacy shops one can get anything from toiletries and cosmetics to food and drinks. But can the attributes of the new consumption patterns in the advanced communities, namely efficiency, predictability and convenience, be found in Ghana?
Somehow, these attributes could be said to be making strides but not very firmly rooted on the ground. What accounts for the non-existence of such attributes stems from the fact that the system of accounting in this country is completely at variance with what pertains in the advanced economies where transactions heavily subsists on non-money payments.
The credit cards, cheques and the like do the business with very little money changing hands. So one hardly finds someone with plenty of cash.
Consumption patterns over there are predictable because in one breath one can easily predict what one wanted to buy and get them within the shortest possible time, with security on even the car parks assured. The opposite is what prevails here in Ghana. The unavailability of parking lots with a not-always-assured security for customers in most cases makes shopping unsafe in some of the so-called malls or marts?
Besides, while there is very minimal use of credit cards and the like, the manual counting of plenty of cash makes shopping stressful and where they are used transaction is delayed by the number of people that have to queue.
The idea by the various banks to provide various banking outlets in ‘town’ to avoid customers being left to the mercies of ATM machines, is laudable as some customers experience difficulties understanding the language of these machines. The machines simply won’t work when their services are direly needed. They easily break down and will not dispense with cash. For weekends, it is better one does not attempt. Those days are virtual holidays for the ATM machines. These are the vicissitudes or the irrationalities of rationality.
Strong measures are needed in the accounting system of the economy for it to measure up to the demands of modernity and globalisation. There is the need to have an accounting system to take care of these sophisticated banking products like the credit and debit cards so that individuals will not have to even carry with them large sums of money. This way even armed robbers and confidence tricksters or their like could be damned.
The ‘check check’, no doubt, have brought easy food to the working city dweller, although what is always provided has become one way. Their side effects are a different thing altogether, since it is a fact that cooking for a large number of people normally affects the quality. No one knows where the food is prepared before being brought to the market where it is heated.
Ghanaian consumers do not have much say in determining what bothers them, since there isn’t any strong consumer association in the country that can fight for consumers’ welfare. In the absence of any such association, it is incumbent that producers, manufacturers and importers critically make sure that while they safeguard their interests, the interest of consumers is equally protected to ensure a win-win situation for all.
More innovative ways to encourage the use and acceptance of credit or debit cards and cheques are needed so that the current trend of subsisting heavily on hard cash would be discouraged. It is silly on our part to demand cash for the purchase of such things as cars, or even houses. We need not have to present cash when we purchase things worth more than even ¢1 million, considering the units of our money.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Nobody can develop Ghana for us
development (features)
Nobody can develop Ghana for us
By Stephen Sah
SOMETIMES, I wonder what is wrong with the third world and for that matter Ghanaian development because of the enormous human and natural resources available. If natural resources were anything to go by then no country on the African continent including Ghana, should be less developed for its citizens to be in the present predicament they find themselves.
And when a couple of weeks ago, a Trades Unionist rightly hit the nail on the head by declaring that all government policies had failed a government official swiftly refuted that statement and launched a counter attack to deceive everybody that all was well?
In the third world taxonomy, all the countries are characterised by very low standards of living, the result of which is the lack of the basic necessities of life. If one takes into account the taxes that are collected by the government and the natural resources which are exploited one wonders where the money goes to.
Is it the government which should take the blame for the poor state of affairs in the country for not being able to effectively account for all that is collected? Of course, the government cannot escape blame for the turn of events because it has the responsibility to do the right thing for the sake and well-being of the citizens.
Since politicians always seek the peoples mandate through elections and try to do all in their power to make the well-being of the citizens their avowed they should wake up from their partisan and self-seeking interests and put national interest first in all their endeavours. It is one thing to get the peoples mandate and another thing to do what is expected to bring the desired results.
In Ghana, for example, all the various policies that had been initiated by the governments since independence had not made things better for Ghanaians. If anything at all things are rather getting out of hand. Period.
Apart from what development experts and/or theorists have posited as reasons for the underdevelopment of countries in the third world taxonomy, such as the lack of education, lack of good leadership and good governance, corruption, and the lack of political will, among others, there seem to be a serious missing link - which is the attitude of the people themselves to the way and manner things are done.
Until that changes no amount of foreign capital inflow or even prayers can redeem us from our current predicament of abject poverty.
Although the TUC official was right in his assertion without empirical data, the NPP government should not fret on such a fact because, neither the government nor it predecessors should single-handedly be blamed for the failure of policies.
In spite of the above point, someone must take the blame for this lurid state of affairs because some countries which have moved up on the development ladder into middle class, for instance, those who were on the same pedestal as Ghana, have made giant strides towards development with commitment and dedication. It is not all too an issue with donor support or aid but what the local people could do for the needed change to happen.
The people of Ghana are equally responsible for the present predicament in which our country finds herself in the comity of world polity. It was about time we changed certain aspects of the way things are done in this country in order to meet challenges of the century. And there is no denying the fact that a biting or hard government will make this happen.
If our governments will not continue to take drastic measures because of the fear of the power of the thumb then we better forget about democracy since the sweetness of the pudding, it is said, is in its eating.
Ghana can only be developed by Ghanaians and no other people, not even with the massive inflow of foreign aid or donor support. It is through commitment and dedication to the course of the country that any policy embarked upon by any government in this country will work out. Without a tutored peoples no meaningful implementation can succeed.
Maybe, we should take a cue from the seemingly workable policy being implemented to the full by the MTTU boss Mr Victor Tandoh; that policy to ensure that commercial vehicles carried the required number of passengers seems to be working. This is because at least every Ghanaian in the cities was committed to its success and supported by disciplining our mental capacities that it was through that we could stop some of the nasty practices by those mini buses, for example.
We don’t expect government policy to work when people in government are corrupt and only in power because of their stomachs, when we do not play the role expected of us as citizens by paying our taxes, by not being patriotic to the course of the country and not condoning bad practices. We cannot run away from the fact that our governments have failed us woefully, but we as a country do not ponder over on how every facet of the national economy is infested with a kind of sickness, the diagnosis of which require all Ghanaians to be physicians; that many people have become rich overnight at the expense of the nation without paying their workers well and not paying taxes, that corruptuion and smuggling and other covert activities have become rampant under the very prying eyes and connivance of the very state officials who are to ensure that the right things are done? The revenue collection agencies, for example, at the end of every year declare having met their targets by collecting so much for the state since there are no proper accounting machinery to know how much had gone into private pockets? It is just for anyone to visit the airport, Tema Port or even the Post Offices to see how importers and travellers go through very depressing times to clear their consignments. You will even sympathise with them for colluding with the very officials to do the wrong thing? Ghana should begin to question the sources of peoples’ wealth so that if anybody has more than they earn they could be made to account for their ill-gotten wealth. Without this any thief can go away in the name of doing business because they will not be asked to account for a pesewa. Recently when a major bank robbery took place in the UK, people who went to the banks to deposit physical cash of more than five thousand pounds were arrested and questioned about the source(s) of the monies.
Apart from the fact that Ghanaians are poorly paid everything in this country seem to be virtually in a mess and in fact free: Take for instance cheating landlords who rent out their shabbily constructed rooms to lowly paid. One may ask how many of them really pay taxes on the rent that they receive. Most entrepreneurs who operate companies in this country will team up with government officials stationed there to ensure the right taxes or things are done to milk the country. Woe betide anyone who blew the whistle. Not quite long ago, a friend of mine was going to get accommodation which was to be paid by the University of Ghana. The university insisted on taking the tax from the rent before making any payments and knowing the fate that lay ahead of him my friend quickly gathered money from somewhere to make up for that tax deduction and added it to the landlord’s rent advance. So you see? No such thing can go on in any of the advanced countries. This is not to say that nasty things don’t happen in those countries. They do but people are always cautious of what they do because of the repercussions, should they be caught by the law.
In this country everybody wants to play it fast and care not about what will happen afterwards. People do not care a hoot about state property and think that it belongs to the government and for that matter anybody can dip their hands in to them. People can destroy public roads or other public properties without replacing them and they could still go unpunished. My Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana once said that while in the US, a school pupil of less than 10 years was able to question a gardener who was pruning flowers. According to him, the pupil thought the man was damaging the flowers which belonged to all Americans and for that matter he could not alone destroy them. In the UK the people are so disciplined that even on the road where there is no police presence people did the right thing by slotting in some coins to get tickets for either travelling on buses or parking their vehicles on sections of the road. Will this ever be adhered to in Ghana? Certainly, the answer is no because even telephone booths which are provided for use are being abused by people who try to cheat on the system. Ghanaians will always ignore the few garbage bins in the streets and drop litters on the street or even use the bins for undesignated garbage.
The laws in this country do not bite because one can easily make his way out by offering a few cedis to the law enforcement personnel. The new generation of Ghanaians can make greater things happen for us if we remained patriotic to the country’s course and discard the notion that we will be labelled as being too known and called names. If we acquiesce wrong doing without insisting that the right thing is done our country will forever remain in this state and not move forward in her development. Insist on the right thing and see to it that it is done. If we purge ourselves as in dividuals there is no way politicians or government officials can take us for a ride. With very promising policies put up by the government and supportive citizens then progress will be inevitable but without which nobody should put accusing fingers at anybody and we will remain in our lawless jungle poverty forever. We should not forget that at our current stage of development we have more than 200 years to catch up with those countries we aspire to be like. We should also not delude ourselves into believing that come 2015 Ghana achieve the much publicised middle income status when we do not change the way things are done.This calls for all hands on the deck and eschewing mediocrity. A new generation is needed for the challenges ahead such that we will shirk apathy and begin to ask questions.If we want the government alone to be responsible for the developemnt of our country then God save us.
Nobody can develop Ghana for us
By Stephen Sah
SOMETIMES, I wonder what is wrong with the third world and for that matter Ghanaian development because of the enormous human and natural resources available. If natural resources were anything to go by then no country on the African continent including Ghana, should be less developed for its citizens to be in the present predicament they find themselves.
And when a couple of weeks ago, a Trades Unionist rightly hit the nail on the head by declaring that all government policies had failed a government official swiftly refuted that statement and launched a counter attack to deceive everybody that all was well?
In the third world taxonomy, all the countries are characterised by very low standards of living, the result of which is the lack of the basic necessities of life. If one takes into account the taxes that are collected by the government and the natural resources which are exploited one wonders where the money goes to.
Is it the government which should take the blame for the poor state of affairs in the country for not being able to effectively account for all that is collected? Of course, the government cannot escape blame for the turn of events because it has the responsibility to do the right thing for the sake and well-being of the citizens.
Since politicians always seek the peoples mandate through elections and try to do all in their power to make the well-being of the citizens their avowed they should wake up from their partisan and self-seeking interests and put national interest first in all their endeavours. It is one thing to get the peoples mandate and another thing to do what is expected to bring the desired results.
In Ghana, for example, all the various policies that had been initiated by the governments since independence had not made things better for Ghanaians. If anything at all things are rather getting out of hand. Period.
Apart from what development experts and/or theorists have posited as reasons for the underdevelopment of countries in the third world taxonomy, such as the lack of education, lack of good leadership and good governance, corruption, and the lack of political will, among others, there seem to be a serious missing link - which is the attitude of the people themselves to the way and manner things are done.
Until that changes no amount of foreign capital inflow or even prayers can redeem us from our current predicament of abject poverty.
Although the TUC official was right in his assertion without empirical data, the NPP government should not fret on such a fact because, neither the government nor it predecessors should single-handedly be blamed for the failure of policies.
In spite of the above point, someone must take the blame for this lurid state of affairs because some countries which have moved up on the development ladder into middle class, for instance, those who were on the same pedestal as Ghana, have made giant strides towards development with commitment and dedication. It is not all too an issue with donor support or aid but what the local people could do for the needed change to happen.
The people of Ghana are equally responsible for the present predicament in which our country finds herself in the comity of world polity. It was about time we changed certain aspects of the way things are done in this country in order to meet challenges of the century. And there is no denying the fact that a biting or hard government will make this happen.
If our governments will not continue to take drastic measures because of the fear of the power of the thumb then we better forget about democracy since the sweetness of the pudding, it is said, is in its eating.
Ghana can only be developed by Ghanaians and no other people, not even with the massive inflow of foreign aid or donor support. It is through commitment and dedication to the course of the country that any policy embarked upon by any government in this country will work out. Without a tutored peoples no meaningful implementation can succeed.
Maybe, we should take a cue from the seemingly workable policy being implemented to the full by the MTTU boss Mr Victor Tandoh; that policy to ensure that commercial vehicles carried the required number of passengers seems to be working. This is because at least every Ghanaian in the cities was committed to its success and supported by disciplining our mental capacities that it was through that we could stop some of the nasty practices by those mini buses, for example.
We don’t expect government policy to work when people in government are corrupt and only in power because of their stomachs, when we do not play the role expected of us as citizens by paying our taxes, by not being patriotic to the course of the country and not condoning bad practices. We cannot run away from the fact that our governments have failed us woefully, but we as a country do not ponder over on how every facet of the national economy is infested with a kind of sickness, the diagnosis of which require all Ghanaians to be physicians; that many people have become rich overnight at the expense of the nation without paying their workers well and not paying taxes, that corruptuion and smuggling and other covert activities have become rampant under the very prying eyes and connivance of the very state officials who are to ensure that the right things are done? The revenue collection agencies, for example, at the end of every year declare having met their targets by collecting so much for the state since there are no proper accounting machinery to know how much had gone into private pockets? It is just for anyone to visit the airport, Tema Port or even the Post Offices to see how importers and travellers go through very depressing times to clear their consignments. You will even sympathise with them for colluding with the very officials to do the wrong thing? Ghana should begin to question the sources of peoples’ wealth so that if anybody has more than they earn they could be made to account for their ill-gotten wealth. Without this any thief can go away in the name of doing business because they will not be asked to account for a pesewa. Recently when a major bank robbery took place in the UK, people who went to the banks to deposit physical cash of more than five thousand pounds were arrested and questioned about the source(s) of the monies.
Apart from the fact that Ghanaians are poorly paid everything in this country seem to be virtually in a mess and in fact free: Take for instance cheating landlords who rent out their shabbily constructed rooms to lowly paid. One may ask how many of them really pay taxes on the rent that they receive. Most entrepreneurs who operate companies in this country will team up with government officials stationed there to ensure the right taxes or things are done to milk the country. Woe betide anyone who blew the whistle. Not quite long ago, a friend of mine was going to get accommodation which was to be paid by the University of Ghana. The university insisted on taking the tax from the rent before making any payments and knowing the fate that lay ahead of him my friend quickly gathered money from somewhere to make up for that tax deduction and added it to the landlord’s rent advance. So you see? No such thing can go on in any of the advanced countries. This is not to say that nasty things don’t happen in those countries. They do but people are always cautious of what they do because of the repercussions, should they be caught by the law.
In this country everybody wants to play it fast and care not about what will happen afterwards. People do not care a hoot about state property and think that it belongs to the government and for that matter anybody can dip their hands in to them. People can destroy public roads or other public properties without replacing them and they could still go unpunished. My Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana once said that while in the US, a school pupil of less than 10 years was able to question a gardener who was pruning flowers. According to him, the pupil thought the man was damaging the flowers which belonged to all Americans and for that matter he could not alone destroy them. In the UK the people are so disciplined that even on the road where there is no police presence people did the right thing by slotting in some coins to get tickets for either travelling on buses or parking their vehicles on sections of the road. Will this ever be adhered to in Ghana? Certainly, the answer is no because even telephone booths which are provided for use are being abused by people who try to cheat on the system. Ghanaians will always ignore the few garbage bins in the streets and drop litters on the street or even use the bins for undesignated garbage.
The laws in this country do not bite because one can easily make his way out by offering a few cedis to the law enforcement personnel. The new generation of Ghanaians can make greater things happen for us if we remained patriotic to the country’s course and discard the notion that we will be labelled as being too known and called names. If we acquiesce wrong doing without insisting that the right thing is done our country will forever remain in this state and not move forward in her development. Insist on the right thing and see to it that it is done. If we purge ourselves as in dividuals there is no way politicians or government officials can take us for a ride. With very promising policies put up by the government and supportive citizens then progress will be inevitable but without which nobody should put accusing fingers at anybody and we will remain in our lawless jungle poverty forever. We should not forget that at our current stage of development we have more than 200 years to catch up with those countries we aspire to be like. We should also not delude ourselves into believing that come 2015 Ghana achieve the much publicised middle income status when we do not change the way things are done.This calls for all hands on the deck and eschewing mediocrity. A new generation is needed for the challenges ahead such that we will shirk apathy and begin to ask questions.If we want the government alone to be responsible for the developemnt of our country then God save us.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Porn
Two Fined For Peddling Porno Materials
Two newspaper vendors were yesterday fined ¢700,000 each by an Accra circuit court for possessing and selling pornographic materials.The convicts, Maxwell Danso and Abraham Sam, will serve 14 months each in prison if they default in the payment of the fines. Their arrest followed public outcry that the sale of pornographic materials was on the increase, corrupting people, especially the youth, to engage in immoral activities.They pleaded guilty with explanation to a count each of possessing and trading in pornographic materials and were convicted on their own pleas.Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr George Abavelim told the court that police officers from the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, acting upon the public outcry, went to the Ridge taxi rank at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra on August 9, 2005, where Maxwell operated.He said when one of the officers approached Maxwell to buy some of the pornographic materials, she was taken to a hide out where two copies were sold to her for ¢120,000.ASP Abavelim said while sale was going on, other officers swooped in and arrested Maxwell.The prosecutor said a search in Maxwell’s room led to the retrieval of seven additional copies of similar materials.In his explanation, Maxwell said when the police officer approached him that she wanted some pornographic materials to buy, he told her that he did not deal in those materials.However, the woman persisted and even left her telephone number with him so that he could call her anytime he got some of the pornographic materials.According to Maxwell, it was after the woman had gone to him again to say that she worked in a hotel which needed them badly that he told her that he had some of the pornographic materials for his personal use and agreed to sell some to her.In the case of Abraham, the prosecutor said he was arrested when the police found that he had displayed the pornographic materials for sale near the Accra Polytechnic.ASP Abavelim said under the same modus operandi, a policewoman approached Abraham to buy one of the pornographic materials for ¢50,000.A search, he said, led to the retrieval of six additional copies of similar materials.The court ordered that the materials should be destroyed.In another development, an Accra circuit court yesterday remanded a 24-year-old porter, Andan Abubakari, for allegedly terminating the pregnancy of Fati Alhassan, her colleague.The victim, 20, who was five months pregnant is, on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.Andan’s plea was not taken and she will reappear on August 17, 2005 to answer abetment and abortion charges.The facts of the case are that a principal medical officer stationed at the Ussher Polyclinic called the police on August 1, 2005 and informed them that a young lady in his consulting room had taken some concoctions in an attempt to terminate a five-month-old pregnancy.When the police went to the clinic, they found Fatima groaning in pain and she was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.Andan was alleged to have given the drug to Fatima, who inserted it in her vagina. But she denied that and said she had only been sent to purchase the drug.
Story by Stephen Sah
A-G/SPEAKER
A-G, Speaker Dragged To Court(5/17/2005)
THE Ghana National Poultry Farmers Association has filed a writ at the Supreme Court against the Attorney- General and the Speaker of Parliament, seeking a relief to compel them to enforce the Constitution by implementing the 20 per cent additional tariffs on imported poultry products.It is also seeking an injunction against the defendants and their agents, restraining them from proceeding with the implementation of tariff levels imposed by the old tariffs regime, Act 686, because it was inconsistent with Article 107 (a) of the Constitution.Furthermore, the association is praying the court for a declaration that by the enactment of Act 686, the defendants retroactively imposed a burden on the association’s members to endure more intense competition from foreign poultry products, contrary to the Constitution. According to a statement of claim accompanying the writ, the Minister of Finance, in the budget statement to Parliament in February 2003, proposed to impose an additional import tariff of 20 per cent on all imported finished poultry products into the country.The rationale, it said, was to protect the domestic poultry industry, and pursuant to that, Parliament passed the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) Bill 2003 (Act 641) to raise the level of tariffs on finished imported poultry products from 20 per cent to 40 per cent.For the purpose of implementing Act 641, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) issued a tariff interpretation order number 1/2003, dated May 7, 2003, requesting all customs officers to apply, among other duties, the import duty rates and other taxes contained in the schedule to Act 641,” it said.The statement said, however, that in or about May 12, 2003, the Commissioner of CEPS suspended the implementation and application of the requisite import duty rates imposed by Act 641 and directed that the import tariffs which were in force prior to Act 641 should be applied.“By a subsequent tariff interpretation order number 2/2003, changes arising from the 2003 budget, the tariff rates contained in the schedule to Act 641 were completely removed and thus rendered inapplicable,” it said.The statement said the association made efforts to have the Commissioner of CEPS to reinstate the tariff rates which Parliament duly imposed on finished imported poultry products in exercise of its powers under Article 174 of the Constitution but to no avail.To compel the Commissioner of CEPS to implement and apply the tariffs mandated by Act 641, the statement said the association instituted an order of mandamus at the High Court against the CEPS Boss, arguing that it was his statutory public duty to implement the tariff rates imposed by Act 641.It argued that the failure or neglect to comply with the edict of the legislature was unlawful and “a waiver of the imposition of a tax and unconstitutional as it offended the ‘taxing and spending’ powers of Parliament contained in Article 174 of the constitution”.The statement said the High Court, on March 11, 2005, gave judgement in favour of the association, holding that it had discharged the burden of showing that the suspension of the implementation of Act 641 was not only unlawful but also unconstitutional and ordered that the Attorney- General and the Minister of Finance be joined to the suit to appear before it on April 21, 2005, to show why the order of mandamus sought by the association should not be issued.It said while the association was putting together the processes to serve the two ministers, the Minister of Finance tabled a motion before Parliament for adoption and enactment of a bill, known as the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) Bill, 2005 to repeal Act 641.
THE Ghana National Poultry Farmers Association has filed a writ at the Supreme Court against the Attorney- General and the Speaker of Parliament, seeking a relief to compel them to enforce the Constitution by implementing the 20 per cent additional tariffs on imported poultry products.It is also seeking an injunction against the defendants and their agents, restraining them from proceeding with the implementation of tariff levels imposed by the old tariffs regime, Act 686, because it was inconsistent with Article 107 (a) of the Constitution.Furthermore, the association is praying the court for a declaration that by the enactment of Act 686, the defendants retroactively imposed a burden on the association’s members to endure more intense competition from foreign poultry products, contrary to the Constitution. According to a statement of claim accompanying the writ, the Minister of Finance, in the budget statement to Parliament in February 2003, proposed to impose an additional import tariff of 20 per cent on all imported finished poultry products into the country.The rationale, it said, was to protect the domestic poultry industry, and pursuant to that, Parliament passed the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) Bill 2003 (Act 641) to raise the level of tariffs on finished imported poultry products from 20 per cent to 40 per cent.For the purpose of implementing Act 641, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) issued a tariff interpretation order number 1/2003, dated May 7, 2003, requesting all customs officers to apply, among other duties, the import duty rates and other taxes contained in the schedule to Act 641,” it said.The statement said, however, that in or about May 12, 2003, the Commissioner of CEPS suspended the implementation and application of the requisite import duty rates imposed by Act 641 and directed that the import tariffs which were in force prior to Act 641 should be applied.“By a subsequent tariff interpretation order number 2/2003, changes arising from the 2003 budget, the tariff rates contained in the schedule to Act 641 were completely removed and thus rendered inapplicable,” it said.The statement said the association made efforts to have the Commissioner of CEPS to reinstate the tariff rates which Parliament duly imposed on finished imported poultry products in exercise of its powers under Article 174 of the Constitution but to no avail.To compel the Commissioner of CEPS to implement and apply the tariffs mandated by Act 641, the statement said the association instituted an order of mandamus at the High Court against the CEPS Boss, arguing that it was his statutory public duty to implement the tariff rates imposed by Act 641.It argued that the failure or neglect to comply with the edict of the legislature was unlawful and “a waiver of the imposition of a tax and unconstitutional as it offended the ‘taxing and spending’ powers of Parliament contained in Article 174 of the constitution”.The statement said the High Court, on March 11, 2005, gave judgement in favour of the association, holding that it had discharged the burden of showing that the suspension of the implementation of Act 641 was not only unlawful but also unconstitutional and ordered that the Attorney- General and the Minister of Finance be joined to the suit to appear before it on April 21, 2005, to show why the order of mandamus sought by the association should not be issued.It said while the association was putting together the processes to serve the two ministers, the Minister of Finance tabled a motion before Parliament for adoption and enactment of a bill, known as the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) Bill, 2005 to repeal Act 641.
Story By Stephen Sah
GREL
GREL
‘Sherry Ayittey Played No Role In Divestiture’
Story:Stephen Sah
‘Sherry Ayittey Played No Role In Divestiture’
Story:Stephen Sah
A Former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC),Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, yesterday told the Accra Fast Track Court that Sherry Ayittey, treasurer of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM), never played any role in the divestiture of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).He said Sherry Ayittey was not a member of the negotiation team constituted by the DIC for the GREL divestiture and she did not contact him as the Executive Secretary to do any favour to Societe Industrielle Plantation Hevea (SIPH), the French company that bidded for the GREL.Agbodo, who is standing trial with Sherry Ayittey and Ralph Casley-Hayford, a businessman, for playing various roles to influence the divestiture of GREL in favour of the French company, was testifying under cross-examination by counsel for Sherry Ayittey.All the three accused persons have denied the charges and are on self recognisance bail.Agbodo said that in 1996, he was the Executive Secretary of the DIC and after the GREL divestiture was completed, the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement was executed between the DIC and SIPH.Asked where the original agreement could be found, the accused said he believed a copy could be with SIPH and another with the DIC.When counsel gave him a photocopy of the agreement to identify, Agbodo said that could be a reflection of the original document because he had initialled it.The photocopied agreement was tendered in evidence.The accused further said a Shareholders Agreement which was dated May 12, 1997, was executed between the SIPH, GREL and the Government of Ghana.He said the original agreement could be found at the DIC offices, explaining that he was not a signatory to it, though.According to him, certain aspects of the divestiture of GREL were dealt with by an evaluation team constituted by the DIC .The team, he said, opened the sealed bids and evaluated them in accordance with the DIC's specifications and reported the status of each bid to the DIC.He said the evaluation team was then transformed into a negotiation committee to deal with the bidder as regarded the divestiture of the GREL.Asked how many members constituted the DIC in 1998, Agbodo said he could not remember that extempore because he did not have the records with him.Based on that, counsel prayed the court to subpoena the DIC for that information but he was asked to take steps to get the information.Following that, the court adjourned the case to November 16, 2004.
coke
coke
Six Granted Bail In Cocaine Case(6/15/2005)
Story By Stephen Sah
Six Granted Bail In Cocaine Case(6/15/2005)
Story By Stephen Sah
An Accra circuit court yesterday granted bail in various sums with justification to six Ghanaians, including four policemen, who have been remanded in custody for an alleged cocaine deal and for extortion.Deric Osei Owusu, a Ghanaian-born British soldier, and Leonard Banafo, a student, were each granted bail in the sum of ¢500 million with a surety to be justified.They are also to surrender their passports to the registrar of the court and present themselves to the Greater Accra Regional Police twice a week until further notice.The policemen, Detective Sergeant Stanley Gbeglo and Lance Corporals Karimu Osuman, Ebenezer Ogbordjo and J. K. Mensah, all stationed at the Cantonments Police Station, were each granted bail in the sum of ¢200 million with a surety to be justified.They are also to present themselves to the Regional Police twice a week until further notice.Owusu and Banafo pleaded not guilty to possessing narcotic drugs, while the policemen also pleaded not guilty to extortion.The substance which was allegedly retrieved from the suspects when they were arrested has been forwarded to the Ghana Standards Board for examination.Scores of relatives and well-wishers of the accused persons who thronged the court were excited at their bail and were seen hugging each other when they heard that the accused had been granted bail.They also shook hands with some of the defence lawyers, apparently to congratulate them on, at least, getting bail for their clients.Owusu was believed to be among a gang of dealers who were preparing some couriers to swallow 163 pellets of cocaine at a discotheque at Adabraka when the policemen, upon a tip-off, went there, ostensibly to arrest them. However, on reaching the place, the policemen allegedly demanded a bribe of $60,000 but were offered $18,000 and a car. But when they allegedly refused the offer, saying it was not enough, Owusu and Banafo were said to have gone round Accra, raising an additional £600 and ¢3 million.The facts of the case are that on May 27, 2005, the Regional Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had information that Sgt Gbeglo and Cpls Osuman, Ogbordjo and Mensah had arrested Owusu and Banafo in a hotel at Laterbiokoshie with a quantity of cocaine and were extorting $60,000 from them.Based on that information, a team from the Regional CID trailed them to a discotheque at Adabraka, where they met Owusu and Banafo in handcuffs while Sgt Gbeglo and Cpl Osuman stood by them.Cpls Ogbordjo and Mensah managed to escape when they saw the CID team but the rest of them were arrested and escorted to the Deputy Regional Commander’s office, where a search was conducted on them. The search revealed 163 thumb-size, oval-shaped substances suspected to be cocaine, $18,000, £600 and ¢3 million in a polythene bag which was found with Gbeglo.Owusu was said to have claimed ownership of the suspected cocaine and stated that the policemen, after arresting them, demanded an amount of $60,000 but they were able to raise $18,000, £600 and ¢3 million through one Yusif at Zongo Lane, who contributed $10,000, while the proprietor of a forex bureau at Adabraka provided $8,000.The £600 and ¢3 million were claimed by Owusu as his personal contribution.
I was framed up
I Was Framed Up(12/23/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Story:Stephen Sah
Hanny Sherry Ayittey,the former Managing Director of GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited, yesterday said that she was framed-up by three prosecution witnesses because she never played any role in the divestiture of Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).“I had nothing to do with it and Dr Albert Owusu Barnafo, Mr Etienne Popeller and Ms Georgina Okaiteye, came up with something which I had not done,” she said, when continuing with her evidence-in-chief at the Fast Track High Court in Accra.Sherry Ayittey is being tried together with Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, the former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee(DIC),and Ralph Casley-Hayford, a businessman,for playing various roles to influence the divestiture of GREL in favour of Societte Industrielle Plantation Hevea (SIPH), a French company.The accused persons were alleged to have collected some moneys to enable SIPH to benefit from the GREL divestiture. But all three of them have denied the charges and are on self-recognisance bail.Sherry Ayittey, who is also the Treasurer of the DWM, was led in evidence by Mr David Lamptey, her counsel.Asked whether she received a personal gift of $120,000 from Dr Barnafo in May 1998, to influence the GREL divestiture in favour of SIPH, and for which reason she was being tried, the accused denied ever taking the money.During the month of May 1998, she said , as a co-opted member of the DIC, she never performed any function with regard to the GREL divestiture, saying: “The divestiture of GREL even never came up at the DIC in the whole of 1998.”Sherry Ayittey told the court that in May 1998,she was not in the country at all to have seen or met with Dr Barnafo and collected that money.She therefore tendered in evidence photocopies of pages in her passport indicating that she travelled during that period.Explaining her travel outside the country over the period, the accused stated that in March 1998, after former US President Clinton’s visit to Ghana the then government, in co-operation with the USAID, put up a committee to consolidate the issues that came up of the visit.She said that in May 1998, a delegation made up of some ministers of state, Members of Parliament, private and public sector people and women groups travelled to North Carolina in the US to attend a conference which was organised by SIGMA-ONE, a US company.“After the conference,I came back to Ghana and again I travelled with the then First Lady to Ireland to attend another programme dubbed “The Chairman’s Programme” which was organised by the Irish Management Institute.“During May 1998, my two eyes did not see Dr Barnafo anywhere or met him to collect $120, 000 to influence the DIC,” she said.She also tendered in evidence a photocopy of the programme of activities of the Chairman’s Programme.Sherry Ayittey denied a statement by Dr Barnafo during his cross-examination that the DWM held meetings during which the NGO gave three conditions to be met by SIPH before it could benefit from the GREL divestiture.The accused further denied that she was contacted by Dr Barnafo in 1995 and 1996 after the SIPH team of which he was a member and that of the DIC had had several meetings in connection with the GREL divestiture.She said Dr Barnafo could not have given her money to influence the DIC because she was not a member of the DIC team that negotiated the GREL divestiture.Sherry Ayittey said Dr Barnafo never briefed her on the completed purchase and sale agreement of the GREL divestiture.Asked whether she was contacted to intervene on behalf of SIPH to save it from the payment of an extra one million French Francs, which came up after the government’s Memorandum of Understanding, the accused replied in the negative.She said that Dr Barnafo did not contact her about that payment and if it were true that she had taken money to influence the DIC, he would have contacted her to save SIPH from paying the extra money.According to her, knowing he had not given her any money to influence the DIC, Dr Barnafo told the court in his evidence that he personally followed up at the DIC to check on the outcome of the GREL divestiture otherwise he would have left that to her to do.She also denied any knowledge about the DIC’s approval letter that outlined the payment terms of the divestiture to SIPH and explained that she got to know about it when it was tendered in court.Sherry Ayittey said since she did not know about that letter,she could not have been contacted to be part of a concession granted to SIPH to pay the last instalment of the purchase price later after the company could not meet the deadline which was set by the DIC
AK47 RIFLES
AK47 RIFLES
Court Remands 3 Men With Arms
Court Remands 3 Men With Arms
Story: Stephen Sah
The Circuit Court in Accra yesterday remanded three persons arrested by the security agencies for possessing large quantities of AK 47 assault rifles, pistols, grenades and ammunition.Mohammed Abdulai Atakora, a telephone bill distributor, Ernest Adorsoo, a student, and Seth Kumako, self-employed, were charged with conspiracy and possession of firearms and ammunition without lawful authority.Story By Stephen SahThey pleaded not guilty to the charges and are to reappear on June 20, 2005, by which time the police would have completed investigations into the matter. The court also issued bench warrants for the arrest of two accomplices, Maxwell Kudjeo Ketsi, a welder, and Agaga Ekwiey, who are at large.Prosecuting, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr P.A.Sarpong told the court that officers of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), upon a tip-off that a group of people were planning to procure arms, mounted an operation on June 2, 2005 to round them up.During the exercise, he said, the three suspects were arrested at Asylum Down in Accra, while the two managed to escape.Mr Sarpong said when their Ford Modeo saloon car, with registration number GR 9908 T, was searched, 36 AK 47 assault rifles, 10 pistols, three boxes of ammunition, 74 packets of pistol ammunition of 7.6 mm, one box of hand grenades and ¢25 million were found.Two bags of rice were also found in the boot of the car.
Dutch porn
Dutch porn
Dutch Convicted For Pornography
Story:Stephen Sah
Dutch Convicted For Pornography
Story:Stephen Sah
The 62-year-old Dutch, De Graaf Frederick, who was arraigned before an Accra circuit court for luring girls into his hotel room and taking photographs while having sex with them, was yesterday sentenced to a fine of ¢20.5 million.In default, he will go to jail for four-and-a-half years.The convict was also ordered to leave the country by Friday, November 5, 2004.The court further confiscated to the state all electrical gadgets which he used in committing the crime, while all the pornographic pictures and cassettes found in his possession at the time of his arrest should be destroyed by the Ghana Immigration Service.In addition, both the prosecution and the defence agreed that Frederick should compensate each of his five victims with ¢5 million.He was charged with three counts of engaging in obscene activities, possessing indecent materials and deceiving public officers at the Kotoka Airport, but he pleaded not guilty and was remanded by the court.However, at its sitting yesterday, the court convicted Frederick on his own plea after he had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.His counsel prayed the court not to impose a custodial sentence on the convict because he had been in custody since his arrest and that had taught him a lesson.Counsel said his client was also a first-time offender who was unknown to the law and so the court should be lenient with him.The prosecution said although the convict’s change of plea had shortened the proceedings, the court should use its discretion to pass sentence and reminded the court of Section 35 (2) of the Immigration Act, which stipulates a deportation of foreign nationals who engage in acts of this nature.Frederick was arrested by immigration officials last month for taking video photographs of the girls, without their knowledge, while having sex with them, apparently for commercial purposes.He placed the pornographic pictures he took on the Internet for commercial purposes and paid some of the girls 1,500 euros and others between ¢2 million and ¢5 million. He also bought gifts for some of them.Immigration officials retrieved about three dozen pictures of girls who had fallen victim to the act. Frederick was able to film the girls because he placed the camera at a secret place around a television set in his room, with its focus on the bed, before bringing his victims into the room.He then slotted in an African movie while the romance and sexual acts were going on and because of the strategic positioning of the camera, it was able to capture everything he wanted, without the knowledge of the girls.It is suspected that Frederick had been undertaking similar activities in other countries.Immigration officials did not say whether Frederick was made to undergo an HIV/AIDS. That puts the girls in a tricky situation, because he did not allow the use of condom in most of his sexual engagements.Records at the Immigration Service indicated that Frederick started paying frequent visits to Ghana in 1988, as a “tourist”, and since his last entry on October 4, 2004, he had had sexual engagements with at least 16 girls.In a related development,Frederick was again fined ¢1 million for a similar offence which dated back to 1996 and related to possessing obscene materials
cocaine trial
cocaine trial
Defence Closes Case In Cocaine Trial
Story:Stephen Sah
The defence in the 588.33 kilogramme cocaine trial yesterday closed the case with the evidence of Sven Leonard Herb, a 45-year-old German. Consequently, the court, presided over by Mr Justice F. Kusi-Appiah, a Court of Appeal Judge, sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, adjourned the case to September 14, to fix a date for judgement. Mr Justice Kusi-Appiah asked the Chief State Attorney, Mr Anthony Gyambiby, to file his written address by August 30, 2004 to enable the defence counsel to file their response by September 7.Herb and David Logan, a Briton, Kevin D. Gorman, an American, Mohammed Ibrahim Kamil, a Ghanaian , Frank David Laverick and Alan Hodgson, both Britons have been accused of shipping narcotic drugs into the country without lawful authority.The six are currently on remand at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, but have all pleaded not guilty to the various charges levelled against them.A seventh accomplice, Craig Alexander Pinnick, also a Briton, who was on the run was later arrested and remanded in custody by an Accra circuit court.Led in evidence by Mr Kwabla Senanu, his counsel, Herb told the court that he came to Ghana on December 12, 2003, to visit his family because the following day was his daughter’s birthday, while his wife was expecting another baby in January, 2004. He denied that the Narcotics Control Board and its sister agencies in the United Kingdom identified him as one of the international drug traffickers operating in Ghana.According to him, he was arrested when he paid Gorman a visit in his house to inform him about the birth of his son but a search on him did not reveal anything.He said a further search conducted in his house did not reveal anything either and he never conspired with anybody to deal in narcotic substances.Testifying under cross-examination by the Chief State Attorney, the accused admitted writing his caution statement to the police and also picked Logan and Laverick from the airport on January 2 and 6, 2004, respectively.Asked to explain why he said in his evidence that he picked the two because Gorman was busy and in his caution statement that he picked them because he wanted to go to town with a girl friend, the accused said in his caution statement nobody asked him that question.He said Gorman telephoned him to ask him to pick them from the airport but when asked to mention his telephone number the accused said he could not do that.When his telephone number was suggested to him , the accused said the number sounded familiar but he was not sure saying “it is possible but I can’t remember. I kept the number for about one year before my arrest.”He said when he was asked to pick the two people, he knew that Laverick was coming to Ghana because he had told him to buy a DVD player for him but in the case of Logan, he did not know that he was coming.The accused denied going to the Prampram Beach on December 31, 2003,to offload boxes containing cocaine to be conveyed to the house of Gorman in Tema.
Nii Lantey
Nii Lantey
‘Nii Lante Vanderpuye Gave Me Three Registration slips’
Story:Stephen Sah
‘Nii Lante Vanderpuye Gave Me Three Registration slips’
Story:Stephen Sah
A Ninteen-year-old student, Faisal Abubakar, yesterday told an Accra circuit court that Nii Lantey Vanderpuje, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodoo Constituency, gave him three registration slips and asked him to select a name that he could remember and use it to register in the recent voters’ registration exercise.As a result, he said, he selected one slip which bore the name of Tackie Teye,20 years and a native of Asene instead of Ada, his hometown.He also said the names of his parents were also changed from Abubakari Jibu to Tackie Boye and Memunatu Fuseini to Mary Okai.Faisal, who was one of those allegedly recruited by the accused to engage in the double registration was testifying in the case in which Nii Vanderpuje is standing trial at an Accra Circuit Court for alleged electoral malpractices in the registration exercise organised by the Electoral Commission.Nii Vanderpuje is said to have contracted six persons to engage in double registration during the recent voters’ registration exercise.Also on trial are Musah Fuseini, 41 and Gariba Mohammed, 22, both traders.Nii Vanderpuje is charged with five counts of abetment of crime, whereas the other accused persons are being tried on a charge of registering voters without authority.They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Williwise Kyeremeh, has granted each of them bail in the sum of ¢30 million with one surety.Led in evidence by Mr Augustines Obuor, an Assistant State Attorney, the witness said when he arrived in the house of Nii Vanderpuje, he was wearing a gown and in order not to be identified a Muslim, the accused gave him a jersey to put on to match the name on the slip.He said when Nii Vanderpuje brought out the slips, he asked Musah about his age and Musah mentioned 19 years, after which Nii Vanderpuje looked through the slips and gave him three of them bearing that age.According to him, Nii Vanderpuje asked him to pick one and memorise the name on it so he picked the slip with the name Tackie Boye and a Banza Bakoe took his batch to the registration centre to take their photographs.“I was among the second batch of five people, but I did not know their names,” he said.Witness said when he returned from the registration centre, Nii Vanderpuje asked him to give the jersey to one Gado and introduced himself to the group before asking Musah to collect their identity cards from them.During cross-examination by Nii Okaidja Adamafio, counsel for Nii Vanderpuje, witness admitted that Nii Vanderpuje asked him to select from the slips bearing the age of 19 but he selected one with 20 years bearing the name Tackie Teye.Asked how come the inconsistencies in the ages, witness said he forgot when he was asked the age on the form.Hearing continues today.
STEPHEN SAH CHALLENGES JUDGE
STEPHEN SAH CHALLENGES JUDGE
Accra, Sept. 15, GNA -
A Circuit Court in Accra trying Alhaji Saeed Sinare, former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central and another suspect on alleged electoral malpractices on Wednesday disallowed three reporters from covering the proceedings.The Judge, Mrs Wilhemina Hammond said journalists from the Graphic Group of Communications, New Times Corporation and the Ghana News Agency should have applied to the Court's Registrar for permission to take down notes in the court. She said it was an offence to report on proceeding from the courtroom without permission. Mrs Hammond said: "If you need the proceedings of the court, you have to apply through the court's registry and the court would release a certified copy of proceedings to you." You need to get the certified copy from the Court before you can go ahead with your publication. You can sit down and listen to the proceeding but do not write." When the reporters tried to leave the courtroom, the judge ordered them to sit down.When the case was called this morning, the court asked witnesses who had not testified already to go out and they obliged. Earlier, when the Judge enquired whether there were pressmen in the court, the reporters stood up and mentioned their names and their respective organisations. This was written down by a court clerk who was ordered to do so. The court asked the reporters to sit down and listen to proceedings. But Mr Stephen Sah, a reporter of the Daily Graphic, explained that at the Supreme Court a Press Gallery was allocated to journalists.Mrs Hammond said the two courts were different adding, "In my Court reporters should apply through the registry before you can write anything from the Court." Mr Sah who tried leave during the trial was called back to sit down until the case was over. When the court rose at the end of proceedings, the reporters were asked to meet in the chamber of Mrs Hammond. In the chamber, she asked the reporters who were already seated "Have I asked you to sit down"?Mrs Hammond told the reporters that they were expected to focus on cases in the courtroom and not on issues concerning her adding, "I don't have any problem with you reporting on the case but don't focus on me". She said: "If I give orders and you do not understand, I expect you to come to me and I will ask the typist to type the order out and give you a certified copy."In America, journalists are searched thoroughly before they go into the courtroom and the name of judges are not heard." The reporters went to the Judicial Service Officials to enquire whether it was an offence to report from the court but they were told that the officers were at a meeting. Sinare is charged with conspiring with Stanley Nii Armah, an Electoral Officer, for allegedly making 26 illegal entries into the voters' register. They have both pleaded not guilty.
Source:GNA
Accra, Sept. 15, GNA -
A Circuit Court in Accra trying Alhaji Saeed Sinare, former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central and another suspect on alleged electoral malpractices on Wednesday disallowed three reporters from covering the proceedings.The Judge, Mrs Wilhemina Hammond said journalists from the Graphic Group of Communications, New Times Corporation and the Ghana News Agency should have applied to the Court's Registrar for permission to take down notes in the court. She said it was an offence to report on proceeding from the courtroom without permission. Mrs Hammond said: "If you need the proceedings of the court, you have to apply through the court's registry and the court would release a certified copy of proceedings to you." You need to get the certified copy from the Court before you can go ahead with your publication. You can sit down and listen to the proceeding but do not write." When the reporters tried to leave the courtroom, the judge ordered them to sit down.When the case was called this morning, the court asked witnesses who had not testified already to go out and they obliged. Earlier, when the Judge enquired whether there were pressmen in the court, the reporters stood up and mentioned their names and their respective organisations. This was written down by a court clerk who was ordered to do so. The court asked the reporters to sit down and listen to proceedings. But Mr Stephen Sah, a reporter of the Daily Graphic, explained that at the Supreme Court a Press Gallery was allocated to journalists.Mrs Hammond said the two courts were different adding, "In my Court reporters should apply through the registry before you can write anything from the Court." Mr Sah who tried leave during the trial was called back to sit down until the case was over. When the court rose at the end of proceedings, the reporters were asked to meet in the chamber of Mrs Hammond. In the chamber, she asked the reporters who were already seated "Have I asked you to sit down"?Mrs Hammond told the reporters that they were expected to focus on cases in the courtroom and not on issues concerning her adding, "I don't have any problem with you reporting on the case but don't focus on me". She said: "If I give orders and you do not understand, I expect you to come to me and I will ask the typist to type the order out and give you a certified copy."In America, journalists are searched thoroughly before they go into the courtroom and the name of judges are not heard." The reporters went to the Judicial Service Officials to enquire whether it was an offence to report from the court but they were told that the officers were at a meeting. Sinare is charged with conspiring with Stanley Nii Armah, an Electoral Officer, for allegedly making 26 illegal entries into the voters' register. They have both pleaded not guilty.
Source:GNA
NIGERIAN TRAFFICKER JAILED
NIGERIAN TRAFICKER JAILED
By Stephen Sah
Nigerian Trader Jailed For Dealing In Drugs(6/14/2005)
The Greater Accra Regional Tribunal yesterday sentenced a Nigerian trader to 10 years' imprisonment for importing cocaine into the country without lawful authority.Margaret Etim Sunday, 38, pleaded not guilty to two counts of importing and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority but changed her plea to guilty and was convicted accordingly.According to the facts of the case, the convict, on January 29, last year, arrived at the Kotoka International Airport aboard a United Arab Emirates flight.At the airport, officers of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) were on duty and after inspecting Margaret’s travelling documents, they became suspicious of her behaviour and trailed her outside the airport.The NACOB officials said Margaret, on leaving the arrival hall, quickly jumped into a taxi but she was arrested and handed over to the police.When she was sent to the 37 Military Hospital, an X-ray scan revealed that she had swallowed 60 pellets of suspected substances believed to be narcotics.Story
By Stephen Sah
Nigerian Trader Jailed For Dealing In Drugs(6/14/2005)
The Greater Accra Regional Tribunal yesterday sentenced a Nigerian trader to 10 years' imprisonment for importing cocaine into the country without lawful authority.Margaret Etim Sunday, 38, pleaded not guilty to two counts of importing and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority but changed her plea to guilty and was convicted accordingly.According to the facts of the case, the convict, on January 29, last year, arrived at the Kotoka International Airport aboard a United Arab Emirates flight.At the airport, officers of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) were on duty and after inspecting Margaret’s travelling documents, they became suspicious of her behaviour and trailed her outside the airport.The NACOB officials said Margaret, on leaving the arrival hall, quickly jumped into a taxi but she was arrested and handed over to the police.When she was sent to the 37 Military Hospital, an X-ray scan revealed that she had swallowed 60 pellets of suspected substances believed to be narcotics.Story
IMPOSTER
IMPOSTER
Impersonator Remanded By Two Courts
Story:Stephen Sah
The 48-year-old trader who is alleged to have presented herself as a protocol officer of Parliament and succeeded in defrauding several people on the pretext of securing them visas has been remanded in custody by two separate courts.The accused, Innocentia Akpene Kudoto, was also granted a ¢20 million with a surety, for issuing a false cheque in a different case.The accused was first remanded by a Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Williewise Kyeremeh, until June 10 for jumping bail in a case in which she was accused of defrauding a man of ¢30 million, under the pretext of securing him a United Kingdom visa.She was again refused bail by a Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Elizabeth Ankomah, in the case in which she allegedly posed as a protocol officer of Parliament, and defrauded a number of people under the pretext of securing them United States and United Kingdom visas .Her remand followed fresh evidence that she had defrauded seven more people of $33,170 under the same pretext.While the case was being heard, a High Court bailiff, was also waiting for her in connection with a similar case in which she was alleged to have jumped bail.At that point, the judge asked if the accused was a normal person, and her counsel replied in the affirmative.In the first case which was called, the accused was said to have collected $1,900 and ¢650,000 from somebody under the pretext of securing a UK visa for him.Her counsel explained to the court that she did the travel business with other people who have bolted, following certain difficulties which emerged in the course of the transaction.Counsel said his client had made some payments and she should, therefore, be admitted to bail, but the court overruled the application and remanded her until June 15.In his fresh evidence to the court, Police Chief Inspector George Abavelim said the accused, in May and June, last year collected $9,700 from Amidu Yahaya and Ofantse Obeng, under the pretext of securing travelling documents for them.Around the same period, she also collected $2,280 from Seth Agyare, $2,050 from Stephen Kodua, $1,000 from one Mr Arthur, $2,000 from Jacob Felix Peasah, and $4,620 from Nella Agbelkey, all on the pretext of securing travel documents for them.Akpene has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of defrauding by false pretence.
Impersonator Remanded By Two Courts
Story:Stephen Sah
The 48-year-old trader who is alleged to have presented herself as a protocol officer of Parliament and succeeded in defrauding several people on the pretext of securing them visas has been remanded in custody by two separate courts.The accused, Innocentia Akpene Kudoto, was also granted a ¢20 million with a surety, for issuing a false cheque in a different case.The accused was first remanded by a Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Williewise Kyeremeh, until June 10 for jumping bail in a case in which she was accused of defrauding a man of ¢30 million, under the pretext of securing him a United Kingdom visa.She was again refused bail by a Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs Elizabeth Ankomah, in the case in which she allegedly posed as a protocol officer of Parliament, and defrauded a number of people under the pretext of securing them United States and United Kingdom visas .Her remand followed fresh evidence that she had defrauded seven more people of $33,170 under the same pretext.While the case was being heard, a High Court bailiff, was also waiting for her in connection with a similar case in which she was alleged to have jumped bail.At that point, the judge asked if the accused was a normal person, and her counsel replied in the affirmative.In the first case which was called, the accused was said to have collected $1,900 and ¢650,000 from somebody under the pretext of securing a UK visa for him.Her counsel explained to the court that she did the travel business with other people who have bolted, following certain difficulties which emerged in the course of the transaction.Counsel said his client had made some payments and she should, therefore, be admitted to bail, but the court overruled the application and remanded her until June 15.In his fresh evidence to the court, Police Chief Inspector George Abavelim said the accused, in May and June, last year collected $9,700 from Amidu Yahaya and Ofantse Obeng, under the pretext of securing travelling documents for them.Around the same period, she also collected $2,280 from Seth Agyare, $2,050 from Stephen Kodua, $1,000 from one Mr Arthur, $2,000 from Jacob Felix Peasah, and $4,620 from Nella Agbelkey, all on the pretext of securing travel documents for them.Akpene has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of defrauding by false pretence.
ROBERT DODDOO
ROBERT DODDOO
‘Acquit My Client’(5/27/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah & Mabel Aku Baneseh
Counsel for Dr Robert Doodoo, the immediate past Head of the Civil Service, who is standing trial at an Accra Fast Track High Court, for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, yesterday asked the court to acquit and discharge him because the prosecution had failed to prove any case against him.The accused was alleged to have authorised to be paid ¢70.8 million for the installation of an elevator for an office annex of the Civil Service between 1993 and 1995. The contractor, on receipt of the money, failed to undertake the job and an audit inspection revealed that the elevator had neither been supplied nor installed.He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing financial loss and the court, presided over by Mrs Avril Anin-Yeboah, has admitted him to bail.In his submission of no case to the court, counsel argued that evidence so far adduced by the prosecution did not support the charges, while all the witnesses called by the prosecution had been inconsistent in their testimonies.According to counsel, the prosecution ought to have made available to the court the original contract agreement to determine whether his client acted contrary to its terms or not, but failed to do so.“If it had been bought, it would have supported our contention that the contract payment had to be made before the supply and installation of the elevator machine”, he stated, adding that the machine had to be imported based on specifications sent to the manufacturers.Counsel further argued that the charge of wilfully causing financial loss was not grounded because the accused did not act recklessly, with an evil intent.He asked whether the prosecution could prove that at the time the payment was made, the accused foresaw that the money would be taken away by the contractor.The charge, he argued, would have been appropriate if the accused acted with a deliberate intent that involved taking risk with the payment.
‘Acquit My Client’(5/27/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah & Mabel Aku Baneseh
Counsel for Dr Robert Doodoo, the immediate past Head of the Civil Service, who is standing trial at an Accra Fast Track High Court, for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, yesterday asked the court to acquit and discharge him because the prosecution had failed to prove any case against him.The accused was alleged to have authorised to be paid ¢70.8 million for the installation of an elevator for an office annex of the Civil Service between 1993 and 1995. The contractor, on receipt of the money, failed to undertake the job and an audit inspection revealed that the elevator had neither been supplied nor installed.He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing financial loss and the court, presided over by Mrs Avril Anin-Yeboah, has admitted him to bail.In his submission of no case to the court, counsel argued that evidence so far adduced by the prosecution did not support the charges, while all the witnesses called by the prosecution had been inconsistent in their testimonies.According to counsel, the prosecution ought to have made available to the court the original contract agreement to determine whether his client acted contrary to its terms or not, but failed to do so.“If it had been bought, it would have supported our contention that the contract payment had to be made before the supply and installation of the elevator machine”, he stated, adding that the machine had to be imported based on specifications sent to the manufacturers.Counsel further argued that the charge of wilfully causing financial loss was not grounded because the accused did not act recklessly, with an evil intent.He asked whether the prosecution could prove that at the time the payment was made, the accused foresaw that the money would be taken away by the contractor.The charge, he argued, would have been appropriate if the accused acted with a deliberate intent that involved taking risk with the payment.
NO BALLOT SLIPS?
NO BALLOT SLIPS?
‘I Never Gave Out Slips To Anybody’
Story: Stephen Sah
NII Lantey Vanderpuje, the National Democratic Congress(NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodoo Constituency, who is standing trial at an Accra circuit court for alleged electoral malpractice has denied any wrongdoing.He stated that he never gave out any slips to anybody to register for him and that the jersey he was alleged to have given to one of the people he recruited to register for him together with some other items was stolen from his house.He said the items which were hanging on a drying line in his house got missing about two months prior to the day he allegedly met those he recruited in his house and gave them slips to enable them to take photo identity cards for him.His denial was contained in a statement he gave to the police and tendered in court yesterday by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Ransford Larbi Biney, the investigator.Nii Vanderpuje who was said to have contracted six persons to engage in double registration during the recent voters’ registration exercise is being tried together with Musah Fuseini, 41 and Gariba Mohammed, 22, both traders.Nii Vanderpuje was charged with five counts of abetment of crime, whereas the other accused persons were being tried on a charge of registering voters without authority.They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Williwise Kyeremeh, has granted each of them bail in the sum of ¢30 million with one surety.Nii Vanderpuje further denied knowing the young man he is alleged to have given the jersey to and that the jersey was among other items which were on a dry line and got missing.“I consider the items as minor and did not report the theft to the police but my household and neighbours know about it,” he said. Nii Vanderpuje said he was in his house when he heard a strong banging and knocking at his door and since he was not feeling well, he asked his wife to see who it was.He said seven policemen came in and introduced a certain youngman to him and asked if he could identify the man but he replied in the negative. They also told him that he had engaged in electoral malpractice.The policemen, he said,searched his room and asked him to produce his registration slips which he did and brought out six slips belonging to his family.He said the policemen arrested him and on the way to the police headquarters he was told that they had received orders to conduct further searches in his house so they went back.However in their separate statements to the police, Musah and Garibah linked Nii Vanderpuje to the recruitment of people to register for him.According to Musah, Nii Vanderpuje told him to organise some people to take photographs to register for him so he contacted Garibah, who brought some people and he sent them to the house of Nii Vanderpuje.He said when they got to the house of Nii Vanderpuje, he (Musah) introduced the people to him and he also did same and asked Banza Bakoe to take the men to the registration centre at Korle Wuokon.On their return, Musah said, Seidu Zakari decided not to give out his identity card but he was prevailed upon to give it out, which he obliged and requested for the jersey.He said Nii Vanderpuje gave the men ¢100, 000 and promised that he would visit them every month until the election day.Garibah corroborated the evidence of Musah and said it was Musah who asked him to accompany him to some place and on the way other people joined them and they all went to the house of Nii Vanderpuje.He said on arrival, Musah went to knock at a door and Nii Vanderpuje came out, followed by a woman he believed was the wife, and brought out, the slips which they sent to the registration centre to take their photographs.Testifying under cross-examination by Nii Okaidja Adamafio, counsel for Nii Vanderpuje, Mr Biney, said initially when the case was referred to him, the accused persons, together with four others, were investigated and arrested on July 24, 2004.He denied that he did not conduct a thorough investigation into the case.
‘I Never Gave Out Slips To Anybody’
Story: Stephen Sah
NII Lantey Vanderpuje, the National Democratic Congress(NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodoo Constituency, who is standing trial at an Accra circuit court for alleged electoral malpractice has denied any wrongdoing.He stated that he never gave out any slips to anybody to register for him and that the jersey he was alleged to have given to one of the people he recruited to register for him together with some other items was stolen from his house.He said the items which were hanging on a drying line in his house got missing about two months prior to the day he allegedly met those he recruited in his house and gave them slips to enable them to take photo identity cards for him.His denial was contained in a statement he gave to the police and tendered in court yesterday by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Ransford Larbi Biney, the investigator.Nii Vanderpuje who was said to have contracted six persons to engage in double registration during the recent voters’ registration exercise is being tried together with Musah Fuseini, 41 and Gariba Mohammed, 22, both traders.Nii Vanderpuje was charged with five counts of abetment of crime, whereas the other accused persons were being tried on a charge of registering voters without authority.They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Williwise Kyeremeh, has granted each of them bail in the sum of ¢30 million with one surety.Nii Vanderpuje further denied knowing the young man he is alleged to have given the jersey to and that the jersey was among other items which were on a dry line and got missing.“I consider the items as minor and did not report the theft to the police but my household and neighbours know about it,” he said. Nii Vanderpuje said he was in his house when he heard a strong banging and knocking at his door and since he was not feeling well, he asked his wife to see who it was.He said seven policemen came in and introduced a certain youngman to him and asked if he could identify the man but he replied in the negative. They also told him that he had engaged in electoral malpractice.The policemen, he said,searched his room and asked him to produce his registration slips which he did and brought out six slips belonging to his family.He said the policemen arrested him and on the way to the police headquarters he was told that they had received orders to conduct further searches in his house so they went back.However in their separate statements to the police, Musah and Garibah linked Nii Vanderpuje to the recruitment of people to register for him.According to Musah, Nii Vanderpuje told him to organise some people to take photographs to register for him so he contacted Garibah, who brought some people and he sent them to the house of Nii Vanderpuje.He said when they got to the house of Nii Vanderpuje, he (Musah) introduced the people to him and he also did same and asked Banza Bakoe to take the men to the registration centre at Korle Wuokon.On their return, Musah said, Seidu Zakari decided not to give out his identity card but he was prevailed upon to give it out, which he obliged and requested for the jersey.He said Nii Vanderpuje gave the men ¢100, 000 and promised that he would visit them every month until the election day.Garibah corroborated the evidence of Musah and said it was Musah who asked him to accompany him to some place and on the way other people joined them and they all went to the house of Nii Vanderpuje.He said on arrival, Musah went to knock at a door and Nii Vanderpuje came out, followed by a woman he believed was the wife, and brought out, the slips which they sent to the registration centre to take their photographs.Testifying under cross-examination by Nii Okaidja Adamafio, counsel for Nii Vanderpuje, Mr Biney, said initially when the case was referred to him, the accused persons, together with four others, were investigated and arrested on July 24, 2004.He denied that he did not conduct a thorough investigation into the case.
COUP PLOTTER?
COUP PLOTTER?
Coup Plot:Ex-Soldier Remanded(11/9/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Nicholas Owuobah, an ex-serviceman of the 64 Battalion, a unit in the Ghana Army,has been named as one of the persons arrested by security agencies in connection with an alleged threat to subvert the democratic government and perpetuate certain terrorist acts.He made an appearance at an Accra circuit court yesterday and was remanded to re-appear on November 15, 2004.Owuobah, who is also a businessman, was charged for possessing firearms without authority and engaging in unauthorised buying of military accoutrements.The court did not take his plea and was remanded to allow the security agencies to finish their investigations.According to the prosecution, on November 5, 2004, the security agencies received intelligence information that a group of people were planning to disturb the peace and democratic process of the nation.Following some leads, a combined team from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) mounted an exercise to round up members of the group.During the exercise, seven persons, including the accused, were arrested and when his premises were searched, military accoutrements were found.The items included one Makrov Pistol and one nine millimetre firearm which were found in the accused person’s bedroom and a wooden box respectively.The rest were one military helmet,one set of military body pack, two military caps, two raincoats, one water bottle and three waist belts.
Coup Plot:Ex-Soldier Remanded(11/9/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Nicholas Owuobah, an ex-serviceman of the 64 Battalion, a unit in the Ghana Army,has been named as one of the persons arrested by security agencies in connection with an alleged threat to subvert the democratic government and perpetuate certain terrorist acts.He made an appearance at an Accra circuit court yesterday and was remanded to re-appear on November 15, 2004.Owuobah, who is also a businessman, was charged for possessing firearms without authority and engaging in unauthorised buying of military accoutrements.The court did not take his plea and was remanded to allow the security agencies to finish their investigations.According to the prosecution, on November 5, 2004, the security agencies received intelligence information that a group of people were planning to disturb the peace and democratic process of the nation.Following some leads, a combined team from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) mounted an exercise to round up members of the group.During the exercise, seven persons, including the accused, were arrested and when his premises were searched, military accoutrements were found.The items included one Makrov Pistol and one nine millimetre firearm which were found in the accused person’s bedroom and a wooden box respectively.The rest were one military helmet,one set of military body pack, two military caps, two raincoats, one water bottle and three waist belts.
JUDGES
JUDGES
Embark On Reforms,Magistrates, Judges Told(8/2/2005)
This year’s Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association(CMJA)Council Meeting opened in Accra yesterday with a call on member states to embark on reforms to increase accountability,transparency,competition and choice by providing alternatives such as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and specialised courts.They should also ensure that their justice systems and processes have integrity,are transparent,honest, corruption-free and efficient.The Chief Justice,Mr Justice G.K. Acquah,who opened the meeting,said reforms should also streamline procedures by allowing the bulk of litigation,especially those involving simple cases,to be resolved swiftly and inexpensively in one or two hearings,while those reforms that increased resources should address incentives for judicial actors.“For it has been shown that implementing judicial databases that make cases easy to track and hard to manipulate or‘lose’,whether by accident or on purpose, helps to guard against sloppy procedures and corrupt officials,” he stated.The five-day meeting is on the theme, “Judicial reform within the Commonwealth -Impact,driving force and the future”,and is being organised by the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) and CMJA,in collaboration with the Judicial Service of Ghana.Among the participating countries are Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Cyprus, Canada,Malaysia,Cayman Islands, Trinidad,Northern Ireland, Lesotho,Scotland, Zambia, Bermuda,Sierra Leone,Cameroun,Belize, Barbados, Uganda, Kenya,Malawi and The Gambia.Mr Justice Acquah said an effective justice system was critical for the economic and social benefit of countries within the Commonwealth,since political maturity and social progress were inextricably linked to a strong judicial system.To ensure effective judicial reforms,he advocated judicial education that could inspire attitudinal change and play a more effective role in the development of judicial independence and further address fields not traditionally covered by university curricula but of growing significance for judicial action currently.The Chief Justice said it was not enough to change the “law in the books” in order to achieve real change.“We must be sure that the law has been correctly applied and the reform’s design coherently pursued,” he said.He said there was no doubt that the two main topics for discussion at the conference- delay in the administration of justice and judicial education- were quite critical to the effective reform of the respective judiciaries of participants.Explaining the need for judicial reform,Mr Justice Acquah said currently,the judiciary’s role in a democracy was seen as defending the rights of citizens against political majorities and protecting citizens from potential abuse by representative institutions and the majorities that controlled them.He noted that judicial power in a constitutional democracy played a vital role in checking political power, protecting and enforcing the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizens and holding even the scales of justice between the citizens and the state.He said to ensure a broader and effective protection of those rights and freedoms,most constitutions empowered the courts to go even beyond those principles expressly provided in the constitution and enforced other rights not specifically spelt out in the constitution.Mr Justice Acquah said those constitutional provisions apart, the world’s response to the September 11 and July 7 terrorist activities in the US and Britain,respectively, imposed on the judiciary extra responsibility to achieve a new equilibrium between the dictates of security and the individual’s civic rights and liberties.He treated the participants to Ghana’s chequered political history, characterised by military regimes, and indicated that it was not until the end of the 20th century that, in response to calls for judicial reforms to accelerate economic growth, the government set up the first sector reform project to promote reforms in the legal and judicial sectors.The first positive result of that project, he noted, was the establishment,on experimental basis,of the Fast Track High Court in 2000.He said the reform and modernisation of the Judicial Service had since then become a major priority,leading to the creation of the Reform and Project Management and Implementation Division in the administrative set up of the Judicial Service. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr J. Ayikoi Otoo,gave the participants some food for thought and asked them to be interested in judicial reforms in such areas as technology and automation of the courts to minimise the long delays associated with the judges taking notes by hand and the training of people to augment the work of police prosecutors.He said they should also be interested in the course contents of the law schools and inadequate funding to facilitate judicial independence,since the lack of resources affected the judiciary’s independence.The President of the CMJA, the Rt Hon Lord David Hope of Craighead,Scotland,spoke on three things, namely,the Commonwealth, the association and what the conference was about.He said the ties that bound the differenr groups of people in the Commonwealth together were its respect for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary,among others, which needed to be understood and practised.Rt Hon Lord Hope said the judiciary was responsible for ensuring that the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law did not become a lip service but were practised to the letter.He commended the Chief Justice for the various reforms in the judiciary and the planning committee of AMJG for hosting the conference in Ghana.Earlier in his welcoming address, Mr Justice Yaw Appau, the President of the AMJG, briefed the participants about Ghana,its terrain,people and climate and said although the participants were in Ghana specifically for the conference,they should take time off to visit places of historical importance and also savour the Ghanaian hospitality.
Story by Stephen Sah
Embark On Reforms,Magistrates, Judges Told(8/2/2005)
This year’s Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association(CMJA)Council Meeting opened in Accra yesterday with a call on member states to embark on reforms to increase accountability,transparency,competition and choice by providing alternatives such as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and specialised courts.They should also ensure that their justice systems and processes have integrity,are transparent,honest, corruption-free and efficient.The Chief Justice,Mr Justice G.K. Acquah,who opened the meeting,said reforms should also streamline procedures by allowing the bulk of litigation,especially those involving simple cases,to be resolved swiftly and inexpensively in one or two hearings,while those reforms that increased resources should address incentives for judicial actors.“For it has been shown that implementing judicial databases that make cases easy to track and hard to manipulate or‘lose’,whether by accident or on purpose, helps to guard against sloppy procedures and corrupt officials,” he stated.The five-day meeting is on the theme, “Judicial reform within the Commonwealth -Impact,driving force and the future”,and is being organised by the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) and CMJA,in collaboration with the Judicial Service of Ghana.Among the participating countries are Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Cyprus, Canada,Malaysia,Cayman Islands, Trinidad,Northern Ireland, Lesotho,Scotland, Zambia, Bermuda,Sierra Leone,Cameroun,Belize, Barbados, Uganda, Kenya,Malawi and The Gambia.Mr Justice Acquah said an effective justice system was critical for the economic and social benefit of countries within the Commonwealth,since political maturity and social progress were inextricably linked to a strong judicial system.To ensure effective judicial reforms,he advocated judicial education that could inspire attitudinal change and play a more effective role in the development of judicial independence and further address fields not traditionally covered by university curricula but of growing significance for judicial action currently.The Chief Justice said it was not enough to change the “law in the books” in order to achieve real change.“We must be sure that the law has been correctly applied and the reform’s design coherently pursued,” he said.He said there was no doubt that the two main topics for discussion at the conference- delay in the administration of justice and judicial education- were quite critical to the effective reform of the respective judiciaries of participants.Explaining the need for judicial reform,Mr Justice Acquah said currently,the judiciary’s role in a democracy was seen as defending the rights of citizens against political majorities and protecting citizens from potential abuse by representative institutions and the majorities that controlled them.He noted that judicial power in a constitutional democracy played a vital role in checking political power, protecting and enforcing the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizens and holding even the scales of justice between the citizens and the state.He said to ensure a broader and effective protection of those rights and freedoms,most constitutions empowered the courts to go even beyond those principles expressly provided in the constitution and enforced other rights not specifically spelt out in the constitution.Mr Justice Acquah said those constitutional provisions apart, the world’s response to the September 11 and July 7 terrorist activities in the US and Britain,respectively, imposed on the judiciary extra responsibility to achieve a new equilibrium between the dictates of security and the individual’s civic rights and liberties.He treated the participants to Ghana’s chequered political history, characterised by military regimes, and indicated that it was not until the end of the 20th century that, in response to calls for judicial reforms to accelerate economic growth, the government set up the first sector reform project to promote reforms in the legal and judicial sectors.The first positive result of that project, he noted, was the establishment,on experimental basis,of the Fast Track High Court in 2000.He said the reform and modernisation of the Judicial Service had since then become a major priority,leading to the creation of the Reform and Project Management and Implementation Division in the administrative set up of the Judicial Service. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr J. Ayikoi Otoo,gave the participants some food for thought and asked them to be interested in judicial reforms in such areas as technology and automation of the courts to minimise the long delays associated with the judges taking notes by hand and the training of people to augment the work of police prosecutors.He said they should also be interested in the course contents of the law schools and inadequate funding to facilitate judicial independence,since the lack of resources affected the judiciary’s independence.The President of the CMJA, the Rt Hon Lord David Hope of Craighead,Scotland,spoke on three things, namely,the Commonwealth, the association and what the conference was about.He said the ties that bound the differenr groups of people in the Commonwealth together were its respect for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary,among others, which needed to be understood and practised.Rt Hon Lord Hope said the judiciary was responsible for ensuring that the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law did not become a lip service but were practised to the letter.He commended the Chief Justice for the various reforms in the judiciary and the planning committee of AMJG for hosting the conference in Ghana.Earlier in his welcoming address, Mr Justice Yaw Appau, the President of the AMJG, briefed the participants about Ghana,its terrain,people and climate and said although the participants were in Ghana specifically for the conference,they should take time off to visit places of historical importance and also savour the Ghanaian hospitality.
Story by Stephen Sah
SELORMEY ET AL
SELORMAY ET AL
Selormey, Abodakpi To Open Defence
Story:Stephen Sah
Selormey, Abodakpi To Open Defence
Story:Stephen Sah
The Accra Fast Track Court trying Victor Selormey and Dan Abodakpi,two former Ministers of State for causing financial loss the state to yesterday asked them to open their defence because a prima facie case had been established against them.According to the court, the prosecution had “adduced probative and prudent evidence to make the two open their defence.”It consequently dismissed the submissions of no case made on behalf of the accused persons by their counsel and adjourned the case to November 1, 2004.Dan Abodakpi, a former Minister of Trade and Industry and Victor Selormey, a former Deputy Minister of Finance, have been charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretence and wilfully causing financial loss of $400,000 (¢2.73 billion) to the state.They have denied the charges and the court has granted them self-recognisance bail in the sum of ¢3 billion each.The money was said to have been paid into the local account of Dr Fred Owusu Boadu of Leebda Company, a consultancy firm based in the USA, for feasibility study towards the establishment of a Science and Technology Valley Park Project.But the contract, according to the prosecution, was fraught with irregularities.After the close of the prosecution’s case, counsel for the accused persons made submissions of no case and argued that their clients should be acquitted and discharged because they performed their duties as civil servants.
NDC CANDIDATE
NDC CANDIDATE
Friday, March 10, 2006
‘I Didn’t Recruit Anybody’
Story: Stephen Sah
Nii Lantey Vanderpuje, the aspiring National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodoo Constituency, has denied ever recruiting anybody to register for him or engage in double registration.He said that apart from Musa Fuseini, the second accused person, he did not know either Gariba Mohammed, the third accused person, or any of the young men he was alleged to have recruited.Nii Lantey was opening his defence in the electoral malpractice case involving him, Musa and Gariba in which he has been charged with six counts of electoral offence relating to registration of voters and two counts of abetment of crime.Musah and Garibah are charged with one count each of registering as a voter at more than one registration centre. Each of them has been granted bail in the sum of ¢30 million with one surety.Led in evidence by Nii Okaija Adamafio, his counsel, Nii Lantey further denied meeting with some people to arrange for them to register and vote for him during the December elections.He, however, indicated that Musah brought some young men to his house on June 24, 2004 when he was about to leave home to tell him that the men wanted to have a discussion with him.“I told Musah I was in such a hurry so I referred him to Banza Bakoe and left. And apart from Musah I had not seen any of them before,” he said.Giving the background to the story, Nii Lantey said on that day, he sent his kids to school at Kanda and got back home at about 8.15 am, had his breakfast and then had a meeting with his aides, of whom Bakoe was the leader, on the day’s programme.According to him, he left home after the meeting to go round registration centres in his constituency to see how the photo-taking exercise was being conducted and left for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, where he worked.He said after close of work, he went to the school to pick his kids and went home, before proceeding to attend a political meeting later in the evening where he saw Bakoe, who told him that the young men who had come to him (Nii Lantey) in the morning said they wanted to be his foot soldiers during the campaign.Nii Lantey said nothing happened until July 24, when he was invited to the Accra Regional Police Headquarters in connection with the case which according to the police, was reported by Nii-Bi Ayi Bontey, the Member of Parliament for the constituency.He said about 10 plain-clothes and uniformed police personnel with weapons stormed his residence at dawn to ask him to bring out some identity cards, to which he responded that he was unaware of any identity cards.He said the policemen asked for his own voter identity card and his mother went into the room to bring an album containing the family identity cards.After that, he said the policemen demanded to search the house, which he obliged but they never found anything so they requested to take him to the Police Headquarters.Nii Lantey said while on the way to the Police.Headquarters, the policemen received further instructions to go back to his house to conduct a thorough search but still nothing was found, although they took away four passports that belonged to some boxers that he managed and his brother in-law.He said he was taken away and later sent to La Police Station where he was granted bail in the evening.He categorically denied ever meeting with the young men who came to his house, stressing that he did not give anyone of them his jersey to wear in order to outwit registration officials.The jersey, according to him, got missing and he presumed it might have been stolen.Nii Lantey also denied giving out voter slips to Bakoe to be given to the young men saying, “ If Banza Bakoe did that, then he did it on his own
Friday, March 10, 2006
‘I Didn’t Recruit Anybody’
Story: Stephen Sah
Nii Lantey Vanderpuje, the aspiring National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Odododiodoo Constituency, has denied ever recruiting anybody to register for him or engage in double registration.He said that apart from Musa Fuseini, the second accused person, he did not know either Gariba Mohammed, the third accused person, or any of the young men he was alleged to have recruited.Nii Lantey was opening his defence in the electoral malpractice case involving him, Musa and Gariba in which he has been charged with six counts of electoral offence relating to registration of voters and two counts of abetment of crime.Musah and Garibah are charged with one count each of registering as a voter at more than one registration centre. Each of them has been granted bail in the sum of ¢30 million with one surety.Led in evidence by Nii Okaija Adamafio, his counsel, Nii Lantey further denied meeting with some people to arrange for them to register and vote for him during the December elections.He, however, indicated that Musah brought some young men to his house on June 24, 2004 when he was about to leave home to tell him that the men wanted to have a discussion with him.“I told Musah I was in such a hurry so I referred him to Banza Bakoe and left. And apart from Musah I had not seen any of them before,” he said.Giving the background to the story, Nii Lantey said on that day, he sent his kids to school at Kanda and got back home at about 8.15 am, had his breakfast and then had a meeting with his aides, of whom Bakoe was the leader, on the day’s programme.According to him, he left home after the meeting to go round registration centres in his constituency to see how the photo-taking exercise was being conducted and left for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, where he worked.He said after close of work, he went to the school to pick his kids and went home, before proceeding to attend a political meeting later in the evening where he saw Bakoe, who told him that the young men who had come to him (Nii Lantey) in the morning said they wanted to be his foot soldiers during the campaign.Nii Lantey said nothing happened until July 24, when he was invited to the Accra Regional Police Headquarters in connection with the case which according to the police, was reported by Nii-Bi Ayi Bontey, the Member of Parliament for the constituency.He said about 10 plain-clothes and uniformed police personnel with weapons stormed his residence at dawn to ask him to bring out some identity cards, to which he responded that he was unaware of any identity cards.He said the policemen asked for his own voter identity card and his mother went into the room to bring an album containing the family identity cards.After that, he said the policemen demanded to search the house, which he obliged but they never found anything so they requested to take him to the Police Headquarters.Nii Lantey said while on the way to the Police.Headquarters, the policemen received further instructions to go back to his house to conduct a thorough search but still nothing was found, although they took away four passports that belonged to some boxers that he managed and his brother in-law.He said he was taken away and later sent to La Police Station where he was granted bail in the evening.He categorically denied ever meeting with the young men who came to his house, stressing that he did not give anyone of them his jersey to wear in order to outwit registration officials.The jersey, according to him, got missing and he presumed it might have been stolen.Nii Lantey also denied giving out voter slips to Bakoe to be given to the young men saying, “ If Banza Bakoe did that, then he did it on his own
PROSECUTION FAILS
PROSECUTION FAILS
Prosecution Fails To Call Vital Witnesses(6/4/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Counsel for Dr Robert Doodoo, the immediate past Head of the Civil Service, who is standing trial at an Accra Fast Track High Court, for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, yesterday told the court that the prosecution failed to call material witnesses in the case.Consequently, he said, his client had no case against him for which he should be called to open his defence. Mr Nelson Cofie, the lead counsel, was concluding his submission of no case which he began on May 26, 2004.Dr Doodoo is alleged to have authorised to be paid ¢70.8 million , for the installation of an elevator for an office annex of the Civil Service between 1993 and 1995. The contractor, on receipt of the money, failed to undertake the job and an audit inspection revealed that the elevator had neither been supplied nor installed.He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing financial loss and the court, presided over by Mrs Avril Anin-Yeboah, had granted him bail.Counsel said the prosecution’s failure to call representatives of the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) and the Ghana Supply Commission (GSC), to testify in the case, was fatal to its case.According to him, that would have proved the case beyond reasonable doubts since those institutions were responsible for putting the contract to tender.“If the institutions had been called they would have disclosed to the court about the existence of the contract”, counsel argued, saying that if the contract had been produced the prosecution would not have started the case at all.He said the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was not credible because they knocked their heads against each other and some accused each other of not telling the truth. Counsel said there could not have been any financial loss which was caused by the accused because at the time that he signed for the release of funds, he did not have evil motives in mind.The case has been adjourned to June 8 for the prosecution to react to the submissions.
Prosecution Fails To Call Vital Witnesses(6/4/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Counsel for Dr Robert Doodoo, the immediate past Head of the Civil Service, who is standing trial at an Accra Fast Track High Court, for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, yesterday told the court that the prosecution failed to call material witnesses in the case.Consequently, he said, his client had no case against him for which he should be called to open his defence. Mr Nelson Cofie, the lead counsel, was concluding his submission of no case which he began on May 26, 2004.Dr Doodoo is alleged to have authorised to be paid ¢70.8 million , for the installation of an elevator for an office annex of the Civil Service between 1993 and 1995. The contractor, on receipt of the money, failed to undertake the job and an audit inspection revealed that the elevator had neither been supplied nor installed.He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing financial loss and the court, presided over by Mrs Avril Anin-Yeboah, had granted him bail.Counsel said the prosecution’s failure to call representatives of the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) and the Ghana Supply Commission (GSC), to testify in the case, was fatal to its case.According to him, that would have proved the case beyond reasonable doubts since those institutions were responsible for putting the contract to tender.“If the institutions had been called they would have disclosed to the court about the existence of the contract”, counsel argued, saying that if the contract had been produced the prosecution would not have started the case at all.He said the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was not credible because they knocked their heads against each other and some accused each other of not telling the truth. Counsel said there could not have been any financial loss which was caused by the accused because at the time that he signed for the release of funds, he did not have evil motives in mind.The case has been adjourned to June 8 for the prosecution to react to the submissions.
ANTRAK AIR
ANTRAK AIR
Antrak Air Marks First Anniversary(10/18/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Antrak Air, a domestic private airline, has marked its first anniversary in Accra with a reception for a cross section of the Ghanaian business community.Speaking at the reception, the Chairman of the airline, Alhaji Asoma Banda, called for a level playing field for Ghanaian entrepreneurs.He said until that was done, Ghanaian entrepreneurs and the country at large would be at the mercy of the international donor community.Alhaji Banda announced that although things had been difficult, the airline, within 12 months of its operation, had acquired an aircraft of its own and would be extending its operations to the West Africa sub-region because the airline had been issued with an Air Operation Certificate.He commended the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and staff of the airline for their tremendous support and commitment to duty. The Director General of the GCAA, Captain Joe Boachie, also commended the airline and said the celebration of its first anniversary coincided with the election of the GCAA to serve as a representative of the West African sub-region on the International Civil Aviation Organisation.He said the capacity of the founder, directors, management and staff of Antrak Air to adhere to procedures, standards and recommended practices had been the overriding contribution to the success of the airline.Captain Boachie said while preparations were being made for the airline to commence regional operations, it should continue to build upon its successes in the volatile air transport industry to ensure reasonable returns on the investments made by its promoters.
Antrak Air Marks First Anniversary(10/18/2004)
Story:Stephen Sah
Antrak Air, a domestic private airline, has marked its first anniversary in Accra with a reception for a cross section of the Ghanaian business community.Speaking at the reception, the Chairman of the airline, Alhaji Asoma Banda, called for a level playing field for Ghanaian entrepreneurs.He said until that was done, Ghanaian entrepreneurs and the country at large would be at the mercy of the international donor community.Alhaji Banda announced that although things had been difficult, the airline, within 12 months of its operation, had acquired an aircraft of its own and would be extending its operations to the West Africa sub-region because the airline had been issued with an Air Operation Certificate.He commended the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and staff of the airline for their tremendous support and commitment to duty. The Director General of the GCAA, Captain Joe Boachie, also commended the airline and said the celebration of its first anniversary coincided with the election of the GCAA to serve as a representative of the West African sub-region on the International Civil Aviation Organisation.He said the capacity of the founder, directors, management and staff of Antrak Air to adhere to procedures, standards and recommended practices had been the overriding contribution to the success of the airline.Captain Boachie said while preparations were being made for the airline to commence regional operations, it should continue to build upon its successes in the volatile air transport industry to ensure reasonable returns on the investments made by its promoters.
WAEC
WAEC
Three Fined ¢9.5m For Exam Leakage
Story: Stephen Sah
An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons who leaked some of the papers of this year’s Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) to a total fine of ¢9.5 million or in default five years imprisonment.All the three convicts, Seth Kwame Quayson, 23, teacher, Anthony Kabenlah Cudjoe, 20, and Isaac Abeiku Quayson, 19, both students, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful entry, causing unlawful damage, stealing, leakage of examination papers, dishonestly receiving, illegal possession, and knowledge or use of examination paper.The teacher was fined ¢6.5 million or in default four years imprisonment while the students were each fined ¢1.5 million or in default six months imprisonment.The court took into consideration the fact that they were all first offenders and students or had just finished school while the teacher had also lost his job.The facts of the case were that the teacher was stationed at Tikobo No. 2 in the Western Region while Cudjoe and Abeiku were also final year students at Half Assini Senior Secondary School and Adisadel College, Cape Coast respectively.On July 3, 2004, exams papers meant for Axim District were kept in a WAEC Depot at Fort Anthony, Axim, where the father of the teacher was the care taker.Although the keys to the depot were kept by two officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) for security reasons between July 19 and July 27, supervisors of Nsein Senior Secondary School detected that on a number of occasions, when their parcels of questions were checked, either one or two question papers were missing.The question papers which were detected missing included Elective Mathematics, Literature in English, Business Mathematics and Principles of Costing 2, French 2, Physics 1, Geography 2, Economics 1 and 2, Agric Science 1, Integrated Science 2, History 2, Chemistry 2 and Social Studies.Following that, a report was made to the WAEC Head Office in Accra after which an investigation team set up to investigate the cause detected that the papers had already leaked in some schools in Agona Swedru, Cape Coast, Sekondi/Takoradi, Half Assini, Kumasi and Accra among others across the country.When some students were initially arrested, they all mentioned their source as from the Western Region . As a result, the two depot keepers were arrested and detained for investigation.Cudjoe who had been constantly mentioned by most students earlier arrested was also arrested but he denied any knowledge. Abeiku was also arrested when he went to Kumasi in a hired taxi to sell the Chemistry paper.The teacher was later arrested and he admitted breaking into the WAEC Depot through the ceiling to steal only copies of Elective Maths, Business Maths and Principles of Costing, Physics and Chemistry, which he sold to Cudjoe at ¢1 million.Cudjoe later corroborated the assertion by Quayson and explained that he gave the questions to his colleague students to enable them to pass the exams because he was an Agric student and did not offer any of the subjects.After investigations, the two GES officials were exonerated and discharged by the court.
Three Fined ¢9.5m For Exam Leakage
Story: Stephen Sah
An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons who leaked some of the papers of this year’s Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) to a total fine of ¢9.5 million or in default five years imprisonment.All the three convicts, Seth Kwame Quayson, 23, teacher, Anthony Kabenlah Cudjoe, 20, and Isaac Abeiku Quayson, 19, both students, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful entry, causing unlawful damage, stealing, leakage of examination papers, dishonestly receiving, illegal possession, and knowledge or use of examination paper.The teacher was fined ¢6.5 million or in default four years imprisonment while the students were each fined ¢1.5 million or in default six months imprisonment.The court took into consideration the fact that they were all first offenders and students or had just finished school while the teacher had also lost his job.The facts of the case were that the teacher was stationed at Tikobo No. 2 in the Western Region while Cudjoe and Abeiku were also final year students at Half Assini Senior Secondary School and Adisadel College, Cape Coast respectively.On July 3, 2004, exams papers meant for Axim District were kept in a WAEC Depot at Fort Anthony, Axim, where the father of the teacher was the care taker.Although the keys to the depot were kept by two officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) for security reasons between July 19 and July 27, supervisors of Nsein Senior Secondary School detected that on a number of occasions, when their parcels of questions were checked, either one or two question papers were missing.The question papers which were detected missing included Elective Mathematics, Literature in English, Business Mathematics and Principles of Costing 2, French 2, Physics 1, Geography 2, Economics 1 and 2, Agric Science 1, Integrated Science 2, History 2, Chemistry 2 and Social Studies.Following that, a report was made to the WAEC Head Office in Accra after which an investigation team set up to investigate the cause detected that the papers had already leaked in some schools in Agona Swedru, Cape Coast, Sekondi/Takoradi, Half Assini, Kumasi and Accra among others across the country.When some students were initially arrested, they all mentioned their source as from the Western Region . As a result, the two depot keepers were arrested and detained for investigation.Cudjoe who had been constantly mentioned by most students earlier arrested was also arrested but he denied any knowledge. Abeiku was also arrested when he went to Kumasi in a hired taxi to sell the Chemistry paper.The teacher was later arrested and he admitted breaking into the WAEC Depot through the ceiling to steal only copies of Elective Maths, Business Maths and Principles of Costing, Physics and Chemistry, which he sold to Cudjoe at ¢1 million.Cudjoe later corroborated the assertion by Quayson and explained that he gave the questions to his colleague students to enable them to pass the exams because he was an Agric student and did not offer any of the subjects.After investigations, the two GES officials were exonerated and discharged by the court.
Soussouddis
Soussouddis
Court Acquits Soussoudis
The Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday acquitted and discharged Michael Soussoudis, a businessman of two counts of possessing explosives, firearms and ammunition without lawful authority.Soussoudis’s acquittal followed the court’s upholding of the submission of ‘no case’ filed on his behalf by his counsel after the close of the prosecution’s case.The court, presided over by Mr Justice G.A.Ayeetey, held that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.Rather, it said, the prosecution proved the innocence of the accused and, therefore, he could not be called upon to open his defence.After the ruling by the court in the morning, the case had to be adjourned to 1 pm for the seven-member jury to enter a verdict on the accused.That was because two of the jurors were not present at the time.When sitting resumed, the judge told the jurors that he had given his ruling and sought their opinion to enter a verdict of not guilty for the accused.At 1.15 pm, the judge, after the declaration by the jurors that the accused was not guilty proclaimed that “the submission of no case has been upheld and the court, therefore, acquits and discharges you”.Soussoudis was accused of possessing explosives, firearms and ammunition without lawful authority. He denied the charges and was admitted to bail.The prosecution had earlier told the court that a team of police officers, acting upon a tip-off, searched Soussoudis's residence in April 2001 for firearms.A quantity of arms and explosives were found in the boys' quarters (outhouse) and also in the main house.But after the close of its case, Soussoudis’s counsel submitted a written submission of no case to the court, which was considered to have been read.Its details were not made available to the press since any publication would have prejudiced the jurors.However, its thrust was that the accused should be discharged because the prosecution could not link him to the charges preferred against him.According to the court, evidence adduced before it by the prosecution witnesses showed ample excuse that Soussoudis could carry the weapons which he had in his possession at the time of seizure.It said the accused had a permit which had not expired that authorised him to carry weapons to carry out his duties but the law did not require him to specify his duties.The court further held that it was not the case of the prosecution that the accused had altered documents on the weapons and that even if he had been found to have forged the documents, the court could not have called him to open his defence, since he was not charged for that.Story By Stephen Sah
Source:Graphic
Court Acquits Soussoudis
The Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday acquitted and discharged Michael Soussoudis, a businessman of two counts of possessing explosives, firearms and ammunition without lawful authority.Soussoudis’s acquittal followed the court’s upholding of the submission of ‘no case’ filed on his behalf by his counsel after the close of the prosecution’s case.The court, presided over by Mr Justice G.A.Ayeetey, held that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.Rather, it said, the prosecution proved the innocence of the accused and, therefore, he could not be called upon to open his defence.After the ruling by the court in the morning, the case had to be adjourned to 1 pm for the seven-member jury to enter a verdict on the accused.That was because two of the jurors were not present at the time.When sitting resumed, the judge told the jurors that he had given his ruling and sought their opinion to enter a verdict of not guilty for the accused.At 1.15 pm, the judge, after the declaration by the jurors that the accused was not guilty proclaimed that “the submission of no case has been upheld and the court, therefore, acquits and discharges you”.Soussoudis was accused of possessing explosives, firearms and ammunition without lawful authority. He denied the charges and was admitted to bail.The prosecution had earlier told the court that a team of police officers, acting upon a tip-off, searched Soussoudis's residence in April 2001 for firearms.A quantity of arms and explosives were found in the boys' quarters (outhouse) and also in the main house.But after the close of its case, Soussoudis’s counsel submitted a written submission of no case to the court, which was considered to have been read.Its details were not made available to the press since any publication would have prejudiced the jurors.However, its thrust was that the accused should be discharged because the prosecution could not link him to the charges preferred against him.According to the court, evidence adduced before it by the prosecution witnesses showed ample excuse that Soussoudis could carry the weapons which he had in his possession at the time of seizure.It said the accused had a permit which had not expired that authorised him to carry weapons to carry out his duties but the law did not require him to specify his duties.The court further held that it was not the case of the prosecution that the accused had altered documents on the weapons and that even if he had been found to have forged the documents, the court could not have called him to open his defence, since he was not charged for that.Story By Stephen Sah
Source:Graphic
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)